!r?fV*' /

;• / .../ '

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from ■^ IVIicrosoft Corporation

/

i

THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE

CELTIC REVIEW

m

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

Consulting Editor : PROFESSOR MACKINNON

Editor: MRS. W. J. WATSON (MISS E. C. CARMICHAEL)

VOLUME IX MAY 1913 TO APRIL 1914

EDINBURGH: WILLIAM HODGE & CO., 12 BANK STREET.

LONDON : DAVID NUTT, 17 GRAPE STREET, NEW OXFORD STREET.

DUBLIN : HODGES, FIGGIS & CO., LTD., 104 GRAFTON STREET.

582310_

it"4rs4

Bdiaburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to HiB MtiJMtjr

CONTENTS

PAOB

A Concise Old Irish Grammar and Reader, ....

Aoibhinn an Obair an t-Sealg,

Ciuthach, ....

Dan Cuimhne,

Deirdre — The Highest Type of Celtic Womanhood,

Feasgar Samhraidh,

Henry Whyte — ' Fionn,' .

Ireland's Share in the Folk Song Revival, ....

La is Bliadhna leis na h-Eoin,

Lord Archibald Campbell, .

Neil Macleod,

Notes, ....

Reviews of Books :

Julius Pokomy, Ph.D., {Vienna), 81, 178, 270, 350

W. J. Watson, LL.D.,	. 156
W. J. Watson, LL.D.,	. 193
G. P. T. MacRae, .	. 310
Miss A. C. Macdonell,	41
Mac-iUe-Mhuire, .	. 149
M. M.,	. 332

Alfred Percival Chaves, . 128 Coinneach MacLebid, 247, 324 Rev. Gillespie Camypbell, . 65 Professor Mackinnon, . 151

77,344

The Battle of Bannockbum : A Study in Mediaeval Warfare {reviewed by Evan M. Barron) ; Poems from the Welsh {reviewed by Sir E. Anvryl) ; The Story of an Ancient Parish, Breage with Germoe ; A Book of Manx Poetry ; The Royal Highland Regiment : The Black Watch, formerly 42nd and 73rd Foot : Medal Roll 1801-1911 {reviewed by

vi THE CELTIC REVIEW

PAOK

Andrew Ross, Ross Herald) ; Dictionary of the Irish Language ; Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century and the Transmission of Letters ; Zur Keltischen Wortkunde III. ; Alt-Celtischer Sprach- schatz ; Antiquarian Notes : a Series of Papers regarding Families and Places in the Highlands {reviewed by W. J. W.); Zur Keltischen Wortkunde IV. ; An Tre6raiche, Leabhran Sgoil a chum Feum na Cloinne le Calum Mac Pharlain ; Dain Thaghte a chum Feum an Sgoilean naGaidhealtachd : fo Ughdarras a' Chomuinn Ghaidhealaich ; An Comh-thr^oraiche, Leabhran Sgoil le Calum Mac Pharlain ; Com- panach na Cloinne, Leabhran Sgoil le Iain Mac Phaidein fo L^imh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain ; Uilleam Uallas, Iain Knox agus Bob Ruadh le Eachann Mac Gill-Eathain fo Liiimh Chaluim Mhic Phar- lain ; Am Briathrachan Beag — School Gaelic Dictionary ; Uirsgeulan Gaidhealach, an dara clo-bhualadh, fo IMmh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain Seanchaidh na Traghad, le Iain Mac Cormaic, fo l^imh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain ; Seanchaidh na h-Airigh, le Iain Mac Cormaic, fo l^imh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain ; Elementary Course of Gaelic {reviewed by W. J. Watson, LL.D.) ; Five Irish Homilies from the Rennes MS. {reviewed by A. 0. A.) ; Prince Charlie's Pilot : a Record of Loyalty and Devotion {reviiwed by Donald A. Mackenzie) ; Egyptian Myth and Legend {reviewed by D. M^C. ) ; A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative (reviewed by Sir E. Anwyl).

74, 168, 259, 356

Some Knotty Points in British

Ethnology, . , .A. MacDonald, Inverness,

1,97

The Admiralty at Cromarty, . Dcmald A. Mackenzie, . 56

The Claim of Celtic Studies upon

the Lowland Scot, . . Professor Mackinnon, . 252

The Feileadh-Beag in the Seven- teenth Century, . . .J. Reoch, . . . 289

The Gaelic Version of the Thebaid

of Statius, . . . Professor Mackinnon,

16, 112, 210, 292

The Highland Widow, . . Donald A. Mackenzie, 34

CONTENTS vii

FAGB

The Macdonalds of Keppoch, . Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair, 48

The 'Pied' and 'Scotti' in the

Excidium Brittaniae, . . Rev. A. W. Wade-Evana, 314

The Romani in the Excidiv/m

Brittaniae, . . . Rev. A. W. Wade- Evans, . 35

Twenty-one Years of Irish Art and

Thought, . . . T.W. Rolleston, . . 226

Walter Biggar Blaikie, LL.D., . D. A. Mackenzie, . .71

THE CELTIC REVIEW

AUGUST 1913

SOME KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY i

Alasdaib MacDonald (Inverness)

Considering all that has already been accomplished in the field of British Ethnology, it may be deemed more or less unnecessary and unprofitable to go further into the subject at this time of day ; but I feel that certain questions having vital connection with the subject, and for years past studied by many of the ablest and most distinguished ethnologists, still offer a considerable field for discussion.

I have selected for my subjects on this occasion a few important points in British Ethnology which have already been largely elaborated, but which still present some diffi- culties— as can be gathered from frequent references in the press and elsewhere — which it would be well worth while making some effort, however feeble, to remove. My subjects are : —

(1) The non- Aryan (including the nigritic) element

in the constitution of the British races.

(2) The Celts — who or what are they ?

(3) The Picts of Scotland — who or what were they ?

(4) The Scottish kingdom : its national constitution,

more particularly in relation to Celticism generally.

^ Read at a meeting of the Inyemess Scientific Society and Field Club. VOL. IX. A

2 THE CELTIC REVIEW

In taking up the first of these, I know that I am dealing with a subject that has not been by any means exhausted. It is, however, one of vast importance, because the deter- mination of the value of it in the sum-total of the racial constitution of our Island nation would seem essential to a proper understanding of the various elements which enter into our population as a whole. It may be foimd to be a fundamental quantity — much or little as it may as such be — in the great evolution of our Island kingdom racially.

If we were to accept the authority of certain Kymric antiquities we should have no difficulty with the history of Britain at aU. They say that ' there were three names given to the isle of Britain from the beginning. Before it was inhabited it was called Clas Merddin (the sea-girt green spot). After it was inhabited it was called Y vel Ynys (the honey isle), and after the people were formed into a commonwealth by Prydain (the son of Aedd Mawr) it was denominated Ynys Prydain (the Isle of Prydain or Britain) ; and none has any right to it but the tribe of the Cymry, for they first settled on it ; and before that time no persons lived therein, but it was full of bears, wolves, and bisons.' Though this savours much of comparative modernity there is a suggestion of antiquity in it, and the reference to the name is interesting. Broadly speaking, British history usually begins with the advent of the Romans under Caesar, about 55 B.C., but, on the other hand, ethnologically the commencement of it is generally placed back to a period when it is considered probable that the Celtic races arrived in the country — a, period that can only be at best roughly guessed. It is surely not, however, at all unreasonable to contend that there must have been a people, if not indeed peoples, in Britain long before the Celts had ever set foot on British soil. My own firm belief is that the country had been comparatively densely populated for many centuries prior to the coming of the Celts — by which time the world had arrived at a great age — and that a certain degree of a civihsation — primitive perhaps, but yet

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 3

progressive — had existed, and had become indeed more or less old when the newer conditions set in.

There is no reason to conclude that the British Isles may not have been inhabited by a race that might be considered aboriginal, at any rate since after the ice age. This would have been quite possible though little trace of such should now be obtainable ; the very old beliefs in cave-dwellers, and in a species of being half-human, half- supernatural from which the existence of fairies and such creations appears to have arisen, are very suggestive, and probably have a solid background behind them. The idea has found quarter among some excellent authorities that a race of somewhat indefinite characterisations from the very earliest times inhabited the central and northern latitudes of Europe, and that under pressure of unfavourable cir- cumstances they broke up eventually into possibly some nine or ten sub-varieties. These are frequently referred to under the common name of ' Turanians.' They seem as a whole a sort of mongrel population. Their languages are classed as agglutinative. In one word, they are gener- ally considered the peoples found inhabiting certain parts of Europe and Asia, which are classified as not pertaining to either of the two great race-divisions known as Aryan and Semitic respectively. To them are said to belong in the northern regions the Finns and Lapps, and probably the Eskimos, among some other peoples including the Mongols ; and in the southern regions, for instance, the well-known people called the Basques. It is not without great interest and importance in this connection that quite appreciable traces of at any rate some of those peoples — more par- ticularly of the Finns, the Basques, and the Mongols — are believed to have been met with as more or less persistent in this country. The late Dr. Beddoe, one of our greatest authorities, says : ' If our palseolithic race were really the ancestors of the Eskimos, or at least their near relations, as Boyd Dawkins would have them to be, it is at least possible that they may have left descendants behind them

4 THE CELTIC REVIEW

to mingle their blood with the neoUthic races and their descendants of to-day. Now, I think, some reason can be shown for suspecting the existence of traces of some mon- goloid race in the modern population of Wales and the West of England ' {Races of Britain). He then proceeds to give particulars with regard to thirty-four persons whose features he noted as indicative of Mongoloid blood, and quotes Dr. Mitchell as mentioning the ' obliquely-set eye ' in his description of one of his Scottish types, ' The Irish Celt or Fin,' though he did not himself recognise any resem- blance in this t3rpe to the Finns of Finland. In regard to the language aspect of this question he says : ' Anthro- pologists had long been crying out for the remains of an Iberian or pre-Celtic language in the British Isles before their philological brethren woke up to the consciousness of their existence. Mongolian or Ugrian types had been recognised, though less distinctly, and now Ugrian gram- matical forms are being dimly discerned in the Welsh and Irish.' He further refers to a certain Welsh t3rpe, the whole aspect of which was ' suggestive of a Turanian origin,' and to a similar type he had seen in Ireland, as of a ' Turanian aspect.' These types would appear to have been at least among the earliest inhabitants of Europe as a whole, and it must be remembered that the country would probably have then been one large continent, including the British Isles within its geographical confines.

I am, besides, satisfied in my own mind that there are traces of another non- Aryan race, or races, to be met with in the British Isles. Though there may not be anything approaching an individuality of race or type in this direc- tion, there are, in my opinion, strong indications of there having been a people, or peoples, differing considerably from those I have been referring to. These latter would appear to have been upon the whole more nigritic than the former. This was perhaps one of the most outstanding differences, and is now most noticeable as regards the hair and the eyes, though there are other features which betray

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 5

distinctions, such as a distinctive prominence of mouth. I should be disposed to identify in these traces of the type which Dr. Beddoe provisionally calls ' Africanoid,' and as to which he says : ' While Ireland is apparently its present centre, most of its lineaments are such as lead us to think of Africa as its possible birthplace.' Others also have from time to time referred to at least one type that would seem to have been descendants of those, such as the ' Sancho Panza ' of the late Hector MacLean ; and the type as a whole would seem to me to be largely identifiable with the race whom Mr. RoUeston, in his recent excellent work on The Myths and Legends of the Celts, describes as the * Megalithic people,' and of whom he writes : ' The earliest people inhabiting Celtic territory in the west of Europe of whom we have any distinct knowledge are a race without name or known history, but by their sepulchral monuments, of which so many still exist, we can learn a great deal about them. They were the so-called Megalithic people (from Greek megas, great, and lithos, a stone), the builders of dolmens, cromlechs, and chambered tumuh, of which more than three thousand have been counted in France alone.' . . . ' The language originally spoken by this people can only be conjectured by the traces of it left in that of their conquerors, the Celts. But a map of the distribution of their monuments irresistibly suggests the idea that their builders were of North African origin ; that they were not at first accustomed to traverse the sea for any great dis- tance ; that they migrated westwards along North Africa, crossed into Europe where the Mediterranean at Gibraltar narrows to a strait a few miles in width, and thence spread over the western regions of Europe, including the British Islands, while on the eastward they penetrated Arabia into Asia. It must, however, be borne in mind that while originally, no doubt, a distinct race, the Megalithic people came in the end to represent, not a race, but a culture.'

It will be seen that Mr. RoUeston makes those North African immigrants the first to people our country of whom

6 THE CELTIC REVIEW

there is any distinct trace ; and if they were there should perhaps be more nigriticism in the country than there is. But that there is a perceptible proportion seems indisput- able. There would be nothing strange in these people from Northern Africa, though not all necessarily by any means negroes, having among them, at least, a very pronounced element — perhaps numerically a predominance — of nigritic characteristics. It is, in any case, I think, quite the fact that very clear indications of such a prehistoric element in the constitution of the races of Britain still survive. I have myself noticed such traces frequently in persons — negroes largely, except in colour of skin. There are the unmistakable signs — the woolly hair, scanty on lower part of face and dry ; the long massive skull ; the receding forehead and projecting jaws ; the broad-based nose, with much distended nostrils ; the non-sensitive nervous system ; and the dulness to physical feeling. There are also the religious characteristics, such as a certain element of fetish- ism, disguised, of course, by altered circumstances ; certain survivals of superstitions and beliefs ; and many other points of resemblance. All these are not, of course, observ- able in one instance, nor probably any two of them, but they all exist. Most frequently perhaps, they betray them- selves in the nose, the lips, and the jaw, while the rest of the face may be quite British. It might, of course, be contended that these characteristics have been recently imported, but they have been noticed in various localities where importation had always been, so far as could be ascertained, practically out of the question. There is also little doubt that to the extent to which British place-names, for instance, have not been explained it is most probable that the difficulties are attributable to these being survivals of a language or languages of which the key has not yet been found to the construction and meaning. This is believed to be particularly the case as regards place-names associated with certain deities and places of worship. Pro- fessor Anwyl suggests in this connection ' the possibility

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 7

that the local gods are older than the settlement in the places where they are found of the Aryan-speaking Celts themselves' {Inverness Gaelic Society Transactions, vol. xxvi.).

While there is not much necessity for considering that the earliest peoples of Europe — particularly the Aryans — came from Western Asia, it need not be contended that there may not have been some migrations into Europe from the countries bordering with it — north, east, and south. This, however, is a point of considerable difficulty, for various reasons. But migrations and invasions are probably long-standing institutions among the human race ; and there is no saying whether these countries may not have sent colonists westwards and northwards from time to time during the early stages of European development. Yet, if so, such colonists seem somewhat difficult of identification, as to any great extent differing from the prevailing European types.

As is well known, ethnologists have long identified certain forms of head with the various stages of man's development in Europe, such as the ' Cro-Magnon,' the ' Canstadt,' the ' Neanderthal,' etc. The terms ' dolicho- cephaUc ' (long-headed), ' brachy-cephalic ' (broad-headed), ' ortho - cephalic ' (right - headed), and ' mesa - cephalic ' (medium-headed), are used to denote various head forms. Generally speaking, however, heads are usually referred to in this connection as ' long ' or ' short,' as the case may be. There has been an idea among certain scientists that long heads and long barrows and round heads and round barrows have generally been found to follow each other, and there may be something in this ; but I do not think it has yet been established that there has ever been a race of which it could be said that they were either long- headed or broad-headed, except to at most a predominating extent. Thus the place of a race or of an individual in the scale of head-formation is best determined by the applica- tion of what is known as the cephalic index, which ' means

8 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

the proportion the breadth of a head bears to its length. Thus a cephahc index of seventy-five means that the breadth of a skull giving that index in its measurements is in the ratio of three-fourths to its length.' A skull with an index of over eighty is ' broad ' ; one with an index of under seventy-five ' long ' ; and one with an index of between seventy-five and eighty ' medium.' But it must be obvious that the formation of the skull — ^though admittedly per- sistent— is subject to circumstance and environment like any other part of the human constitution. Man is made up of systems, and these systems are certain to develop or become more or less disused under the influences of the conditions regulating the life of a person or a people. After all is considered, there is not so much, perhaps, in head form as has been made of it. The true test is one of mentality. There are usually a few leading ideas which actuate a man or a nation, and, in the latter case, the crowd, whatever the various physical features, as a rule follow the leader, and contribute to the general character of the civilisation which prevails. At the present moment in the British Isles the principles of civilisation which certainly have sprimgfrom the fairer people among us appear to be in the ascendency, while it is suspected strongly that the prevalence of nigres- cence— of which also an index (the calculations of which are on a basis of greater or lesser darkness of skin, eyes, and hair) has been made and applied — is increasing. It is from the impress of mind only that the true places of the various peoples that have given birth and growth to any civilisation can be properly and correctly determined. Thus the old and once popular divisions of the human race into * Caucasian ' or white ; * Mongolian ' or yellow ; * Ethiopian ' or black ; * Malayan' or brown ; * American ' or red, while serviceable enough as a geographical classification, must be considered as falling short of the anthropological system now in vogue, which addresses itself to the interpretation of the mind of races as well as to the observation of physical features. It is found thus that civilisation is really a product of mind,

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 9

that ebbs and flows, that has its cycles and its periodocities — always making for improved adaptations of knowledge and experience, and for the elevation of the plane on which humanity exercises its functions from age to age. In this process, while one form of civilisation always seems to prevail, contributions to it from diverse sources are of enormous importance ; and this has been the case in the British Isles in a pre-eminent manner by the influence of the Celtic mind from time to time upon the developments of Saxonic civilisation as it grew.

I now come to my second subject — The Celts, who and what are they ? — a question which has puzzled ethno- logists for ever so long, and one in regard to which there would seem still to be considerable differences of opinion. The difficulty chiefly arises from the circumstance that the Celts of history — the people referred to by early writers as Celts even down tiU within the Christian era — are generally described as fair or akin thereto in physical features, where- as, as is well known, the Celt of more modern times has been found to partake more of the darker features found in the country as a whole. Mr. Rolleston says : ' To take a physical characteristic alone, the more Celtic districts of the British Islands are at present marked by darkness of complexion, hair, etc. They are not very dark, but they are darker than the rest of the kingdom. But the true Celts were certainly fair. Even the Irish Celts of the twelfth century are described by Giraldus Cambrensis as a fair race.' The same author in the same paragraph says : ' To begin with, we must dismiss the idea that Celtica was ever inhabited by a single, pure,'and homogeneous race. The true Celts, if we accept on this point the carefully studied and elaborately argued conclusions of Dr. T. Rice Holmes [the American anthropologist, in Ccesar's Conquest of GauT]y supported by the unanimous voice of antiquity, were a tall, fair race, warlike and masterful, whose place of origin (as far as we can trace them) was somewhere about the sources of the Danube, and who spread their dominion both by

10 THE CELTIC REVIEW

conquest and by peaceful infiltration over Mid-Europe, Gaul, Spain, and the British Isles. They did not exter- minate the original prehistoric inhabitants of these regions — palaeolithic and neolithic races, dolmen-builders and workers in bronze, — but they imposed on them their language, their arts, and their traditions, taking, no doubt, a good deal from them in return, especially, as we shall see, in the important matter of religion. Among these races the true Celts formed an aristocratic and ruling caste. In that capacity they stood alike in Gaul, in Spain, in Britain, and in Ireland, in the forefront of armed opposition to foreign invasion. They bore the worst brunt of war, of confiscation and of banish- ment. They never lacked valour, but they were not strong enough to prevail, and they perished in far greater propor- tion than the earlier populations whom they had themselves subjugated. But they disappeared also by mingling their blood with these inhabitants, whom they impregnated with many of their own noble and virile qualities. Hence it comes that the characteristics of the peoples called Celtic in the present day, and who carry on the Celtic tradition and language, are in some respects so different from those of the Celts of classical history, and the Celts who produced the literature and art of ancient Ireland, and in others so strikingly similar.' While this is a most excellent presenta- tion of a difficult question, I respectfully submit that I believe that the people or peoples with whom originated, and who developed, the characteristics which have all along been associated with Celticism, are still with us in very large proportions. It is certainly difficult to reconcile Celticity as a whole with the ethnic features of the peoples with whom it has been found, and stiU is found, associated. But the difficulty is greatly exaggerated if we attempt to account for Celticism as the product of anything approach- ing an individual, comparatively unmixed race, or for Celts as represented by any single people. Since, at any rate, the evolution of the Celts west of the Danube — and that was not yesterday — I think it is absolutely certain that they

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 11

have been a mixed race in a very considerable measure. Mr. RoUeston makes a very significant note in connection with his summing up which is of interest here. He says : ' The ancients were not very close observers of physical characteristics. They describe the Celts in almost exactly the same terms as those which they apply to the Grermanic races. Dr. Rice Holmes is of opinion that the real differ- ence, physically^ lay in the fact that the fairness of the Germans was blond, and that of the Celts red.' It is almost certain that the ancient writers were not close or accurate observers. They frequently used mere local names for tjrpical purposes. Caesar's well-known reference seems fairly definite, but it has been pointed out that it is only partially applicable. He says : ' All Gaul is divided into three parts, one inhabited by the Belgae, another by the Aquitanians, and the third by the people who give them- selves in their own language the name of Celts. They all differ from each other in language, customs, and laws.' This, it is obvious, is much more territorial than ethnologic in analysis, and the reference is only helpful after all. There is an unfortunate degree of insufficiency about it as to the mental aspect of the question ; and this is the real test. It is the culture strain that actually counts in determining raciological results. The most probable solution of this great historical puzzle seems to be that the Celts in very early times were a strong nationality occupying very largely the great strip of country extending from the Danube to Spain, not by any means an aboriginal or an individual race, but, as I should think, essentially a mixed and well- blended population. I say essentially, because their terri- tory lay between the basin of the Mediterranean in the south, and the basin of the Baltic in the north, which at a period in the world's history, long prior to any we can now form an approximate conception of, were distributing centres of social, economic, and political activities. From these centres ramified in various directions — north, east, south, and west respectively, streams of immigrants and colonists

12 THE CELTIC REVIEW

from time to time, and to those movements of human families must be ascribed the peopling of Europe, in any case with the races now found there, except to the extent that the non- Aryan elements already dealt with entered into the racial constitution of the country. This would seem to be borne out in great measure by the requirements of ethnological science. There are, broadly speaking, in Europe as a whole just two predominating or fundamental colours — the dark and the fair. All others are simply differences, and shades of differences, between these two. It is well known that an attempt has been made to estabhsh an individuahty for red among the hair colours of Europe, but I do not consider that a good case has been made out for the contention by any means. Of the Mediterranean nations it has always been found characteristic — and still is — that nigrescence in the matter of colours prevails there ; while of the Baltic regions it is equally true that the fairer peoples have always been — and still are — found associated therewith. There are exceptions, of course, such as a con- siderable representation of the fair in certain parts of Italy, for instance, and similarly a distinct and pronounced ele- ment of the dark types in the northern latitudes. Who has not heard of the swarthy Vikings ? But these are trace- able to settlements and migrations, and go far to confirm the truth of the contention that the peoples of Central Europe mainly must have been undergoing a process of race mixture and evolution from a period far back into the prehistoric past. It is not at all impossible that there may have been frequent admixtures of what might be considered typically fair, dark, or xanthous (red) peoples from neigh- bouring mountains and plains — peoples that from a certain degree of isolation may have developed a peculiarity of in- dividuality all their own. This, indeed, is quite consistent with some of the best theories in the field, but their effect upon the people who made up the big bulk of the population now under review would have been compara- tively small. I think something similar may be postulated

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 13

as to the languages of Europe. The Aryan tongues divide themselves naturally into the Latin tongues of the south, roughly speaking, and the Teutonic of the north, excluding those languages already referred to as non- Aryan.

It would seem, then, not far from probabihties that the Celt on the Continent, let us say, was a product of racial evolution partaking of the dark and fair colours more or less pecuUar to Europe, in varying proportions — fairer roughly the further eastwards and northwards they are found, and darker the nearer they come to the south and the westerly coast — the latter partaking more of the features of the earlier inhabitants, whose myths, legends, religious beliefs, customs and superstitions had survived in sub- stantial and material measure, while their language would not have all disappeared though being largely superseded by the Celtic, which, as has always been indicated — and Dr. Rice Holmes confirms the suggestion — is more closely akin to Latin than to the Teutonic as a tongue. We may, perhaps, leave the continental Celts here now, postulating that they were, on the whole, a well-mixed people, and that mention of them by ancient writers as fair and red had reference to the more inland and northerly, while the darker and those inhabiting the westerly and coast countries were substantially the Celtiberians, or the Ibero-Celts, of the old world.

After all that has been explained in regard to the Celts on the continent of Europe, it wiU be fairly easy to follow me in what I have to say as to Celticism in the British Isles. But to get a start I must once more touch hghtly on con- tinental history. To account for the peopling of the British Islands by the principal elements entering into their present- day population, we must understand that these came here in successive movements from across the Channel. It is most probable that the darker people were the first to arrive. For one thing they were nearer. But why should there be a movement at all ? Well, that is an important question. I believe the movement was necessary. If we

14 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

study those movements of peoples from time to time to our own islands we find, I think, that in most cases the darker people gave way before their fairer conquerors. This is the general rule, at any rate in regard to the earlier race- movements we know of. In continental Celtland, peace did not always reign. There are traces of early disturb- ances in the more northerly provinces which eventually would appear to have led to a rupture with their Teutonic neighbours, and I believe that in course of time, and when the golden age of the Celts had passed, the Teutons pressed the Celts from the north westwards. The fairer or xanthous Celt, after contact with his more practical enemy, in turn pressed the darker and more dreamy Ibero-Celt, who made way into this country, to be followed in turn by the other and driven from the plains and the best land to the hills and the forests. This would appear to have been the order and sequence of those events. Long after the time now referred to the Romans came in the same fashion ; the Saxons, the Danes, and Normans followed, each driving the earlier invader further and further into the mountain fastnesses. Those dark incomers, who first most likely came over to Britain, brought with them a civilisation and a language which possibly differed considerably from those possessed by the later and fairer followers — the language in dialect and minor features principally. This later in- comer had in his constitution more of the race elements which developed Saxonic characteristics of a still later time. While not by any means Teutonic to begin with, he had mixed largely with the Teuton, and had imbibed something of his more practical and more worldly-wise ways and means of life. Pressed westward by the Teutonic aggrandise- ment and influence — and the Teuton's expanding propen- sities have always been a prohfic source of history-making — he carried with him something of what he had learned ; and when he arrived in Britain he was in possession of a much more advanced degree of civihsation than his darker and more peaceful brother. He might not indeed inaptly be

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 15

designated the Germano-Celt as distinguished from the Ibero-Celt. He was himself — or at any rate included the type that was — the progenitor of those tall, reddish men — the Caledonians — described by Tacitus, and of that type of strong, powerful variety found numerous in Central Scot- land, and distinguishable till this day. He may not have come into Britain at the same place as the earlier settler. He would probably have landed further north.

Ireland might be considered as entitled to some separate treatment here ; but as I shall be dealing somewhat more fully with that island later on, I will only now say that Erin was peopled at the time by a population substantially the same as in Britain, except that the fairer Celts or the Caledonians did not enter so largely into its racial con- stitution unless perhaps in the north, and that its peoples included probably a larger proportion of the earlier colonists from the Continent, and not impossibly a direct incursion, or more than one, from Northern Spain. Ethnologic ally the elements were otherwise fundamentally much similar in Britain and Ireland.

16 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE GAELIC VERSION OF THE THEBAID OF STATIUS

Professor Mackinnon

{Continued from vol. viii. page 233)

GAELIC TEXT

Imthusa imorro na Tiabanda. Ro gabh ecla adbul mor ciniuda cathracha Cathim o t' cualadar ler tinol na n-Grec da n-indsaigi. Ro^ thochastail iarum Etiocles co h-admall ^ anindech na Tiauanda do chosnum a cathrach Foi. 9b 1. ris na Grecaib. Acht chena, ni ua subach so-menmnach lucht na Tebi re tindscetal in tachair sin. Acus ni roibi algius cathaigti ac duini do Tiauandaib in tan sin, uair ua senta so-thoglaigi muir a cathrach. Acus batar snima aile imda ^ orro do neoch ua mid * an imshnim inna cath do chur. Acus ge ead ^ ar abba sin tanic conf ad catha na ^ crideadaib na Tiauanda do chosnum a ciniuda. Acus ni do medugadh airechtais in rig Etiocles air ua miscais leo uiU'' e in fer na' tocla .t. Polinices. Acus ua h-e samail Etiocles mar bis fael craesach confadach itir ceithrib ar n-a comach and. Dar les ar teiched conlenfatais oegaireaga na tret tre n-marbtha sin e uaden.

Acus ua tuillead re h-adfuath do na Tiauandaibh in clu digair dian-scelach ac scailead seel na n-Grec ^ doib. Uair ro indisfead fear ann marc-sluag gasraige Grec do roctain co bruach srotha Asopis, no co sHab so-imthechta * Citeron, no co tulchaib tond-glasa Temeson i comfhocus na Tebi. Acus ro linsadar derb-airdedda ^° duaibsecha dirimi in talmain uili, conf aictis ^^-sium na srotha 'na sruthanaib f ala tre thaidbsib n-aislingthi, acus conlabraidis torathair balba bruidide ac tairgi ^^ tren-uilc do Thiauandaib as gach

* Eg. omits. * adhbaZ. 3 imda aile. * mbid.

' cidhedh. « a. 7-7 imun fer ina. ' o Grecaib.

• Eg. omits. '" airighedha. " confaicidh. " tairngire.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 17

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Now ^ as to the proceedings of the Thebans. Very great fear took possession of the tribes of the city of Cadmus when they heard of the great muster of the Greeks to attack them. Thereupon Ethiocles with unstable and dis- turbed mind summoned the Thebans to defend their city against the Greeks. But the people of Thebes did not con- template the entering upon that struggle with a joyous or light heart. There was not at the time a man among them who had any desire for war, for the walls of their city were old and easy to destroy. And many other cares occupied their minds, which increased their anxiety regarding this war. Yet though this was so, a rage for war took posses- sion of the minds of the Thebans to defend their people. They cared not about extending the dominion of Etiocles, for they all hated him more than they did the invader Polinices. And Etiocles (himself) was Uke an open- jawed furious wolf among herds after he had devoured them. He thought that if he ran away the very herds of the flocks which he destroyed would pursue him and slay him.

It was an addition to the horror of the Thebans, the alarming quickly-spreading report that circulated the move- ments of the Greeks among them. One related that the cavalry of the Grecian host had (already) reached the bank of the river Asopis, or the easily traversed hill of Cithaeron, or the green knolls of Teumeson, nigh to Thebes. Ominous and numerous tokens of evil filled the whole land. They saw in visions of the night the rivers

1 Th., iv. 345. VOL. IX. B

THE CELTIC REVIEW

Fol. 9b 2.

aird. Acus adclos daibsium tre thaidbsi ban-sacart dasach- tach do muntir Baich, do dei in fhina, ac faistine sechnon na cathrach con-ebairt : ' Is olc a n-(d)enai,^ a Baich,' ^ ar si, *na h-eicne-sea do lecun ^ ar na Tiabandaib. Acus adchiu-sa da tharb trena tnuthacha concindet * oen cenel acus oen atharda ac tachar acus each dib ac marbad a ceh. .t. Etiocles', ar si, ' is olc a n-denai tachar ua n-ni nach duthchu dit na do ^ brathair .t. do Polineces.' Acus ro bai 'na tast as a h-aithli sin.

Acht cheana ra sir Etiocles celgcach crithnaigthech faistine do denam do ar in fisid. Acus is airi ro furail air cunnail cian-aesta .t. ar Tiresias. Acus ge m-mad dall in dnii sin ua deg fhisig. Acus is airi ro dalladh ® in duine sin : ' bliadna ro bai-sium 'na mnai tre mirbail na n-dei CO tarla ^ imresain itir loib acus lunaind, ban-dei na toili coUaigi — ingen do Saturn in n-Iunaind ^ caem cumachtach — CO n-ebairt loib comma mo algius sar-thoili nam m(b)an na na fear. Adrubairt imorro lunaind roppa brec. Acus ro aentaigset ua oen fhiadain .t. Tiresias, uair ro bai-sium sel 'na mna acus sel 'na fhir. Acus adrubairt rabba mo ailgius nam m-ban na ailgius na fer. Acus ua fergach ri h-Iunaind sin, acus ro bean a shuili uada-sum. Acus tucastar loib fis faistine do-sum 'na agaid sin. Nocho tre enaib na tre idbartaib ar altoir do nid in fer sin faistine, acht tre tuduscad ^^ anmand a h-ifren, uair is mo ro creitfea doib.

Et ro erig Tiresias acus a ingen Manto acus Ethiocles araen ^^ ris, acus tangadar is ^^ an fidnemed ^^ f asaig ua comnesa doib. Acus imun fidnemid ^^ sin ^* ro bai in mag ar silastair Cathim mac Agenoir fiacla na nathrach feacht riam roim(e). Acus contechit duine ^^ acus indili tres in seiselbi n-demnaig n-adfuathmair bis fos is a n-inat sin. Acus da roindi Tiresias ix clascha comleathna and sin, acus ro linaid leis iad do chaerchaib duba dath-chaema in

' denaidh. 5 Eg. adds do. • Eg. adds sin. »3-" Eg. omits.

« Baith.

• Ed. MS. da .». uad.

^* thoduscad.

^* Eg. adds a.

' ligen. * concindedh.

^ Eg. omits. * contarla.

" araen Etiocles. " MS. as. ^^ daine.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 19

running blood. Dumb brutish monsters spoke and pro- phesied great disaster to the Thebans from all quarters. There was a rumour that a furious mad priestess of Bacchus, the god of wine, was prophesying throughout the city and saying : ' Evil you have done, Bacchus,' said she, ' to have permitted these calamities to fall upon the Thebans. I see two strong contentious bulls sprung from the same stock and the same soil fighting, and each of them killing the other. And Etiocles,' said she, ' you act unjustly towards your brother PoUnices in quarrelling with him about what is not more yours than his.' She was silent thereafter. Howbeit^ the wily, trembling Etiocles sought prophecy from a seer, and he whom he consulted was the wise and very aged Tiresias. Though this wizard was blind he was a good prophet. The cause of his bUndness was thus : during a year in which he was, through a miracle of the gods, a woman, there arose a disputation between Jove and Juno the goddess of lust. A daughter of Saturn was this beautiful and powerful Juno. Jove said that the love pleasures of women exceeded those of men. Juno, on the other hand, declared that it was not so. They agreed to refer the matter to one umpire, Tiresias, seeing that he was for a period a woman, and for a period a man. He declared that the pleasures of women were greater than those of men. Juno was wroth at this, and she plucked out Tiresias's eyes, but Jove gave him the gift of prophecy by way of compensation. It was not by birds nor by sacrifices upon altars that Tiresias made prophecy, but by raising the souls (of the dead) from hell, for he had greater faith in these.

Then arose Tiresias with his daughter Manto and Etiocles along with him, and they went to the desert sacred grove nearest to them. It was around this sacred grove that the field in which Cadmus, son of Agenor, sowed the dragon's teeth a long time previously, was. Men and cattle avoided it because of the devilish horrid din that ever was in that

1 TL, iv. 406.

20 THE CELTIC REVIEW

n-onoir na n-dei n-ifrennaidi.^ Ac us ba h-olc re lucht in tiri a met da chaithead d'a ceithrib ris na h-idbartaib sin. Acus ro doirtestar T(i)resias fleda fina ar na clasachaib comlinta sin. Acus ro bai ac eadarguidi na n-dei n-ifrenn- aidi n-aduathmar .t. Oirc, acus Proserpiana a ban-chele ind fhir sin, acus Tresifone aslaicthe chur uada, acus Caroin co(m)thnuthach port-immarchoirthid na n-anmannand dar sruth Stig,^ co-tudusctis anmanna do Tiresias d'indisi ^ firindi do. Acus ro gab aduath adbal Ethiocles ri dasacht Tiresias ac iarraid aitgi ar muntir n-demnaig n-ifrind.* Acus o ra airig Tiresias sin ro fergaiged e re muntir n-ifrind, ar a fhat leis ro bai gun nech da chur da^ indsaigid a h-ifrinn. Acus ro labair in ban-shacart, a ingen .t. Manto : ' Ac so chucut ' ar si, 'an disi ^ airechta adbana esfhuiligi d' anmandaib i comfhocus da a h-ifrenn, acus ro h-oslaicit clusala aduathmara'^ ifrind anosa acus adchim-sea sosta sir-dorcha,*^ acus aitdeda ^ anaibne ichtir ifrind, acus adchim-si,' ar si,^ ' srotha suaibrenacha sruth-glasa ifirn .t. Acheron acus Flegedon acus Stix, adciu-sa dan ^^ Pluton acus Prosserpina acus brithemain ecerta ^^ ifirn .t. Minos ^^ acus Eacus ^^ acus Rodomantus, tri meic loib. Acus is amlaid co beraid bretha .i. cilamd ^* comthomais acco acus lecana finna ann acus lecan(a) duba, acus in tan ticed in lecan find annis ^^ ar tus ua fir in fuigell, acus in tan ticed in lecan dub annis ^^ ua h-anfhir in breth. Acus is lor indisin,' ar si ^^ Manto, ' do thoratharaib ifirn dit.' ^^ ' Is leor imorro, a ingen,' ar si ^^ Tiresias, * cia nach fitir in fian ata ar in 20 coraid ar Sisfiphus^i a. cloch muilind do chur an agaid shlebe acus a toitim ina cend dorisi.^^ Tifius coraid ro triall eiccin for mathair Apaill .t. ar Latona,^^ isi a plan an ifirn sebac aca crem a cridi ac forbairt ann. Gair chucaind, a ingen,' ar se, ' na h-anmanda Grecda acus Tiauanda fuil

1 n-infernda.	2 Stix.	^ iansin.	* n-ifernaidhi.
* dan.	•^ anosa.	^"^ Eg. omits.	^ aigeda.
9 MS. se.	*" Eg. omita.	" egaracha.	12 Miaios.
" Echus.	^* ciulurnn.	*° ann.	1^ ann.
" ar sa.	»8 deit.	** ar sa.	^ Eg. omits.

31 Sisphus. 22 Eg. dorididhi. 23 Ed. has the name in red ink.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 21

place. Tiresias made nine trenches of like breadth there, and filled them with black sheep of beautiful colour in honour of the gods of hell. The people of the place grumbled at the number of their cattle that were consumed in these sacrifices. Tiresias further poured out banquets of wine and filled these trenches, and was praying the horrid gods of hell, i.e. Orcus and his wife Proserpina and Tersiphone, to issue their commands and to order grim Charon, the ferry- man of souls across the river Styx, to rouse up souls who should reveal truth to Tiresias. Vast terror took hold of Etiocles when he saw the frenzy of Tiresias when praying to the devilish inhabitants of hell. When Tiresias observed this he became angry with the folks of hell because they delayed so long in sending one to him from thence. Then his daughter Manto the priestess spoke : ' There approach you now,' said she, ' noble (?) bloodless companies of souls quite near from hell. The dread prisons of hell have now been opened, and I see the ever dark dwellings and joyless abodes of lowest hell ; and I see the smoking (?) grey rivers of hell, Acheron, Phlegethon and Styx ; and I see besides Pluto and Proserpina and the unjust judges of hell, Minos and Aeacus and Rhadamanthus, three sons of Jove. And these deliver judgments after this manner : ^ they have urns of equal size in which there are little stones, some white, some black. When a white stone comes out first the judg- ment is just ; when a black one the decision is unjust. And that suffices,' said Manto, ' to tell thee of the horrors of hell.' ' It suffices indeed,' ^ said Teresias, * for who does not know of the punishment of the champion Sis3rphus, who must roll a millstone up hill which ever falls back again ; and of Tityos the hero who offered violence to Latona, the mother of Apollo, and whose punishment in hell is a hawk pecking at his heart, which maintains its vigour. Call to me, girl,' said he, 'the souls of Greeks

^ This passage is interpolated ; cf. Irische Texte, iv. p. 191, where three stones are used, white, black, and speckled, the last denoting half-guilty. * Th., iv. 536.

22 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ann, acus indis dam an delb acus an denam, acus cuich as neasa dib.' ^ ' Atat ^ ann,' ar si,^ ' Cathim mac Agenoir acus Ermione a ban-chele, acus ceithri h-ingina Cathim .t. Semile p«i. lOa 1. acus Antonoe acus Inno acus Agabe co n-a clandaib. Acus atcim-si,' ar si, ' mairb truaga na Tiuanda and so acus na n-Grec ar chena.'

Et o darat Manto teist acus tuariscbail na n-anmand leith ar leth, ro erig Tiresias acus ro chraith a chend, acus nir gab lorg 'na laim ger bo senoir. ' Bi tast,* a ingen,' ar se, ' da uiccim-sea ^ in ni bias do Grecaib acus do Tiauan- daib uair ^ de sin, acus bid mesa do Grecaib,' ar se, ' in tachar-sa na do Tiauandaib. Uair is toirrsech,' ar se, ' a fuil do rigaib Grec a n-ij&rn ac tairrngiri thoirrsech da fuil beo dib.' Acus as iat so na riga '^ ua toirrsech in n-ifirn in tan sin .t. Appas garb gruganach, acus Foraneus cendais cumach- tach, acus Pelops crechtach cendtescta, acus Oenamaus feochair fir(f)eargach, ocus Portus occal eccendais. Acus is do side^ ro ban-cheU Stenobe® darad grad da les-mac .t. do Belorofons.i^ Acus o ro emig in gilla comriachtain ria ro chosait-si re athair ^^ e, acus a dubairt eiccen do thobairt fuirri. Acus to fergaided Pontus re Pellorofons cor cuir^^ e d'innsaigid athar Stenobe. Acus ro bai torathar aicci side .t. Cimera. Acus ro cuired Ballorofons ar in n-eoch, ar Pegais, d'ag(b)ail a oigeda do cum Chimera. Acus adrochair an torathar sin ^^ lesium. Ra h-easchrad ^* e da eoch fein, acus adbath.'

Atchondairc Tiresias in caecaid ^^ curad ro marb Tid do Tiauandaib, ocus ^^ adchondairc-sium Laius mor, athair ^^ Eidip, itir na h-anmandaib. Acus ro bai ac iarraid faistine fair do denam d'atiib .t. do Eithocles, do rig na Tebi, acus do Pohneces mac Edip. Acus ro lauair Laius : ' cid 'ma n-iarthai ormsa, a Tiresias, faistine do denum do lucht na Tebi, uair is adbul d'ulc do ronsat rimsa, acus gidid,' ar se, ' indesait ^^ daibsi a n-a cuala o deib ifrind ma dala na

^ Eg. adds dam. * Ata. ^ ^g „ se. * Ba tost. ^ tuicim-ai.

^ Eg. omits. "^ righdha. * siden. • Seaobe. " Pelarofons.

" h-athair. " cur o ro cuir. *^ Eg. omits. ** eacradh.

»* 1. at. '« Ed. has .1., Eg. has 7. i^ mac. ** innesat.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 23

and Thebans that are present, and tell me their form and build, and which is nearest to me.' ' There are here,' said she, ' Cadmus, son of Agenor, and Hermione his wife, and the four daughters of Cadmus, Semele, Autonoe, Ino, and Agave, with their children; and I see,' said she, * the wretched dead of the Thebans here, as also those of the Greeks.'

When ^ Manto gave the character and description of the souls on either side, Tiresias rose up and shook his head. He did not take a staff in his hands, though an old man. ' Be silent, girl,' said he, ' I perceive what will happen to Greeks and Thebans in this conflict. The Greeks will fare worse,' said he, ' than the Thebans in this encounter. For the Grecian kings who are in hell,' added he, ' are sad, presaging the mournful fate of those living. And these are the kings who were grieving in hell at the time — viz.. Abas, fierce and stern ; Pheroneus, gentle and powerful ; Pelops, full of wounds and decapitated; Oenomaus, fierce and wrathful ; and Proetus, cruel and merciless. Proetus's wife was Sthenoboea, who fell in love with her stepson Bellerophon. When the youth declined her advances she accused him to his father, alleging that he offered violence to her. Proetus was wroth at Bellerophon and sent him to the father of Sthenoboea. He had a monster named Chimaera, and Bellerophon was put upon the horse Pegasus, in order to come by his death in fighting Chimaera. But the monster fell by his hand. (Bellerophon) was (afterwards) thrown by his own horse and he perished.'

Tiresias saw the fifty Theban champions whom Tydeus slew. And he saw the great Laius, father of Oedipus, among the dead, and he asked him to prophesy regarding his grandsons, Etiocles, king of Thebes, and Polinices, son of Oedipus. And Laius said : ' Why should you ask me, Tiresias, to make prophecy to the people of Thebes ? for vast are the evils which they have done to me. Still,' said he, ' I shall tell what I heard from the deities of hell

> Th., ir. 579.

24 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Tiauanda. Is ^ cinti tra,' ar se, ' concingit laich lutJimara Lerna .i. na Grecci dirma di-airmidi do chathaib commora do thogail Tebi. Et ^ is cinti coscor ac Tiauandaib do thurus gasraide Grec do gairiud ^ na Tebi. Acus ni lecfet Tiauanda do na Grecaib aitt na h-inad do lose ad na d' adlacad * do neoch marfer ^ dib i tir na Tebi. Acus na bid a ecla ® ortsu,' ar se ' Laius, ' a Ethiocles, rigi do gobail dat brathair, do Polineces, uair gid feochair fuabartach in fer sin, noch ^ ua ri ar in Teb co brath.' Acus o ra labair Laius sin atrochair in n-(i)firind,® acus ro fhac co cummas- cadha cundabartacha scela na n-Grec da eis.

Imtusa imorro na n-Grec do berar os aird. And so tangatar reompo co coiUtib nua-glasa Nem. Acus ua dirmi di-fhoillsigud in deag-sluaig sin im trascrad acus im Foi. lOa 2. thogail na Tebi leo. Baich, imorro, dei in n-fhina, ro tinoil sideic na ciniuda gaimschedacha Geittecda ^® o sleib Eim ^^ acus o sliab Otras ^^ acus o sleb Rodoip do chum na Tebi da forithin, uair ropi Semile, ingen rig na Tebi .t. Chathim meic Agenoir, mathair Baich. Uair in tan ro loisced Semile ac comriachtain do loib ria ir-richt tened ro thairring loib Baich as a broind ar tesbaid ^^ mis da h-inbaid,^* acus ro h-ailestar loib Baich a m-bun a sliasta co cenn mis, acus tuc do lucht na Tebi da h-altrom ar sin e.^^ Conid imi sin ro bai Baich ac fortacht na Tebi. Acus is amlaid ro bai-sium is na long-portaib sotla so-mescada sin acus nathracha nemnecha ac imarchur carpait Baith. Acus ua curita lucht carpait Baich, acus at e and so a n-anmand .t. Nert acus Fuasnad, Ferg acus Faitcius. Acus o t'chondairc Baich na cloichtigi cumascda ciach acus na neoill lan^^-dorcha luaitherda re trethan in t-(s)luig os choilltib croeb^'-glasa Nem, acus dellrad na n-arm sliptha sleaman-gorm ri ruithnib na greni glan-shoillsi ua socht mor leosum ^^ gan tendad a ^® tinoil tachair in agaid Grecach. Acus adubairt Baich

1 as.	2 0CU8.	^ do egairug.	* anac.
^ muirbhfhither.	* h-ecla.	^ Eg. omits.	* nocha.
® anirn.	" Getecda.	» Ein.	" Otris.
" t«8tail.	" mvaadh.	« MS. l	»6 Eg. omits.
^^ inam.	'* leisim.	19 in.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 25

regarding the affairs of the Thebans. It is certain, then,' said he, 'that the intrepid heroes of Lerna, i.e. of Greece, will advance in numberless multitudes arranged in huge battahons to destroy Thebes. And it is certain that the Thebans will conquer the Grecian braves in their march to the destruction of Thebes. And the Thebans will not give to the Greeks a place or stead in which to burn or bury those who will be slain in Theban land. And Etiocles,' added Laius, ' be not afraid to keep possession of your brother Polinices's kingdom, for fierce and formidable though that man be, he shall never be king of Thebes.' When Laius thus spoke he descended into hell, and left behind him the story of the Greeks in confusion and doubt. The proceedings of the Greeks are related now.^ By this time they proceeded forward to the fresh and grey woods of Nemaea. And the strong hosts were confident from their great numbers (of their ability) to raze and destroy Thebes. Bacchus, however, the god of wine, collected the tribes of wintry Getae from the hill of Haemus, and from the hill of Othrys, and from the hill of Rhodope, to Thebes to aid it. For Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Thebes, was Bacchus' s mother. When Semele was burnt by the embrace of Jove in the guise of fire, Jove drew Bacchus from her womb, her period having failed by a month, and nourished him in the thick end of his thigh for a month. Thereafter he gave Bacchus to the Thebans to be reared. Whence it was that Bacchus aided the Thebans. And thus was Bacchus among these haughty, easily excited camps, with venomous serpents drawing his chariot. Brave were the attendants upon his chariot, and these are their names, — Power and Wrath, Rage and Fear. When Bacchus saw the confused masses of mist and the very dark and flying clouds caused by the march of the hosts over the grey forests of Nemaea, and the gleam of the burnished smooth-blue weapons from the rays of the bright- shining sun, he was greatly tempted to collect his forces

' Th., iv. 646.

26 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ri ^ muntir : ' Bid bar tast, a oco,' ^ ar se,^ * acus caiscid bar seiselbi. Ro cindsead na Grec(a),' ar se,^ ' dianscailiud na Tebi imum-si,' * ar se,^ 'acus is i mo les-mathair-sea^ lunaind chomoras na catha sin chucum-sa. Acus da rigne ulcu aili ^ rim remi .t. mo mathair Simile do loscad, acus ata anosa ac ^ techt co Teib da milliud. Dober-sa, ^ imorro,' ar se, ' indnell ^ furig ecin ar na slogaib.' Acus tanic-sium remi co dian tindeasnach * ar in mag in n-agaid in t-(s)loig. Acus ba medon don lo ind n-uair ^^ sin. Acus ua tend tesbach in talam ri taidlanig na greni and sin. Ra gairit dei acus ban-dei na n-es acus na n-abann cuicci acus adubairt riu : ' tabraid,' ar se, ' fial falaig dar inbearaib uisci na Greci ^^ uili coma lathraid Ian tirma a n-inada da n-eis. Acus di- chlethid ^^ uirri choUti Nem ar tus. Acus dober-sa a chomain chomadais daib-si a ris,' ar se. Acus ni luaithi adrubairt- sium sin na ra tirmaidit lacha acus luath-aibne, tobair acus turlaigi in tiri, coma caeiti conairi inada na n-uisceda .t. Lerna acus Larceus, Inacus acus Caradrus, Erasinus acus Asterion. Acht chena ro bai oen smith ^^ ua clithir diam- ruib na coilliud gan a uisci do tradad^* .c. Langia.^^ Acus ba h-uathad eolaig in n-usci sin.

Cid tra acht rogabastar itai ^^ adual na Grecu co na fetais ^' a sceith do chongbail na (a) luirecha lasamna d'imur- cur,i8 acus ni faeltais ^* a n-eich an imochur na miled sin ris in la,sud lan-itad bai orro itir ech(a) acus du(i)ni. Acus ro F»i. lOb 1. chuir Adraist taiscelta ar gach leth d'iarraid usci .i. co sruth n-Amemon acus co Sien siblach sir-uar.^'^ Acus ni fuaradar ba(i)nni usci i n-inud dib. Acus ro ailsed ar na deib usci, acus nir sailsed uisci ^^ das ^^ na derthain ^^ ar tal- main tre bithu.

Acus 2* ind ua(i)r 2* da uadar ar sechran sechnon na cailli

1 Eg. adds a.	" occa.	^ Ed. has si.	* umum-sa.
« si.	* Eg. omita.	7 a.	^~' Eg. omits.
* dasachtach.	10 tan.	^' na n-Grec.	»2 dithl-id.
" smth.	1* traghad.	*^ Eg. adds a ainm.	" itu.
" fetfadis.	" imcur.	>» fetfadis.	^ fuar.
" Eg. omits.	" dfds.	" d'ferthain.	24-24 mar.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 27

and attack the Greeks. And Bacchus addressed his folk and said : ' Be silent, youths,' said he, ' and restrain your clamour. The Greeks have resolved to destroy Thebes because of me,' added he, ' and it is my stepmother Juno who has mustered these battalions against me, as she has done many evils to me heretofore, such as the destruction of my mother Semele by fire. And now she is advancing upon Thebes to destroy it. But I shall devise,' concluded he, ' some scheme to delay the hosts.' Bacchus then fared forward vehemently and hastily on the plain to meet the hosts. It was midday at the time, and the earth was firm and hot by the beat of the sun upon it. He summoned the gods and goddesses of the waterfalls and rivers and said to them : ' Draw ye,' said he, ' a covering screen over the estuaries of the whole of Greece, that their surfaces become thereafter perfectly dry places, and cover the borders of the Nemaean forests first. I shall thereafter make a suit- able return to you,' added he. No sooner had Bacchus spoken than the lakes and swift rivers, the wells and winter lochs of the land were dried up, so that the beds of the waters became passable roads, — in Lerna ^ and Lyrcius, and Inachus and Charadrus, Erasinus and Asterion. And yet there was one stream in the secret recesses of the forest whose waters were not dried up, viz., Langia. Few were they who knew of that stream.

Now terrible thirst seized the Greeks so that they were unable to hold their shields or carry their flaming hauberks. Nor could the horses endure the burden of the warriors, such was the burning thirst which seized horse and man. Adrastus sent scouts in every direction to search for water, — to the stream Amymone and to the swift, ever-cool Syene, but not a drop of water could be found anywhere. They asked the gods for water, but one would not think that water ever flowed or rain ever fell on the earth.

While they were wandering up and down through the wood

» Th., It. 711.

28 THE CELTIC REVIEW

atchoncadar mnai n-alaind n-ilcrothaig co dubach do- menmnach .t. Ipsifile, acus dalta derrscigthech ^ di 'na Uaim .L. Archemurus mac Ligurguis,^ Ofeltes ainm aili don mac sin. Acus ua rignaigi ro delb na h-ingine sin ger b'olc a h-indell acus a h-etgud. Acus ro socht ^ Adraist ac a faicsin, acus adubairt : ' A ban-de * coem cumachtach,' ar se, ' uair dar lind nocho do ^ delb, acht mad dellrud diada, tobair ^ foirithin eolais uisci oraind. Acus ni thobair ' loib fortacht foraind. Acus tamait ^ ac tocht do thogail Tebi, acus ni cath marbas sind, acht mad o enerti ® ittad. Acus is lor lindi do loib thussu d'ortacht uisci oraind. Acus comdaingnig-siu ar curpu-ni do chum in chatha. Acus dobertar aisceda cruid creichi^^ dit, acus dogentar idbairt ^^ gacha tuaithi dit.' Acus nir leic ind n-itu 12 dermar do-folachta labra secha sin don rig Adraist. Acus ba bana buaidirthi ^^ na n-Grec uiU ri h-eicin na h-itad sin.

Acus ro cromastar a gnuis acus adbert : ' Bid ban-dei daibsi me a Grecu, acus dan,' ar si,^* ' ata mo chairdes ris na deib ; ^^ acus ata athair maith acus atharda acum ar bunad ; ^^ acus ni lem fen in macan-sa atchithi im' laim ; acus ni ^^ biu ni is f aiti co bar f urrech,^^ acht ticid lem co h-obund co sir-sruth so-ola .t. Langia na ^^ traigend ri tart na re tesbach, acus ^^ ro chuingid ^^ druidi ^^ do thragad ar met 21 22 jg coiserctha e.' Ro chuir si a dalta uaithi ar lar gu na 23 fuirged na firu. Acus ro bai ac brecad 2* na noiden sealad co roibi in a tast, acus tanic reompo 'na deagaid sin. In maccoem sin imorro ro bi sideic ac hrisiud ^^ in n-(fh)eoir 26 ua chosaibh each re feacht, acus ro bid 2^ ac

' deTTsgnaithech.

2 Ed. gives the form Ligiirgus in Nom. and Ace, with Ligurguis frequently bat not uniformly in Gen. The form in Eg. is almost invariably Ligurius.

3 thocht. * baindi. ^ Eg. omits. ^ tauair. "^ tauair. ' atamaif. » enerte. "> acus cetradh. " idhbarta. ^^ in ita.

" a word like gniiis or ag{h)aid{h) must be supplied.

" MS. ar siad. _ "-is Eg. has athardha 7 mrdha acum.

16-16 biu-sa nis faidi ga uar feach. " nach. ^^ Eg. adds ni.

" cumaing. 20 draighthi. " anf. " gg ^dds acus.

»' conach. 24 pagod/i. *s brisiugud. *^ znfeoir. *"' uai.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 29

they saw a beautiful, handsome woman, named Hypsipyle, in sad and despondent mood, and holding by the hand a noble- looking nursling, Archemorus, otherwise named Opheltes, son of Lycurgus. Queenly was the figure of that lady, although her attire and habit were mean. Adrastus became silent at seeing her, and then spoke : ' Benign ^ and power- ful goddess,' said he, ' for it seems to us your form is not human but a divine effulgence, help us to find water, for Jove does not aid us. We are come to destroy Thebes, and now we are being slain not in battle, but through the weakness due to thirst. We shall be satisfied, though Jupiter has failed us, if you provide water for us, so that our bodies may be strengthened for battle. Gifts of cattle taken in foray will be given to you, and every tribe will make sacrifice to you.' The very great unendurable thirst did not suffer King Adrastus to speak further, and all the Greeks were pale and confused by the violence of that thirst.

Hypsipyle bent her head and said : ' I seem a goddess to you, O Greeks, and indeed,' said she, ' I am allied to the gods. I have, moreover, a noble father and a goodly ancestral heritage. This cliild which I hold by the hand is not mine. I shall, however, no longer delay you, but come with me quickly to the ever-flowing delicious river Langia, which dries not in drought nor heat. And Druids have not power to dry it up, inasmuch as it is a consecrated stream.' She laid her fosterling on the ground so as not to delay the men, and she kept soothing the infant for a little until it became quiet. Thereafter they fared forward. As for the darling boy, he was now pressing the grass under his feet, and again running about and searching and ever calling out for his nurse's breast; for at his age the little boy knew naught of avoiding danger or seeking safety.

As for the Greeks, they made straight for the water by (such) paths (as they could find) through the dense, im- passable wood. Nor did they allow the girl to go in front

1 Th., iv. 753.

30 THE CELTIC BEVIEW

siubal acus ac ^ sirium acus ac ^ sir-eigium ag iarraid chithi a muimi ^ in fecht aili. Acus ua h-aineolach d'im- gabail uilc in macan sin na d'iarraid maithiusa in tan sin.

Na Grec(a) imorro tanic ua comair dibseic ar a caethib d'iarraid in ^ n-usci ar fat na cailli dluithi do-imtheac(h)ta. Acus ni tosach sligid ro * leiged don ingin do chum in n-usci. Acus ua samalta coma focraach ifirmamint re nuall subachais in t-(s)loig sin re h-eas na h-aband, amal ^ naird acano comadug ^ in tan concingid calad. Ro thoimsed ar in n-usci na Grec(a) gan discrit cen delugad, gan uaisli gan onoir, do neoch dib da ^ cheli, cu na '^ leigtis an n-eich na (a)n arad torlem da tigemaib, ri tindenus ola in n-usci. Acus Foi. lOb 2. ua dirim trethan na tonn ri tachim ^ in tren sluaig sin ac ibi in n-usci, coma bristi na bruaichi acus coma salach sir- buaidirth(i) in n-abaind o'n cind co cheli. Acus ua h-imda deoch iarmarta ac a h-ol ann sin. Acus ua samalta coma seselbi catha 'c a commorad buredach ^ na ^^ buidne sin ac ol in n-usci. Acus labair ri do na rigaib sin ar lar medon na h-abann, acus ro bai ^^ ac beandochad in n-usci acus ac taescelad in n-inaid ir-roibe, acus ro bai 'g a molad co mor, acus adubairt: 'Ni fhacamar,' ar se, 'usci bad fherr ina in t-usci-(si), na coill uad chaime ina in choill ina (f)uil, agus nir coir,' ar se, ' sruth do chor 'na cheand.'

Et o ra chaisced a n-itaid-sium ^^ is in sruth ^^ sin ro f hacsad in n-aband, acus da ronsad sruth lecud^* da n-eachaib acus coimling da coisigib co subach so-menmnach ar na bruigib fond-glasa fermara, gor gob brig acus brogad acus borrfad, at acus annindi^^ na Grecu,^® amal concuirtis cath in n-uair sin. Acus do rindit catha dib dorisi,^'^ acus each ina inad uadein do reir uird, amal ro uadar remi. Acus ro imluaigsed imthecht coma luaithred lan-salach na moigi na imtigdis,^^ acus contaidlitis ruithni ro glana os na cath choilltib ar m-batar uastu.^^

'"* Eg. omits. ^ buimi. 3 jjg omits. * do.

'"' Eg. omits. ^ buimi. 3 jjg omits. * do.

^"^ nuall nouiredha lea combaghadh. * tar a. ^ conach.

8 toichestal. ' buaidreach. ^o nam. " ni.

*2 itu. " t-sruth. " lecon. *^ animine,

>^ na Grec. '^ doridhi. i* imchidis. *^ uadesta.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 31

of them on their way to the water. The joyous shout of the host as they came in sight of the waterfall made the firmament ring again, just like the shout of a ship's crew (in danger) of being drowned as they come in sight of harbour. The Greeks swooped down on the water indiscriminately, without respect or reverence one to another, so that neither horses nor charioteers made way for their masters, — such was their eagerness to drink. Very great was the rush of waves on the approach of the mighty host to drink the water, so that the banks of the river were trampled down, and the water from side to side became dirty and foul. Many a thirst-quenching draught was drimk there. The commotion of the host as they drank was as the din of a battalion being put in battle array. One ^ of the kings in the very centre of the river spoke and blessed the water and surveyed the place where he stood, and praised it greatly and said : ' We have not seen,' said he, ' better water or fairer forest than we have here ; and it is not meet,' added he, 'that (another) stream should mix with it.'

After they had quenched their thirst in the stream they left the river, and gave their steeds a loose rein (?), while their infantry raced joyously and vigorously along the green swards and grassy plains. The Greeks became strong and powerful and elated and proud and fiery, as if they were fighting a battle at that moment. Thereafter they were arranged in battalions, with each man in his proper place as formerly. They resumed their march, and the plains they traversed became a surface of filthy dust, and very bright shafts of light from the serried woods in which they were beat down upon them.

Then ^ Adrastus alighted at the foot of a tree, and stood in the midst of the host leaning on the spear of his son-in-law Polinices, and inquired of the girl Hypsipyle : ' Who is your father ? ' said he, ' and what is your native

» Th., iv. 831. > Ibid., v. 17.

32 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Is and sin imorro ro thoris Adraist im bun chroind acus gai a clemna Polineces ace a conguail ina theasam ^ ar lar in t-(s)luaig, acus ro iarfaid don ingin, Ipsifile : ^ ' Cia th'athair, a ingen,' ar se, ' acus ca crich is dual dit ? ' Ro ^ recair in n-ingen dosum co truag * acus co * toirrsech : ' A uasail Adraist,' ar si, ' is cruaid na gnima furailes orum d' indisin mar ro marbsad mna indsi Leimin a firu, acht misi ^ m' oenur,' ar si, ' nir marbus m' athair. Acus is lor sin do indisi,® uair ata tindenus orbsi do chum in chatha. Acht chena, is e Toaint mac Baich m' athair-sea, acus Ipsifile m' ainm fen. Acus an doiri atu ac Ligoric, do uar munter-si.' Tucadar each d' a n-airi h-i, acus ro b' ^ onorach algiusach leo a scela do cloistecht. ^Atrubairt Adraist ria-si : ' Innis do scela uili cein ^ no co roithset na daescar- shluaig tres in coilli, uair is do-imthechta h-i.

^ tseasam. - d' Ipsifile. ^ Acus ro fregair. *"'' Eg. omits.

'' Eg. adds a. '^ innisin. '' p'. ^ Eg. adds Acus.

^ gen.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 33

land ? ' The girl answered him sadly and mournfully : ' Noble Adrastus,' said she, ' cruel are the adventures which you enjoin me to relate, — how the women of the isle of Lemnos slew their men folk, save I alone,' added she, ' I did not slay my father. And it suffices to tell so much, for you haste to the war. And yet, Thoas, the son of Bacchus, is my father ; my own name is Hypsipyle, and I am here in bondage to Lycurgus, one of your people.' Every one observed her closely, and each considered it an honour and pleasure to hear her story. Adrastus said to her : ' Tell us all, while the populace are running through the wood which is difficult to traverse.'

VOL. IX.

34 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

THE HIGHLAND WIDOW Donald A. Mackenzie

A LONELY wife is Mary Beg —

Old Mary of the Moor ; ' I 'm stopping here myself,' she said,

' Yes, maybe I '11 be poor — My house it wasna empty

In days that are gone by — John, my man, he took me here, It 's here myself will die.

' Oh, few come nigh to see me now —

There 's few I '11 ken aright ; But the fairies of the moorland come —

The fairies of the night ; They '11 bring me tidings sad and glad

From many a distant shore ; And when there 's some one hastening here

They '11 hasten on before.

' Long ere a friend will reach my house

With news across the moor, I '11 hear the sound of footsteps, ah !

I '11 think it 's some one sure : I '11 hear a knocking, knocking . . .

A voice I ken will call — I '11 rise and open wide the door

When no one 's there at all.

* Oh, many a night when by the fire

I 'm spinning all alone, I '11 hear their laughter on the wind —

Maybe I '11 hear them moan. They '11 flit away like shadows.

Or shine the death-come light — The fairies of the moorland,

The fairies of the night.

* They cried aloud yon wild Yuletide

When John was drowned at sea ; Of my fine lads in foreign lands They 're whispering aye to me —

THE HOMA-^l m TUE EXCIDIUM BRITTANIAE 35

Oh, never a joy my heart knew,

And never a sorrow drear, But the fairies of the moorland

Were first to bring it here.'

THE ROMANI IN THE EXCIDIUM BRITTANIAE Rev. a. W. Wade-Evans

The kings of the Romani, says the author of the Excidium Brittaniae^ in chapter v., had acquired the empire of the world, and by their conquests had secured in the East their prima Parthorum pax, their first peace with the Parthians. This we know was in B.C. 20. Wars ceased in almost every land.

In the west, however, the advance of the Romani could not be checked even by the ocean. Crossing the channel they subjugated the whole island of Britain (what is now Scotland as well as England and Wales), meeting with no resistance owing to the unwarlike character of the Brittani, who inhabited it. This can only refer to the well-known Roman conquest of southern Britain, which was taken in hand during the reign of Claudius Caesar in a.d. 43. After subduing the whole island, not with swords but with threats, the Romani returned to Rome owing, as they said, to inopia cespitis, the poverty of the soil, leaving behind rectores,

^ The work commonly attributed to Gildas and now divided into a hundred and ten chapters comprises, in my opinion, two distinct books whose present connection is as follows : —

Epistola Gildae. Excidium Brittaniae.

(Written about a.d. 600). (Written about a.d. 700).

Ch. 1. Prefatory remarks. Ch. 2. Table of Contents.

Chs. 27-63. Denunciation of princes. Chs. 3-26. How the Brittani lost the Chs. 64-110. Denunciation of clergy. island of Britain till God granted

them victories and peace.

The ' Table of Contents ' of the latter work has been ingeniously inwoven with the preface of the former, whilst its typical formal ending has been blurred in order to make it read smoothly into the opening of the Epistle. I have changed my old view that chapter i. belonged to the Excidium Brittaniae.

36 THE CELTIC REVIEW

rulers, in order to confirm the sovereignty. It is thus the idea of the author of the Excidium Brittaniae that a Roman army came to conquer the island and, having subdued it throughout its length without any fighting but merely by frightening the inhabitants, went back to the imperial city in Italy, leaving only officials behind.

But the Brittani were not only unwarlike ; they were also faithless. Full of resentment against their conquerors, they yielded them only a skin-deep obedience, so that when the Romani were gone, they rose in rebellion against the rectores and slew them. On hearing this, the Roman Senate despatched an army a second time with speed to take vengeance on the islanders, who again made no military preparations but showed their backs and held forth their hands to be bound like women, so that it became a proverb and a derision that the Brittani were neither brave in war nor faithful in peace. The Romani slew many of the faith- less ones but reserved some for slavery lest the land should be reduced to utter desolation. Then inasmuch as Britain was lacking in wine and oil, they withdrew as before to Italy. It is to be observed that the Brittani were now reduced not merely to political subjection as formerly, but to actual slavery. Praepositi^ overseers or taskmasters, were set over them, chosen from the Roman army ere it returned. These were to be as scourges for the backs of the natives, as a yoke for their necks, to make the epithet of Roman slavery cling to their soil, to harass them not so much with military force as with whips, and to apply the sword to their sides, should occasion call for it ; henceforth the island was no longer to be regarded as Brittania but Romania, and all that it possessed of copper, silver, or gold was to be stamped with the image of Caesar. The Brittani are treated as being so unwarlike and timid that military taskmasters could keep them in servile subjec- tion apart from any such army of occupation as we know from history to have held Roman Britain for three and a half centuries.

THE ROMANI IN THE EXCIDIUM BRITTANIAE 37

In this state of servitude the author leaves them until the usurpation of Maximus, which occurred in a.d. 383. Between his story of the second subjugation and that of the revolt of Maximus, the only reference to the Roman domination of Britain is in his accomit of the martyrdom of St. Alban, which he supposes to have taken place during the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian, in 303-312. He says that Alban was wonderfully adorned with miraculous signs in the presence of the impious men who at that time were carrying with hateful pride Romana stigmata, the marks or signs of Roman power. Who were these men ? From what we have already been told we would suppose them to be the "praepositi, whom the second Roman army had left behind to keep the people in bondage. But one suspects that our author is here drawing from some Passio Albani, which recognised the presence of a Roman army in the island, and that conse- quently the impious men carrying the stigmata were legion- aries or at least some of the auxiliary troops. Our author mentions here Urbs Legionum, the city of legions, an in- accurate translation of our Caerlleon (= urbs legionis, the city of the legion), but he nowhere plainly shows that he knew of any legions as permanently stationed in Britain.

Whilst tyrants were springing up throughout the Empire, Britain, although retaining the Roman name, cast off the Roman morals and law, for the island set up a tyrant of its own, to wit, Maximus, who proceeded to the Gauls with m<igna satellitum caterva, a great crowd of followers. Our author now again uses expressions which contradict the trend of what he has hitherto said. Maximus is started on his rebellious career by tumultuans miles, a turbulent soldiery. He takes away with him omnis armatus miles, all the armed soldiery, militares copiae, the military supplies, the praepositi (now called rector es), cruel though they had been, and the able-bodied youth. In the words tumultuans miles, armatus miles, and militares copiae, history seems to be peeping through our author's narrative, as though he

38 THE CELTIC REVIEW

were for the moment quitting his own fancies and quoting from some sober rehable document. Nevertheless nothing is said about legions, and the general impression left, though disturbed by the above expressions, is that Maximus drained the whole island of Britain of every able-bodied man, whether Roman or British. This mighty host never returned ; hence the exposure of the island for the first time to the forays of two barbaric nations from over the water, the Scotti from Ireland and the Picti from some transmarine land beyond the extreme north of Scotland !

Britain now remained for many years groaning under the attacks of the Picti and Scotti. At length the Brittani in despair sent an embassy to Rome asking for soldiers, and vowing loyal uninterrupted submission to the Roman power if the enemy were kept out of the island. A legion is forth- with prepared, which crossed the sea to Britain and expelled the foe. The Brittani were bidden to build a wall across the island from sea to sea : as it was made of turf, it proved of no advantage to the leaderless rabble. Such is our author's explanation of the origin of the Wall of Antonine, which we know to have been really erected not after the revolt of Maximus in the last decades of the fourth century, but about two hundred and fifty years previously, that is, about A.D. 143.

When the legion had returned home from Britain as aU Roman armies are made to do in the Excidium Brittaniae, the Picti and Scotti recommenced their attacks. Again suppliant messengers are sent to cringe for Roman pro- tection. The Romani, moved by their appeal, come the second time and sweep the enemy once more across the sea. But they warn the islanders that this will be the last occasion of their coming. The Brittani . must fight for themselves. Another wall is constructed, this time of stone, by public and private contributions, between urhes^ cities, which had been there placed together, perhaps through fear of enemies. Patterns are left for the manu-

TRE ROMANl m TRE JEXCIDIUM BRITTANIAE 39

facture of arms. And towers are built at intervals on the sea-coast towards the south, where the Roman ships were anchoring. The wall is really that of Hadrian, first begun about A.D. 120 ; the towers are the forts of the Saxon shore, all built before a.d. 306. The Romani, then, bid the natives farewell and quit the island for ever. As the date of the tjrrant Constantine's departure from Roman Britain is a.d. 407, the two armies sent from Rome after the usurpation of Maximus (383-388) must be supposed to have arrived before that date.

The Picti and Scotti are now made to seize the whole of northern Britain as far as the Wall of Hadrian to the exclusion of the Brittani, so that henceforward the Brittani are confined to what is now England and Wales south of the Wall. A third piteous appeal is sent to the Roman government, addressed to Agitius, that is, Aetius. They begin thus : ' To Agitius, in his third consulship, come the groans of the Brittani.' But it is of no avail ; Roman aid is gone for ever. Aetius was consul for the third time in A.D. 446.

A lengthy interval is now made to elapse after a.d. 446, wherein occur a famine, a decisive victory, growth of wealth and luxury during snatches of peace, election and deposition of kings, a fresh invasion, and a deadly pestilence, until at last we reach the year of the first coming of the Saxones into Britain. The Saxones struck root first in the ' eastern portion of the island,' and after a while bundled the Brittani in one mighty sweep from ' the eastern portion ' into the mountains, forests, and sea-islands of Wales and the west. Here the poor Brittani were suffered to recover breath, when they achieved their first victory over the Saxones under the leadership of Ambrosius Aurelianus. With Ambrosius Aurelianus our author's notice of the Romani in Britain comes to an end.

Ambrosius is described as the last Roman surviving in the island, his parents being doubtless (so says the author) people clad in the purple. We are to suppose, therefore.

40 THE CELTIC REVIEW

that down to Ambrosius's time (that is to say, no smaU interval after a.d. 446) there lingered among the Brittani, but quite distinct from them, some families of Roman race. In our author's own day (which was of course considerably later), the Romani had entirely ceased in Britain, unless the descendants of Ambrosius might be deemed such, whom our author describes as having sadly degenerated from their ancestral nobleness. And even these, on our author's own showing, are to be sought, not in the more Romanised lowlands of south-east Britain but amid the less civilised uplands of Wales and the West.

We may sum up as follows. The author of the Excidium Brittaniae appears to know of no Roman legions with their auxiliary forces in permanent occupation of Britain. Between B.C. 20 and a.d. 407 he makes a Roman army enter Britain four times, but in every case it returns to Italy after doing its immediate work, whether of overawing the timid and treacherous Brittani, as at first, or of expelling the Picti and Scotti, as afterwards. The Brittani according to him so lack courage that the Roman government is able to keep them in servile subjection by means of mihtary over- seers, who wield whips rather than swords.

The Brittani are differentiated from the Romani throughout, the former being the native population, con- quered and enslaved, and the latter the official alien class placed in power by the Roman government.

The Brittani are made to throw off Roman rule under the usurper Maximus in 383 a.d. Britain is drained of all Roman officials together with every man capable of bearing arms and all military supplies, so that the island, bereft of rulers and fighting men, is exposed to the invasions of Picti and Scotti. It appears, however, from the account of Ambrosius Aurelianus that some families of Roman race lingered on until long after a.d. 446, but even these ceased to exist after the Saxones had driven the Brittani into Wales and the West, with the exception of Ambrosius

DEIRDRE 41

himself. Unless, then, the degenerate descendants of this man are to be deemed Romani, there was no Roman sur- viving in Britain in our author's own time.

DEIRDRE

THE HIGHEST TYPE OF CELTIC WOMANHOOD

Alice C. Macdonell

PART II

' Take a blessing from me eastward to Alba ; good is the sight of her bays and valleys ; pleasant was it to sit on the slopes of her hills when the Sons of Usnach used to be hunting.'

So sang the sweet Dearshula, Darthula, the name they knew her by in Alba on account of her dark blue eyes. When she spoke the above words, she was far from the home of her choice, with a heart sick for sorrow.

The first resting-place of the lovers when they fled from Erin was undoubtedly on the shores of Loch Ness, which some assert takes its name from Naoise. Tradition says that their castle was where the ruins of Urquhart Castle now stands. And I for one would prefer to go by the traditions of a country rather than by many a written document.

A fairer spot they could not have chosen, with the silver birches and dark pines casting deep shadows on the waters. But here, alas ! occurred the first and only misunderstand- ing between these two.

Naoise and his brothers were asked to attend the court of the King of the North at Inverness. The prudence of the three deemed it unwise to let Deirdre be seen there, on account of her fatal beauty and fascination. Indeed they were careful to keep her hidden as much as possible from all stranger eyes.

Our heroine has been compared to Helen of Troy — that

42 THE CELTIC REVIEW

the beauty of both caused a great war is a simiUtude — there the resemblance ends. The beauty of Helen was seemingly her chief asset. It is hke comparing the glare of the foot- lights to one of the constellations. Cleopatra, that ' serpent of old Nile,' might have matched Deirdre's intelligence, but her character repels instead of attracting interest.

In Deirdre we have beauty, learning, and virtue all united in one person.

Naoise goes, then, to the court at Inverness, dressed in his bravest : ' A cloak of bright purple fringed with gold ; a coat of satin with fifty hooks of silver ; a brooch on which were one hundred polished gems ; two blue green spears of bright points ; a dagger with the colour of yellow gold upon it, and a hilt of silver.' Little wonder was it, then, that the lovely Highland maid, daughter to the Lord of Duntreoir, fell a victim to his fascinations. She gave him her heart's love, and to the day of her death would hear of love from no other man. And he, as he expresses it himself, gave her ' A pog gun fhios ! ' A flimsy enough excuse. But his subsequent visit to her was not at all ' gun fhios ! ' Nor was it * gun fhios ' that, as Deirdre says, ' He presented her with a frightened wild deer, and a fawn at its feet.'

When Deirdre hears of this, no reproach or violent words escape her. Her wound was too deep, and her character too high. She takes her ' curach,' without sail, without oar, and launches out on the stormy waters of Loch Ness, hoping that its waves might close over her pain, neither caring to live, or to return.

When the brothers learned what had become of their sister, so dearly loved that they never cared to look at any other woman, they set out immediately to find her. It was Ainle the beautiful who rescued her from the bitter cold waters of the loch, swimming with her on his shoulder to the shore.

We may take it that Naoise' s remorse and repentance was thoroughly sincere, as Deirdre tells us : ' Naoise

DEIRDRE 43

swore upon his arms he would never put vexation upon me, until he would go from me to the hosts of the dead,' a knightly vow he nobly kept, as we see in his subsequent wanderings. For Naoise was a true Celt, with his im- passioned love of home deep in his heart, yet with the restless, wandering spirit of the race strong upon him, the spirit that drives us all out to seek the flower of the world and its mysteries.

In one of these wanderings by sea, he falls asleep in his ship too near the coast of Norway, when he is taken prisoner by its king. But the daughter of Norway's lord, having once cast eyes on him, gives her heart to the all too fascinating Naoise, and determines to aid his escape. At great peril to herself she wins over the court smith, and one dark night of rain and storm they succeed in enter- ing the prison, file off the chains that bound the prisoners, and leading them down to the sea, put them upon their own ship again.

The Norwegian Princess begs him to take her back with him to Alba, for no man's love will she have but his. Naoise, with the remembrance of that luckless ' pog gun fhios ' and its consequences fresh in his mind, and also because he loves Darthula above all creatures, answers, * If you are content to be second in the house, as no other shall be first save Deirdre.' He sails back without her to Scotland, to be reproached by Darthula for his carelessness in going to sleep on his arms so near the enemy's country.

A fuller perusal of her history will show the overtures of the King of the North in his absence, and of the false steward Naoise left in charge of the household, and the fine scorn and contempt with which the high-minded queen met them all.

As to the fair daughter of Duntreoir, that fatal ' pog gun fhios ' left so deep an impression that she refused every offer made to her by other men.

Deirdre, after her first natural indignation was over, felt nothing but pity for her. At that supreme moment

44 THE CELTIC REVIEW

of sorrow, when she stood by the grave of her dead hero, she could spare in her tenderness of heart a thought to her one-time rival. ' Ochon ! ' she sighed. ' If the daughter of Duntreoir knew to-night Naoise to be under a covering of clay, it is she would cry her fiU, and it is I would cry along with her.' Here is true nobility of soul. No resentment for the mortal wound her own heart had received, and which she felt to the last hour of her life.

The second home of Naoise and Deirdre was by the side of Loch Etive, when he thought it prudent to remove from the too pressing attentions of the King of the North, who sent the three Sons of Usnach into every possible danger, hoping that they might get killed, and that he would thus secure the fair Deirdre for himself.

I am told that a century ago the old inhabitants of Glen Etive could point out the apple trees of Naoise, of Ainlee, and of Ardan in their own garden, but that even the place of it is now unknown. Here, as Deirdre reminded Naoise : ' Here you are king ; in Erin you would have to serve.'

Why, then, did he not listen to her wise counsels, rather than to the cry of that man of Erin that came over the hills, himself deluded by the subtler brain of King Conor.

How vividly that scene rises before the mental vision ! the towering mountains of Glen Etive — Beinn Ceitlin, Stob Dubh, Coire Dionach, the Buachaile Beag, and the Bua- chaile Mor and the Grianan, with all that splendid range just as they stand to-day — the still black waters of Loch Etive stretching far away into the distance — the cry of the wild swans, and the bell of the stag in the forest.

The lovers were playing at chess when they were startled by a loud cry coming over the hills. Deirdre's white hand trembles as she lifts king or pawn for the next move. Well she knows what that cry may mean for her. Her efforts to attribute the cry to anything except what she knows it actually to be are pathetic in the extreme. At the third cry Naoise springs up, refusing to be deluded

DEIRDRE 45

any longer. ' It is the cry of a man of Erin,' he shouts, as he, Ainle, and Ardan rush down the hill to meet the treacherous King Conor's messenger, Fergus Roy, with his two sons.

Even to the last Deirdre tells Naoise of the dark visions that come to her in the night, in the hope that he will renoimce the fatal voyage. ' I see,' she tells him, ' a vision of night before me. I hear the howling of dogs. I see Fergus away from us. I see him caught with hidden hes. I see Deirdre with tears. I see Deirdre with tears.'

To which Naoise makes answer : ' Lay down your dream, Deirdre, on the heights of the hills. Lay down your dream on the sailors of the sea. Lay down your dream on the rough grey stones. For we will give peace and we will get it from the Lord of the World and from Conchubar.' A trust in which he was all too soon to be disillusioned.

Here Fergus cries out in irritation, fearing lest Deirdre's influence might frustrate his mission, and so cast a slur upon his honour. ' I ever disliked the howling of dogs, and the melancholy of women.' A most ' mi-mhogail ' speech.

Well, indeed, for them had they listened to the wise counsels of the fair and wise Deirdre. And well might she herself sing : ' Dear to me is that land in the East, the home of the sun in Glen Etive,' for there the sun of love and happiness had shone for her as never in the land of her birth.

Even her last counsels were rejected, to go to Rechrainn or Rathlin, between Erin and Alba, until such time as they could ascertain the real intentions of Conor, or to go to Dundealgan, and put themselves under the protection of Cuchullain. Some authors assert that he was the uncle, others the cousin, of the Sons of Usnach. Certainly there could have been no very great distance of age between them, as they all studied about the same time in the Lady of Dun Sgathaich's school for warriors in the Isle of Skye, where the ruins of her castle stand to this day overlooking

46 THE CELTIC REVIEW

the shores of Loch Slapin. A sister of King Conor, Dechtire, is said to have been the mother of Cuchullain, and another sister the mother of the Sons of Usnach.

It was only when Naoise, Deirdre, and his brothers were lodged in the house of the Red Branch, and not at the palace of Emamia, that he realised the truth of Deirdre' s warnings. Some accounts tell how all the Red Branch Knights were laid under a spell, and could neither raise hand nor arm in their defence; others, that the knights were sent away on different missions, and that the house was occupied in their absence by a band of mercenaries. I incline to believe this latter account as being the most probable.

As we know, the aged Lavarcum was sent by King Conor to look through the keyhole and report if the lady's beauty remained the same. If not, the king was loth to risk a war by the murder of the flower of his knights. The faithful lady goes and warns her nursling and the brothers to bar and bolt the doors and windows against an attack. Going back, she reports to the king that Deirdre retained none of her former charm. The king, doubting, sends a second messenger, the gay Gealban, son to the King of Lochlan, who, finding the windows and doors barred against him, climbs to the roof, where one tiny window had been forgotten.

Naoise sees, as he moves the pawns on the chessboard, the red flaming in Deirdre' s cheek, as it always did when any one looked upon her. With a well-aimed cast he throws one of the dice, putting out the eyes of the peering Gealban. On his return to the king, Gealban, with char- acteristic impudence, remarks : ' Although he had put the two eyes out of me, I should consider myself well repaid for the sight of the fairest creature they had ever beheld ' ; which provokes the retort from the king that : ' The hand that threw the dice aims too well to live so near a throne.'

The last scene of this fatal drama closes with the death

DEIRDRE 47

by treachery of the three. When all efforts to overcome them by natural means failed, Conor sent for Cathbad the Druid. When the house of the Red Branch was in flames, the Sons of Usnach fought their way out, bearing their queen on their shields, and would have escaped, only that the Druid's spell made a field of corn appear to them as a raging sea through which they tried to swim in vain.

Ochon ! what need to dwell on it. The three peerless Sons of Usnach were slain. And Deirdre the broken-hearted mourned them three nights and three days before she died on her hero's breast.

Both Lady Gregory's and Dr. Carmichael's account say that she went down to the shores of the sea, and taking a knife from a man working there, put out to sea in a small boat, where she stabbed herseK, throwing the knife to the right that no man might be accused of her death. I think this part of botii narratives to be wrong. Suicide was, and is, a form of cowardice unknown to our race, and in direct contradiction to what we know of the char- acter of Darthula.

It was to Cuchullain that Deirdre told the tale of the murder of the Sons of Usnach, for he loved Naoise above all men. As she mourned by the grave of her hero. King Conor sent messengers to try to induce her to listen to his suit. To them she made answer : ' Though sweet to you are the sounds of pipes and of trumpets, truly, I say to the king, I have known music that is sweeter,' alluding to the beautiful singing voice of Naoise. She who mourned her ' three hawks of Slieve Culeen, her three pupils that were with Sgathach,' had no harsh word even for this traitor.

Her two little children — little Gaiar, the boy, and Aoidhgreine, of the sunny face — she left in the charge of Mannanan, son of Lir, in Emain of the apple trees. Bobaras the poet gave learning to Gaiar, and Aoidhgreine Mannanan gave later in marriage to Ruin, son of Eochaidh luil. King of the Land of Promise.

48 THE CELTIC REVIEW

This paper is given, not, indeed, as a consecutive whole, but rather as an inducement for deeper study into this most fascinating tale, and others of a like nature, lying almost unknown in our Celtic storehouses, and it may also add a yet deeper interest to the beautiful country around Loch Ness and Loch Etive.

Do not the mists of the fair Deirdre, Naoise, Ainle, and Ardan still hover around far Glen Etive, giving a more mysterious glamour to its hills and its waters ? There the deHcate shadowy form with the deep starry eyes seems to look down on the foaming waters of the ' Eas,' hard by her own ' grianan,' while the sound of her sweet voice yet wakens the birds hidden in the quicken trees ; or the sound of her feet passing lightly stirs the deer lying close under the bracken.

The shout of Naoise and the ring of the blue-grey steel echo still through the old royal forest of Dalness ; and the rich voice of him rises and falls in song on the dark waters of Etive.

Sweeter the bloom of the heather, and fresher its per- fume ; more pungent the smeU of the wild bog myrtle, whiter the cotton grass, and greener the soft wet mosses ^ for the memory of the fairest flower Glen Etive has ever seen — Deirdre, our highest type of Celtic womanhood.

THE MACDONALDS OF KEPPOCH

Rev. a. Maclean Sinclair

SoMERLED of the Isles married Ragnhildis, daughter of Olave the Black, King of Man, and they had three sons, DugaU, Reginald, and Angus. Dugall was the progenitor of the Macdougalls ; Donald, son of Reginald, was the pro- genitor of the Macdonalds. Donald had two sons : Angus Mor, his successor, and Alister Mor, progenitor of the Macalisters of Loup. Angus Mor had three sons : Alexander Angus Og, and John Sprangach. Angus Og succeeded his

THE MACDONALDS OF KEPPOCH 49

brother Alexander as chief of the Clan Donald. John Sprangach was the progenitor of the Maclans, or Mackeens of Ardnamurchan. Angus Og married Agnes, daughter of Guy O'Cahan of Ulster, and had by her John, his heir. He had Iain Fraoch, or John of the Heather, by a daughter of Dugall MacHenry or Henderson in Glencoe.

John, son and successor of Angus Og, married, first, Amy Macrory, his third cousin, and had by her Ranald and Godfrey or Gorrie. He divorced Amy in 1360 and married Margaret, daughter of King Robert n. By his second wife he had Donald, John Mor Tanistear, and Alasdair Carrach of Keppoch. John was the first Macdonald who styled himself Lord of the Isles.

I. Alasdair Carrach, first Macdonald of Keppoch, was Lord of Lochaber at least as early as 1394. He married a daughter of Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, but had no children by her. He had a natural son named Angus, probably, as Macvurich asserts, by a daughter of Macphee in Glenpean. I have seen it stated that in a charter granted in 1463 Angus is described as a lawful son of Alasdair Carrach. In the charter referred to he is described simply as Angus, son of Alexander of the Isles.

II. Angus, son of Alasdair Carrach, was known as Aonghus na Feairte, or Angus of Fersit. He had two sons, Donald and Alexander, and a daughter named Mariot. The daughter was married to Allan Cameron of Lochiel. We find Angus mentioned in 1463.

III. Donald, son of Angus, appears on record in 1478. He was killed in a clan fight with the Maclarens and Stewarts of Appin in 1497. Dugald Stewart of Appin was also killed. Donald was succeeded by his only son Iain Alainn, or Handsome John, who was bom probably about 1470.

Iain Alainn was deposed from the chieftainship of the Macdonalds of Keppoch in the course of a year after his succession to it, or about 1498. He seems to have been a good man ; but he was not sufficiently warlike to suit his followers.

VOL. IX. D

50 THE CELTIC REVIEW

IV. Alexander, second son of Angus of Fersit, was chosen as successor in the chieftainship to John Alainn. He was known as Alasdair Mac Aonghuis. He was killed by a Cameron at Carn Alasdair, or Alister's Cairn, in Loch- aber, in 1499.

V. Donald Glas married a daughter of Allan Cameron of Lochiel, and had by her Ranald Mor. He died about 1513.

VI. Ranald Mor married Agnes, natural daughter of Lachlan Badenoch Mackintosh. He had two sons by his wife, Alexander and Ranald. He had a natural son, John Dubh, by a daughter of Lachlan Cameron, Lachainn Mor Mac a Bhaird, or Lachlan Mor son of the Bard. In 1547 Wilham Macintosh, chief of the Mackintoshes, arrested Ranald Mor and Ewen Allanson of Lochiel, and delivered them to the Earl of Huntly, who had them both immedi- ately executed at Elgin.

Alexander, son of Ranald Mor, succeeded his father as chieftain of the Macdonalds of Keppoch. In 1554 a battle was fought at Bologne between Alexander and Ewen son of Allan of Lochiel. The Camerons were defeated, but Alexander of Keppoch was severely wounded and died shortly afterwards at Kingussie.

VII. Ranald, second son of Ranald Mor, succeeded his brother Alexander. He was known as Ranald Og and also as Raonall Gorach.

Alasdair Crotach of Dunvegan married a daughter of Allan Cameron of Lochiel, and had three sons and two daughters. Allan of Moidart, son of John Murdeartach, married the elder daughter and had one son, Allan Og, his heir. Allan and his wife paid a visit to Duart. He left his wife and took with him to Moidart Janet, daughter of Hector Mor Maclean of Duart. He kept Janet as his wife and had by her John, Angus, Donald, and others. John died at an early age. Angus murdered Allan Og, his father's eldest son, in or about 1588. Angus succeeded his father, but was killed shortly afterwards. He was

THE MACDONALDS OF KEPPOCH 51

succeeded by his brother Donald, a worthy representative of the Clan Ranald.

Ranald Og of Keppoch took to live with him as his wife the daughter of Alasdair Crotach. She was the lawful wife of Allan of Moidart, but as Allan had deserted her Ranald Og had no hesitation in taking her to live with himself as his wife. He had three sons by her, Alexander, Ranald of Inch, and Donald of Fersit. He died in 1587.

VIII. Alexander, son and successor of Ranald Og, was known as Alasdair nan Cleas, or Alexander of the Tricks. He seized in a very treacherous manner three of the sons of John Dubh of Bohuntin, and put them to death by drowning them. He was a greedy man and wanted to get possession of their lands. He married Janet, daughter of Macdougall of Dunolly, and had three sons, Ranald Og, Donald Glas, and Alasdair Buidhe. He assisted the Earl of Argyll in persecuting the Macgregors, and received from the Government a grant of one hundred pounds. He sup- ported Sir James Macdonald of Islay in 1615, and, being outlawed, found it necessary to seek refuge in Spain. He was pardoned and allowed to come to London in 1620. He was permitted to return to Scotland in 1622. He died at his home in Keppoch in 1635.

IX. Ranald Og, son and heir of Alexander of the Tricks, murdered his uncle, Ranald of Inch, at Achadh-an-Doire. He died about 1640, and was succeeded by his brother Donald Glas. If we can credit the Keppoch traditions, Ranald Og was the most valiant of all the Keppoch chief- tains. Angus, his only son, was killed at the fight of Stron- a-chlachain in 1640.

Donald Glas married a daughter of Forrester of Kil- beggie, and had Alasdair Mor, Ranald Og, and a daughter. Alasdair Mor succeeded his father.

X. Alasdair Buidhe, third son of Alexander of the Tricks, had five sons, Allan, Gillespie, Alexander, Donald Donn, and Ranald. In September 1663 Allan and Donald, assisted by a number of other wicked persons, slew Alasdair Mor

52 THE CELTIC REVIEW

and his brother Ranald. By this villainous act Alasdair Buidhe became chief of the Macdonalds of Keppoch. He was drowned in the river Spean in 1669.

XI. Archibald, second son of Alasdair Buidhe, succeeded his father as chieftain of the Macdonalds of Keppoch. He married a daughter of MacMartin of Letterfinlay, and had by her four sons and several daughters. He died in 1688.

XII. Coll, son and successor of Archibald, defeated the Mackintoshes at the battle of Mulroy in 1688. He died about 1729.

XIII. Alexander, son and successor of Coll, had a natural son named Angus. He married Jessie, daughter of Stewart of Appin, and had by her Ranald and Alexander. Angus, his eldest son, was known as Aonghus Ban Innse, or Angus Ban of Inch. Alexander of Keppoch was killed at Culloden in 1746. Donald, his brother, fell in the same battle. They were both excellent men.

XIV. Ranald, son of Alexander, was a major in the 74th Regiment. He died in Keppoch in 1788. He was married and had two sons, Alexander and Richard, both of whom died unmarried in Jamaica.

The Macdonalds of Killieohonate

I. Iain Alainn, or Handsome John, fourth chieftain of the Macdonalds of Keppoch, was born probably about the year 1470. He was deposed from the chieftainship about 1498. He was married and had two sons, Angus and Donald, or possibly Donald and Angus.

II. Angus hved probably in Killiechonate.

III. John, son of Angus, was the representative of the family in 1548.

IV. Alexander, son of John, had four sons, John, Angus, Donald, and Ranald.

On August 4, 1602, Alexander of Keppoch, Donald and Ranald, his brothers ; John Dubh, Allan and Angus, his sons ; AUster Mac Ian vie Angus ; John, Angus, Donald,

THE MACDONALDS OF KEPPOCH 53

and Ranald, his sons, and others to the number of two hundred persons, entered Glenisla and carried away 2700 cattle and 100 horses. The invaders were attacked on their way home by John Robertson of Straloch and others, and defeated. The fight took place at Ennoch Dhubh. When the Macdonalds found that their assailants were too numerous for them, they killed as many of the cattle and the horses as they could.

As the names in the foregoing historical statements are copied from the Records oj the Privy Council, they are undoubtedly correct.

V. Angus, second son of Alexander, succeeded his father.

VI. Alexander, son and successor of Angus, was bom probably about 1605.

VII. Angus, son of Alexander, was a follower of Coll of Keppoch in 1691. He was succeeded by his son James, who was succeeded possibly by his son Angus.

One of Iain Alainn's sons, probably Angus, received a tack of some lands from Mackintosh and became banner- man to him. In 1727 Angus Macdonald, a descendant of Iain Alainn, and apparently his representative, received from Lachlan Mackintosh, Captain of the Clan Chattan, a tack of the lands of Murlagan and Glen Glaster, and bound himself to support Lachlan with all the fencible men on the lands given to him, and all the other fencible men of his family, commonly called Sliochd Dhomhnaill Mhic Aonghuis. — Antiquarian Notes by Charles Fraser- Mackintosh, p. 165.

I do not find it stated who the Angus of 1727 was. It is possible, however, that he was a son of James, son of the Angus of 1691. It is, at all events, strongly probable that he was a grandson of Angus, and that he was thus reaUy what he claimed to be — the representative of Iain Alainn.

Iain Alainn was deposed for being too young, too good, or too soft ; but his descendants have the satisfaction of

54 THE CELTIC REVIEW

having given to the Macdonalds of Keppoch the greatest man of whom they can boast — Iain Lom.

The Descendants of Donald, son of John Alainn

Where Donald, son of Iain Alainn, lived I do not know. It is possible, however, that it was at the place known as An Urchair. He was succeeded by his son John, who was succeeded by his son Donald, who was succeeded by his son John, who was succeeded by his son Donald. The last-named Donald was the father of John MacDonald — Iain Lom mac Dhomhnaill mhic Iain mhic Dhomhnaill mhic Iain Alainn.

Only for Muireachan's reply to John Lom it would be impossible to give the names of John Lom's ancestors.

Iain Luim mhic Dhomhnaill mhic Iain, 'S mor do dhith bidhe is cadail. Dh' itheadh tu uiread ri dithisd, Leis an amhaich fhior fhada.

I have searched in several books for these lines but I cannot find them. I am pretty sure, however, that I have given them as I saw them. Muireachan's genealogy is correct as far as it goes. It goes back, however, only to Iain Lom's grandfather. Of course, Muireachan's object was not to give a genealogy, but to abuse Iain Lom.

Domhnall mac Iain had at least two sons. He was killed at the skirmish of Stron-a-chlachain in 1640. His eldest son was also kiUed there. Iain Lom was present, but took no part in the fight. It is said that he was left along with other yoimg men to take charge of the horses. It is certain that he was a man of courage. It is equally certain, however, that he was by nature a politician and not a warrior. Alexander Hamilton, one of the greatest men that America has ever produced, was a writer, a fighter, and a statesman. It would have been better, however, for

THE MACDONALDS OF KEPPOCH 55

himself and for his country if he had left fighting alone, especially his last fight.

Iain Lorn was probably the greatest of all the descend- ants of Alasdair Carrach. He was born about 1620 and died in 1709. He had a son who was killed in a duel with Donald Donn of Bohuntin about the year 1690.

I have seen it stated over and over that Iain Lorn went to the top of Inverlochy Castle and remained there whilst the battle was going on. That statement is absurd and contrary to historic facts. It is true that it is to be found in Turner's Collection of Gaelic Poetry, which was published in 1813. The lines in which it occurs are these : —

Dhirich mi, moch maduinn D6mhnaich, Gu b^rr caisteal Inbhir L6chaidh.

Dr. Maclean's Collection of Gaelic Poetry was in Dr. Johnson's hands in 1773. That collection was brought to Nova Scotia by my maternal grandfather in 1819, and has been for a number of years in my possession. The fines that I have quoted from Turner's book are given in it as follows : —

Dhirich mi moch maduinn che6raich

Gu br^igh' caisteal Inbhir Ldchaidh.

There is a very great difference between barr and braighe ; the one means top, whilst the other means height. The place to which Iain Lom went was not the top of the castle of Inverlochy, but a height overlooking the castle. The CampbeUs were at Inverlochy before Montrose and his army arrived. As they had just as much common sense as their opponents, it is altogether likely that they took possession of the castle. In Grant's Memoirs of Montrose we are told that ' the castle of Inverlochy was occupied by fifty musketeers of the Stirlingshire regi- ment, whose fire swept Montrose's lines as they advanced ' (p. 221). Some persons may foolishly imagine that it was the wonderful strength and swordsmanship of Alasdair mac Cholla and his men that won the battle. There were

56 THE CELTIC REVIEW

strong men and good swordsmen on both sides. What won the battle, at all events what won it in so short a time, was the military genius of Montrose, and the lack of skilful leadership on the part of the Campbells.

THE ADMIRALTY AT CROMARTY Donald A. Mackenzie

If it were proposed to erect a powder factory on Ellen's Isle, Loch Katrine, or to lay out a shooting range for Terri- torials at the Brig o' Doon, Scotland would be stirred to its depths. A mighty agitation would be raised, and there would be no lack of funds to support it, seeing that the romantic associations of these Meccas of literature have been so thoroughly commercialised by tourist agents and hotelkeepers. Perhaps it is because quaint Cromarty is isolated from the beaten tourist track that we hear so little at present regarding the vandalism which is proposed to be perpetrated there. The Admiralty, with characteristic wilfulness, has undertaken to erect ugly fortifications on those two noble headlands, called the ' Sutors,' which shelter the narrow entrance to the deep and spacious anchorage of the Cromarty Firth. Immemorial rights-of-way are being closed : the public is to be denied access to familiar haunts rich in literary and antiquarian associations, and at least one ancient sacred well is threatened, although it bears the name of St. Mary. No doubt, it can be proved to the satisfaction of naval experts, that these fortifications are a national necessity. Even if they are, we cannot help lamenting the desecration of one of the beauty spots of Scotland. Nothing is left for us but the hope that no unnecessary vandalism will be committed. It is to be feared, however, that there are good grounds for the appre- hensions which are entertained in this regard. Vandalism invariably results from ignorance, and it comes as a shock

THE ADMIRALTY AT CROMARTY 57

to patriotic Scotsmen to discover that in official circles the Cromarty hills, which are not unknown to Grerman writers, are regarded as of as little accomit as the slag heaps which surround Lowland and English industrial towns. Recent questions regarding the projected defence works have elicited disquieting and amazing official answers in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which show, among other things, that it is apparently possible to pass through the schools and universities of England with- out hearing aught of that picturesque figure. Sir Thomas Urquhart, the genius who translated Rabelais, or that great prose stylist, Hugh Miller, the father of modern geology, and the earliest scientific folk lorist of these islands. Both were natives of Cromarty, and Miller, especially, made town and hill famous in his Schools and Schoolmasters, Scenes and Legends, Old Red Sandstone, etc. And yet, it seems, certain of our Government officials are ' not aware ' that Cromarty hill has any particular associations or interests worthy of their exalted attention. In the House of Lords, Lord Balfour of Burleigh, who, like a true Scots- man, showed praiseworthy concern about the Miller country, was asked if he were not really referring to Scapa Flow, which happens to have no place in literature. The gentle- man who, in response to the query of Mr. Robert Munro in the House of Commons, expressed his entire ignorance regarding Cromarty, had not even taken the trouble, apparently, to consult a commonplace gazetteer. One might imagine that this ancient burgh, which used to send its member to Parliament when Glasgow was slumped with another town, was situated in some remote part of the British Empire, and was not one of the famous places of our national literature. No wonder our antiquaries are feeling uneasy regarding the official mind.

The history of Cromarty begins with MacBeth, who was its Thane, and takes note of WiUiam the Lion, who erected a castle opposite the town, the site of which is likely to be excavated, of Sir William Wallace who fought

5a THE CELTIC REVIEW

a battle on the hill (according to local tradition), of James iv. who hunted on the hill when he paid his annual pilgrimages to Tain, of Charles ii., who landed at Cromarty, and of Sir Thomas Urquhart, who set forth with his ' rightful king ' to overthrow Cromwell, followed by his ' seven portmantles' of manuscripts, which were scattered over the fatal field of Worcester. But, perhaps, of more import- ance is the pre-history of the district. There is no part of Scotland richer in folk lore associations, and of more promise from the point of view of the archaeologist. Almost every yard of the south ' Sutor ' hill is reminiscent of the physical and intellectual life of past ages. First come the caves, which are all named and belong to a series extending all round the jutting nose of the Black Isle promontory. One of these, situated near Rosemarkie, was recently excavated and yielded important archaeological finds, in- cluding human skeletons, which possess special features of interest to ethnologists, and a large number of primitive artefacts belonging to an early period in the Late Stone Age. Below the heap of accumulated deposit was also found a large smoke-blackened fireplace of similar con- struction to those which have been unearthed in Late Palaeo- lithic caves in France and Switzerland. Nothing older has been discovered elsewhere in Scotland. Other caves of this particular series promise to yield important results also. Not far from the site of the Cromarty fort is the * Dropping Cave.' Attached to it is a local folk tale about a fabled inner cave with a waterfall, which is the abode of a demon. The description of this curious inner cave, it is of importance to note, tallies with that of the famous cave of Typhon in Sheitan Dere (Devil's Glen), Cilicia, Asia Minor. Of special interest is the fact that similar folk beliefs are associated with both widely-separated caves, to which Strabo and other classical authors make no reference. Boys in Cilicia at the present day and at Cromarty, until quite recently, have been in the habit of hghting fires at the mouth of one cave and hastening across the hill to

THE ADMIRALTY AT CROMARTY 59

another cave to see if the smoke found outlet there. It is evident that this and other far-travelled customs came with ancient invaders who localised their beliefs ; and these may, perhaps, be identified with the skeletons of the Bronze Age graves which were discovered on a ridge of Cromarty hill towards the close of the eighteenth century. Accord- ing to the Statistical Account of the parish, some of the skeletons were ' seven feet in length.' There were evidently giants of the Alpine or Armenoid Race in these days.

In addition to the caves, some of which will be included in the ' prohibited area,' there are ancient sacred weUs and mounds and groves. St. Mary's Well, to which we have referred, is situated near the site of the proposed fort on Cromarty hill. It was believed to be of special potency on Beltaine Day, and the custom of drinking from it on account of its ancient sanctity is not yet obsolete. To not a few it has many tender and dearly remembered associa- tions. Below this well is a httle flat-topped promontory, jutting abruptly half across a deep ravine, which is called ' Charlie's Seat.' Whether ' Charhe ' was a giant, or a smuggler, or Charles ii., is now quite uncertain, but the beaten right-of-way leading to it is evidence of its popu- larity which has been increased by the writings of Hugh Miller. Beyond the Well of Mary is the ' Look Out,' the ancient gathering place on the mom of Beltaine, where the magicians of other days were wont to read the omens of the rising sun. Its May dew is believed to be possessed of special protective qualities. The ' Look Out ' is the grassy summit of a high cliff overlooking the Cromarty and Moray Firths. It commands a magnificent panorama of sea and mountain scenery unsurpassed elsewhere in Scotland. Hugh Miller has covered it with a halo of romance : it brought forth from his pen some of the noblest passages in descrip- tive English prose which appear in any anthology. In close proximity to the ' Look Out ' are the ' Wallace Mounds,' which are associated locally with the tradition that here Scotland's great hero attacked the fleeing remnants

60 THE CELTIC REVIEW

of an English force and drove them over the cUffs. BHnd Harry makes reference in his famous poem to this story. It may be that the mounds are much older than Wallace, and that the tradition of a remote conflict was attached to the name of our popular hero here as elsewhere. Ere these mounds are disturbed by the pick and shovel of the navvy, it is to be hoped that the Government wiU have afforded facilities to skilled local and other archaeologists to investigate them. It is not sufficient to promise, as has been done, that any articles which may be discovered, will be carefully preserved. In these matters we cannot trust the judgment of men who have no experience in scientific excavation work. What may seem trivial to a labourer, or even a Government official, may be invested with great significance to an experienced archaeologist. The services of such a man should be retained by Govern- ment during the whole period of digging or excavation. He should be constantly on the spot as in Palestine and else- where. He should be Scottish : he should further be local if possible, but at least in close touch with local authorities. Should a workman happen to stumble across any evidence of horde or burial, nothing should be touched except under the direction of the expert. In the not remote past, one regrets to have to record, not a few graves containing urns have been ruthlessly plundered on the Cromarty hill. One yielded a beautiful gold armlet of the Bronze Age, which unfortunately is not referred" to in the transactions of any scientific society, although it is still in a private collection. If the urns found in the parish of Cromarty during the present generation had been happily preserved, they would have stocked a local museum sufficiently weU to give it some importance.

The big guns of the Cromarty ' Sutor ' fort will bellow from a sacred grove, called the 'Big Dungeon.' The 'Little Dungeon' with its fairy mounds lies lower down the hill.

Beyond the ' Look Out ' is the hill moorland of Navity,

\

THE ADMIRALTY AT CROMARTY 61

which was part of the ' church lands ' of Fortrose Cathedral. Like other ' church lands,' the moor of Navity was at one time sacred to the animistic ancestors of the natives of the Black Isle. As is emphasised in Gaelic myth and legend, a section of the ancient inhabitants of Scotland were worshippers of the Earth Mother. One characteristic reference runs : —

' An uair a dh' aithris e dhaibh gach allabain, is miomh- adh is droch-ghiollachd a fhuair e, agus cruadal a sheas e bho'n a dhealaich iad, thog iad socag thalmhuinn, 's dh'eubh iad "Aichmheil."'

' When he rehearsed to them each wandering and insult, and bad treatment he had got, and hardship he stood since they had separated, they lifted a little 'piece of earth and shouted " Vengeance." '

Below the moor are the sites of early Christian chapels and also St. Bennet's Well, which stiU attracts visitors, as is testified by the fluttering rags on the overhanging tree. The sanctity with which the moor was anciently invested is emphasised by an interesting Cromarty story. It was believed that the Last Judgment would be held at Navity, the ' seat ' of the Earth goddess of the pagans. A Cromarty man, named Sandy Wood, had been wronged by a land- grabbing neighbour and, having a stutter, he could never voice his grievance to his own satisfaction. He desired that he should be buried outside St. Regulus churchyard, which lies on the lap of the hill, so that he might reach Navity at the Last Day and relate his grievance to the Judge of all, before the man who wronged him would be able to climb the kirk-yard waU. His gravestone, which relates his story, still lies outside the burial-place, and may be deciphered by the curious who can also be referred to the fourteenth chapter of Miller's Scenes and Legends for fuller details. Beyond Navity Moor is Eathie bum. In its deep and woody ravine fairies still dance on moonlight nights, and the Banshee haunts one of its pools. Here the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops is localised as a fairy story.

62 THE CELTIC REVIEW

* No man ' being rendered as ' Me mysel'.' In several of his works Hugh Miller deals with this romantic dingle both as a geologist and as a folk lorist.

The varied interests of Cromarty hill and its vicinity cannot be fully dealt with here. My purpose will be ful- filled if I simply show that it is of more importance to antiquarians and Scotsmen generally than the Government officials would have us believe. The immemorial rights- of-way which intersect the hill, and lead, like other Scottish rights-of-way, to places anciently sacred and still full of charm to the public at large, are eloquent of the real char- acter of this haunt of antiquarians, which teems with evidences of the intellectual life of our remote ancestors. Space forbids me from dealing with the many tales of Vikings and Danes. Reference should, however, be made to the divination tree, and the ' spitting stone.' Boys were wont before attempting to chmb the cliffs or visit the romantic caves to test their luck at the ' rock tree.' They threw stones, as the writer has ofttimes done, at its hollowed side. If one darted aside, the boy shouted ' The danger goes past,' but if it came back to him, he at once left his companions and returned home, believing that if he accompanied them he would meet with dire misfortune. The

* spitting stone ' is one of the ' Bethels ' which has been thrown down. Among certain of the ancient peoples it was believed that the vital principle was contained in the ' moisture of life ' or ' water of life.' The Eg3rptian gods wept ' creative tears ' which gave origin to trees, human beings, etc., while the tears of demons were productive of all that was evil. Consequently the worship of rivers, wells and trees sur- vived in Egypt, even after the introduction of sun-worship. The sun-rays were the ' tears of Ra,' the sun god, and Ra's well and tree are still reverenced in Egjrpt. Attached to this ' well of the sun ' at the village of Matarieh (Heliopolis), is the legend that the Virgin Mary washed in it the swaddling clothes of the infant Christ on the occasion of the flight from Herod into Egjrpt. In India the god Prajapati also

THE ADMIRALTY AT CROMARTY 63

weeps * creative tears,' and in ancient Babylon similar beliefs were prominent in connection with water worship and rain-getting ceremonies. As the people who worshipped fire made vows before a fire (this custom is still common in India), and other people who believed that the vital prin- ciple was in the ' life blood,' signed their vows and com- pacts in blood, so did those who had conceived that life was in body moisture conclude bargains by spitting. Among agriculturalists the spitting ceremonies still survive. Dealers spit on their hands and on their money for ' good luck,' and then their word is their bond. Resolutions to fight were made by spitting over an extended arm, and boys still perpetuate this custom. The Cromarty ' spitting stone' indicates the antiquity of a practice which is as interesting as it may be disgusting : it evidently goes back to the time when there was ' worshipping of stones, before the coming of Patrick of Macha.' A spitting stone is to be seen near Forres.

The hill, like other headlands round the east coast of Scotland, has its giant : another giant has his ' seat ' on the hill opposite, the ' North Sutor,' or ' hill of Nigg,' which is the ' hunting hill of the Fians,' as readers of Hugh Miller's My Schools and Schoolmasters will be aware. Higher up on the ridge of the Black Isle is the great ' Grey Cairn,' which was visited some years ago by a few scholarly pilgrims from Denmark. Local legend associates it with the last desperate battle fought by a * black prince ' from across the North Sea. Its vicinity has yielded many beautiful artefacts of the Late Stone Age, and certain mounds still await excava- tion. Not many years ago a number of old graves contain- ing urns and skeletons were destroyed while ' new land ' was being ' taken in.'

In addition to the forts, Cromarty is to get a light railway which will run over a fairy mound and the ' giants' graves,' and cut off the ' Morial's Den,' to which Hugh Miller devoted the second chapter of Scenes and Legends. Ere this work of desecration is perpetrated, it is to be hoped that the

64 THE CELTIC REVIEW

expert local archaeologists will obtain concessions from the Government, whose generous grant and loan will make possible the construction of this superfluous line. As archaeologists who have operated in northern Scotland are aware, almost every mound which has yielded j&nds has its folk-lore associations. The Brahan Bronze Age grave, for instance, was discovered in a fairy mound, from which the folks were wont to pluck alder berries for protection against evil spirits. In Sutherland there is an unexcavated moimd which is called the ' Mound of My Wish.' It is a heaped stone circle, and according to local tradition contains graves. If these are desecrated, the ' vandal,' it is believed, will die of some mysterious disease. When a description of this mound was submitted to the late Andrew Lang, he referred to it as a ' Homeric grave.' Hugh Miller makes reference to a tradition that a half-witted man, who ex- cavated a grave moimd at the Morial's Den, in search for treasure, met with a speedy death, and a similar tale is attached to the Sutherland ' Mound of My Wish.' Ere the Cromarty Light Railway is constructed over the ' giants' graves,' it is to be hoped that they will be excavated by archaeologists so that the results may be recorded before opportunity to do so may have passed away. We who moraUse over the vandahsm of Turks in Asia Minor and Arabs in Egypt should not now neglect the opportunities afforded at Cromarty of minimising and preventing where possible the vandahsm of twentieth century officials, to whom the ancient sites associated with Scottish myth and legend and literature are apparently of so little account.

LORD ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL 65

LORD ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL Rev. Gillespie Campbell

The fiery cross never carried its startling message of war more swiftly than the news sped through the glens of the Campbell country that Lord Archibald of Argyll was dead. We all knew for many days that the end could not be far off, yet when the tidings came rushing upon us that one more chieftain of the mighty race of Diarmid had fallen, it was also borne to us that the Celtic race at large would feel the blow, for in their cause his arm had been strong, and his heart had been leal and true.

Lord Archibald, the second son of George, eighth Duke of Argyll, and of Lady Elizabeth of Sutherland, was born in London on the 18th December 1846, within the walls of the historic mansion known as Stafford House.

The untiring energy which always characterised him urged him into business circles at an early age. He gained his first experience by connecting himself with the Bordeaux wine exportation traffic. Subsequently he expanded his knowledge in the London tea trade, and in the Liverpool cotton industry, finally becoming affiliated with the world- famed firm of financiers — Messrs. Coutts and Co., London. In the year 1869, he married Miss Janey Se villa, daughter of James Henry Callendar, Esq. of Ardkinglas and Craig- forth. Two children were born, Niall Diarmid, and Elspeth Angela, both of whom together with Lady Archibald survive him. Possessed of a keenly observant mind, and a wonderful faculty of adaptation to any environment, and able with ease to identify himself with the associations and sympathies of all races of men with which he came in contact. Lord Archibald made his travels and varied experience of life a source of much attraction and a fountain of educative enjoyment. The keen-wittedness of the race from which he was sprung, the intellectual power of that vol. IX. E

66 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

family, the rare rapidity of perception which he inherited, the absolute comprehension of all the circumstances in- volved in the subject-matter of his talk, all made conversa- tion with him a thing of dehght. The listener could with ease discern the setting of the scene, as with graphic utterance he swiftly delineated the picture in thought — portraying the characters, and the incidents such as they might be — the gravity, the danger, the excitement, the beauty of scene, or excellence of action — the solemnity and pathos of circumstance — and suddenly as some humorous side- issue appealed to him — ^like a glint of sunshine on one of his own beloved lochs — a ripple of merry laughter would break from his lips as he quaintly retailed the cause of his mirth.

He made an ideal Highland home for himself at Rudha- na-Craige, Inveraray, beautifully situated on the shores of Lochfyne, and commanding a view of the slopes of the hills of Strathlachlan and Cowal. His Ubrary bore ample evidence of his versatility in art and literature. His own writings were various, among which may be mentioned : Eecords of Argyll, 1885 ; Children of the Mist ; Notes on Swords at Culloden, 1894 ; Highland Dress, Arms, and Ornaments, 1899 ; Armada Cannon, 1899 ; Reveries, Poems, 1902 ; Argyllshire Galleys. For folk-lorists the several volumes of Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition which Lord Archibald inspired stand out as an important contribution to a subject of which he understood the value.

The present generation of Celts can testify how Lord Archibald proved himself worthy of his forebears, and showed himself a veritable Sir Galahad on behalf of the rights and the language and the traditions of his country, when these were threatened with total extinction, and when none of his rank in Scotland dared even to lead a forlorn hope in their defence. A noble tale is always worth reteUing, and Highland hearts will ever beat high when the story of the ever memorable scene in Stafford House is told again and again. It so happened in the year 1881 that certain officials of high rank in the War Office boldly —

LOED ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL 67

or in pretentious boldness — made a strong attempt to deprive the Highland Regiments of their distinctive dress and tartans. Lord Archibald commandeered a gathering in Stafford House of Scottish peers and gentlemen of high rank, and there within these very walls where he first saw the light of day, a scene was enacted more than worthy of that depicted in Ardtornish's towers by Sir Walter Scott, when

Barcaldine's arm was high in air, And Kinlochaline's blade was bare,

for, in no figurative sense, but with thrilling realism, the dirk of Archibald of Argyll flashed from its sheath, and none less ready did gleam the weapons of the noblemen present, and each and all kissed the cold steel, and swore that the Highland Regiments would never submit to such degradation. As of old, their opponents gave way, and honour was saved. Less known are his manifold efforts on behalf of the temporal welfare of the people of the High- lands and Islands, but none the less effective in their results. Lord Archibald served his day and generation faithfully and never ceased to hope and work for that day, when the glens would be filled again by a * bold peasantry, their country's pride.'

In the closing years of the last century a group of High- land gentlemen meeting together expressed in words the thoughts which were even then stirring the bosom of the Gael, and they determined that an association should be formed to foster the language and customs of the Gael, and so preserve the identity of the race. Many ardent Celts supported the movement, but few dared to hope that it would, as time passed, assume its present proportions. It was at this juncture that Lord Archibald rendered the greatest possible service to the cause of Gaelic literature and music. He was called to preside at the first mod held at Oban, and the writer recollects the feeling akin to amazement which was in the minds of Celts on beholding the gifted Highlander, a scion of an ancient race, exerting himself to the utmost of his ability to

68 THE CELTIC REVIEW

procure the advancement of the Gaehc national move- ment. He had been a familiar figure in the western Highlands — well known at gatherings — where he always appeared garbed as a Celt in the tartans and homespuns of his race ; but few apart from his intimates realised that within his breast there surged such a tide of passion for all matters Highland. Even so it was, and when the opportunity came, Lord Archibald was prepared to take full advantage of it. He was possessed of a winning manner and a warm Highland heart, and when he applied himself to awaken patriotic feelings which had long lain dormant in the breasts of brother Celts, his charm was irresistible. It is said that the Golden Age of Celtic Scotland ended with the death of Alexander ni., but who would doubt its return any longer when one came in contact with this ardent Celt, affectionately known among his Highlanders as ' Lord Archie,' and who caused every Gael whom he smiled upon to stiffen his back instinctively, and to realise that not only was he (the Highlander) a brave soldier, but that he was also a gallant gentleman, and by descent the inheritor of a noble language, a rich culture, an immense store of in- valuable traditional lore, and a history of which the bravest of the brave might be proud. Under the spell of this historic renaissance, the Celt of a literary turn of mind took up his pen. Archives were ransacked, charter chests became mines of treasure, musty libraries were eagerly searched ; volumes on Celtic history, poetry, and tradition, known only to the cultured few, became a means of culture to the many, and in ways infinitely too varied to mention within the narrow limits of these pages the long dreamed of Gaelic Revival became an actual reality.

One is justified in asking what influence aroused Lord Archibald's Celtic soul. Unquestionably the unseen influ- ence was that of that prince of Highlanders — John Francis Campbell of Islay, popularly known in Gaelic circles as Iain Og He. Lord Archibald was a near kinsman of John of Islay, and at an early age the young Gael formed a life-long

LORD ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL 69

friendship with the renowned Gaehc scholar and folk-lorist. Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands were a revelation to Celtic scholars, and the hearts of many longed for a realisation of the vivifying influence which they felt emanating from the pages of that wonderful work. In Lord Archibald's case, to the literary influence was added the personal influence of Iain Og.

On a bright spring afternoon when the sun was fill- ing the dells of Glenaray with light and splendour, and the woods and upland lawns gave promise of the advancing floral glory of summer — in the midst of it all — the warm heart of the Highland chieftain ceased to beat. On the Sabbath following the body lay in state, guarded by the members of his own pipe band, and slowly and sadly friends passed through the room to say farewell. Preparations were made to carry the dust of this heir of the ArgyUs to the Chauntry Chapel at Kilmun, ' the sacred storehouse of his predecessors, and guardian of their bones ' ; and on the morning appointed for the funeral the roads to Inveraray were filled with mourners wending their way to the solemn ceremony. We grouped ourselves in silence in the Town Square, and Dunquoich shimmered in the morning haze, unmoved by the changes in human life. Shortly the dirge of the pipes arose on the air, and the muffled beat of the drum as the cortege passed up the avenue, the bier borne by his comrades of the Reserve contingent, flanked by the local Territorial company pacing with arms reversed, and led by their commanding officer — a tail scion of the race of Art — who walked in stately pensiveness, with his clay- more held athwart. The Provost bore in front the house flag of the deceased Highlander, and behind him came Miss Elspeth Campbell garbed in a plaided cloak of the dark tartan of her clan. Beside her walked her brother Mr. Niall Diarmid, followed by the other members of the Argyll family.

It was a deeply moving and never-to-be-forgotten sight, to behold the stately cortege and the open display of grief intensified by the throbbing notes of ' Lord Lo vat's Lament.'

70 THE CELTIC REVIEW

The kilted lads advanced slowly to the church door, sharp and clear rang the words of command — the troops fell asunder — and stood with reversed arms. The coffin was borne into the church, and laid on the dais, and the large building filled rapidly to its utmost capacity. The service proceeded, impressive — yet devoid of gloom or shadow — an interesting item being a portion of Psalm ciii. sung in Gaelic to the tune of Coleshill, by special request of Mr. Niall. At the close the choir burst with triumph into music in the words of the old Paraphrase, ' How bright these glorious spirits shine ! ' and as the last notes were dying away Lord Archie's dust was borne forth on its last journey. Outside the building the mournful notes of the ' Crusaders' March ' were sounded by the pipe band, and again the procession moved to the pier.

Under the silent and skilful guidance of Archibald and John Macint3n:'e — whose ancestors had carried home the dead body of the Argyll who fell at Flodden — the while the strains of the pipes awoke the echoes of Glenaray and Dunquoich, the modern Birlinn slowly moved away, leav- ing behind, as of old, the sorrowing women and children, and once more the hills of Cowal beheld the passing of Archibald of Argyll. The Duke of Argyll and many friends met us at Kilmun, and with Celtic funeral rites the remains were laid with kindred dust in the Holy Rood of the Argylls, there to await the breaking of the eternal day.

The shadows were falling on Glenaray as we arrived at the pier on our return. In silence, amid the falling rain, we separated at the old Cross, and as some of our party sped homeward past the hallowed ground of Kilmalieu, Dunquoich loomed heavily above us in the shadows, and the Aray murmured its sympathetic requiem. Yes he sleeps, and the Celtic world may say tritely, that it is poorer by his loss. Not so, the Celtic world is vastly enriched and ennobled because Archibald of Argyll Uved.

i	? „
i	Iki'
	^^H^A ^ ^^^B'-^':-
^^f	/^^SjJPP'fi
JsJ	>^ w w
W^J	§f
m
	#11
-	'

WALTER BIGGAR BLAIKIE, LL.D. 71

WALTER BIGGAR BLAIKIE, LL.D. D. A. Mackenzie

Among the letters of congratulation received by Mr. Blaikie when pubHc announcement was made that Edinburgh University was to confer upon him the honorary degree of LL.D., none could have touched him more deeply than ' Cummy's.' Everybody knows who ' Gummy ' was — that kindly and well-remembered old woman, Alison Cunningham, the ' second mother ' of Robert Louis Stevenson, who became the homely Muse of his Child's Garden of Verse, and who will ever be the shadow-nurse of thousands of children all over the world. Three years before the half-elfin Louis was born, ' Gummy ' had had placed in her care Walter Biggar Blaikie, whose mother was also a member of the Balfour family. In after years she followed his career with watchful interest, and he remained one of ' her boys ' until the end. Not many days before death called her, she learned with pride of his University honour and penned to him, in a wonderfully firm hand, a characteristic letter of restrained and motherly affection and approval. She had lived to see her two boys achieve distinction in their separate spheres of life, and even by a strange coincidence to be brought into close association in the world of litera- ture, for the great books which the one had written were printed by the other in the famous Edinburgh Edition.

Mr. Blaikie is the son of the late Rev. William Garden Blaikie, D.D., LL.D., professor in New College, Edinburgh. He was born in 1847, and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University. Like Stevenson, he began his life's work by studying engineering. He was trained by Messrs. Blyth, and afterwards held appointments in India between the years 1870 and 1879. Then he returned home to become the ' artist printer ' to whom his friend W. H. Henley dedicated Lyra Heroica. This fine com- pliment was well deserved, for, as a partner in the printing firm of Messrs. T. and A. Constable, Mr. Blaikie has done

72 THE CELTIC REVIEW

signal service in developing the artistic side of printing by paying much attention to the effective arrangement of type, to producing good title-pages and providing light paper on which the impression of type is always consist- ently clear and crisp and beautiful. Many of the books planned by him have attracted collectors all over the world. One has only to refer to the Tudor Translations and the Folio Shakespeare in addition to Carmina Gadelica and the Edinburgh Edition of Stevenson to emphasise the importance of Mr. Blaikie's contributions to the art of which he is so distinguished an exponent.

Mr. Blaikie's energies have been by no means wholly confined to business. His printing knowledge, which has made him a progressive force in his profession, has also been of important service to the cause of scholarship, for it has enabled him to decipher some obscure historical facts which only an expert could undertake to deal with, and especially one with his mental leanings and special equipment. He is himseK a man weU endowed with the historical instinct. The study of his country's annals has ever appealed to Mr. Blaikie, and he has accomplished important and original work in connection with the fascin- ating Jacobite period, on which he is regarded as the chief authority. In 1897 he wrote for the Scottish History Society the Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, which is the standard book on the subject of that un- happy Prince's life and doings and adventures in Scot- land. He has also contributed numerous articles and notes to the literature of the period. These include five articles in the Marchioness of TuUibardine's The Military History of Perthshire — namely, ' 73rd Regiment,' ' Perth- shire in the '15,' ' Perthshire in the '45,' ' Lord George Murray,' and ' Stewart of Garth.' Two articles on ' Lord Elcho ' appeared in the Scotsman. At present students of history are looking forward to the publication of his promised article in the Booh of the Old Edinburgh Club. His contributed notes in the Scottish Historical Review have been helpful and elucidatory. Mr. Blaikie has also

WALTER BIGGAR BLAIKIE, LL.D. 73

lectured on Jacobite subjects — ' Edinburgh in the '45,' and ' Jacobite Ladies,' occurring freshly to one's memory — and he did much active work on the committee of the Jacobite section at the Glasgow National Exhibition.

While engaged in dealing with Prince Charlie's wander- ings and experiences in the Scottish Highlands and Western Islands, he personally visited most of the places where the Prince is reported to have taken shelter. He re-discovered a cave in which the royal fugitive is known to have con- cealed himself; and everywhere he went he took photo- graphs to compile a pictorial record of the Prince's wanderings. In this connection he had the assistance of the late Dr. Carmichael, who possessed so extensive a knowledge of the traditions of the Outer Hebrides. He also came into intimate association with the late Father Allan Macdonald of Eriskay, with whom he formed a close friendship which continued to the end of the life of that revered Highland priest. Mr. Blaikie's name is remembered in Eriskay in a manner which is almost reminiscent of Jacobite times. He presented Father Allan with a set of excellent bagpipes for the use of the people of the island, and it is from this that he is known there with simple affection as Fear na Pioba-moire, the man of the bagpipes. So careful was the reverend gentleman of the pipes that when they were lent for a ceilidh or wedding they remained in the house of festivity only as long as the priest was there also. When he left for home the bagpipes went with him, and one can picture the good Father on a winter night being played homeward under the bright stars by one loth to take his fingers off the half-magical chanter. A more permanent record of Mr. Blaikie's friendship with Allan Macdonald is the bell which he presented to the church of St. Michael, which the Father built on the promontory that dominates the Sound of Eriskay, a bell which not only summons the islanders to prayer, but which is also useful in guiding the fishermen in stormy and misty weather to the safety of their harbour.

It was while wandering through the Outer Hebrides

n THE CELTIC REVIEW

with his friend, spending nights at luaidh — waulkings, or Hstening to waulking songs, to Ossianic recitations and to stories of olden time (always translated to him by his mentor like an echo), that Mr. Blaikie became profoundly interested in Celtic literature and traditions still preserved in the islands, but rapidly disappearing. He was also much impressed by the life-work of his friend, Dr. Alexander Carmichael, which culminated in Carmina Gadelica. It seemed to him a necessity that what still remains of Celtic lore should be carefully collected and preserved, and that an organ should be established for this purpose. The outcome was the founding of The Celtic Review, of which Professor Mackinnon and Miss Carmichael, now Mrs. Watson, willingly accepted the responsibility of editorship.

Dr. Blaikie is comiected with many literary and scientific societies, being a fellow of the Royal Society of Edin- burgh, the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, the Society of Arts, the Society of Antiquaries, the Bibliographical Society, the Scottish History Society, and the Astronomical Association. For the last sixteen years he has annually produced a series of astronomical maps which have a wide circulation. He was for some years chairman of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce ; he is also one of the Governors of- the College of Art, and a Manager of the Royal Infirmary.

Dr. Blaikie has lived an active and useful and, in the best sense, a profitable life. He has indeed ever been more concerned to do good work than to seek the distinctions attaching to it ; nevertheless few possess in a greater degree the confidence and the affection of their fellow-citizens and their fellow-countrymen, who hope that there are many years of activity and public usefulness still in store for him.

BOOK REVIEWS

The Battle of Bannockburn, A Study in Mediceval Warfare. By W. M. Mackenzie, M.A, Glasgow : James Maclehose and Sons, 2s. 6i.

For centuries the Battle of Bannockburn has been shrouded in mystery, and much ink has been spilt in endeavours to elucidate the true tale of

BOOK REVIEWS 75

what happened on that historic day. In the little volume before us the mystery seems to us to be finally dispelled, and we are not overstating the truth when we say that the author, Mr. Mackenzie, has succeeded where all former writers have failed, and has given us a narrative of Bannockburn which is at once illuminating, convincing, and, in some ways, surprising. It is, indeed, a really excellent piece of work, and one of which the author may well be proud.

To students of mediaeval Scottish History Mr. Mackenzie's work is already well known. His edition of Barbour's Bruce, published some four years ago, is easily the best of the many editions of that poem, and is simply invaluable to students of the period. It was natural, therefore, that Mr. Mackenzie should continue his investigations into the chief event of the period, and should devote a special volume to the study of Bannockburn, concerning which a highly suggestive appendix and a number of valuable notes appeared in his edition of The Bruce. For such a work he had all the necessary equipment, enthusiasm, an unrivalled knowledge of the history of the time, a keen, critical faculty, and a well-balanced judgment ; and it is, therefore, not surprising that he should have been able to unravel with skill and ludicity the tangle into which the whole story of Bannockburn had got, and to tell the tale anew in a manner which, as we have already remarked, is as convincing as it is astonishing.

Indeed, when one reads Mr. Mackenzie's pages one wonders how Scottish historians could have for so long so utterly misunderstood the battle, and have raised up for themselves so many difficulties which ought never to have had any existence. For Mr. Mackenzie has simply done what every his- torian should do. He has gone to the contemporary sources, or the nearly contemporary sources, for his information, and to these alone. The result is that all the confusion arising from the ignorance of later writers vanishes, and the extraordinary fact emerges that for fully four hundred years Bannockburn has been misrepresented and misunderstood simply because those authorities, who alone were of any value, were disregarded or lightly passed by. That Mr. Mackenzie's book should have been necessary at all is, indeed, a grave reflection on the historians who have written with assumed authority on the Battle of Bannockburn.

The most striking fact which Mr. Mackenzie brings out, and proves in the most conclusive manner, is that, contrary to all modern versions of the battle, the Scottish army did not stand on the defensive on the 24th of June 1314, but were actually the attacking force. Arising out of that is the scarcely less striking fact that the battle was not fought on the presently accepted site — we can hardly call it the traditional site, for Mr. Mackenzie showj that as late as 1777 there was no tradition in Stirlingshire assigning the battle to any particular place — but on a site to the east thereof between the Bannock Burn and the loops of the Forth. On the 23rd of June the Scottish army occupied a position corresponding roughly to the hitherto accepted site, and on that day the English launched two attacks against the

76 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

Scots — Clifford's attempt to relieve Stirling Castle, which was so signally repulsed by Randolph, and the advance of the English vanguard, which ended with the death of Henry de Bohun at the hands of Bruce. During the night the English army marched eastwards, and, crossing the Bannock, encamped on the Carse, a flat, marshy plain encircled on three sides by the Forth and the Bannock. At daybreak on the 24th Bruce took stock of his enemy's position. His skilled eye saw that they had placed themselves in a situation which, if the Scots took prompt advantage of it, would neutralise the English superiority in numbers. For hemmed in, as they were, on both sides and on the rear by the Forth and the Bannock, they could neither deploy nor attempt to outflank the Scottish army ; while if the Scots attacked they could, so to say, close the neck of the bottle in which the English had placed themselves, and so compel them to fight in a confined space and over a narrow front. So the Scots did attack, as all the fourteenth-century authori- ties, either directly say or unmistakably imply, and by that attack and the consummate generalship which directed it the Battle of Bannockburn was won. Gone, therefore, are all the glowing accounts which have been written of the English horse breaking themselves on an impregnable Scottish line standing firmly on the defensive, and instead we have a battle which reflects much greater credit on the fighting ability of the Scots and on the military genius of Bruce.

It is impossible here to follow Mr. Mackenzie in the many other details of interest which he brings out — among them the fact that the camp followers were not on the Gillies' Hill but in a hollow to the rear of the Scottish army — but we many say frankly that we do not see how his facts can be controverted in any particular. In only two matters are we inclined to disagree with him. In the first place, by a series of deductions he places the strength of the English army at 20,000 men and that of the Scots at 7000. It is, of course, impossible to dogmatise on such a matter, and Mr. Mackenzie does not do so. But we think that 7000 errs on the small side for the Scottish army, and that, when all allowance is made for the circum- stances he mentions, the English numbered possibly from three to five thousand more than the 20,000 he allows them. That, however, is merely a matter of opinion, for on the material available the numbers must vary according to the allowance for absentees, etc., judged reasonable by each individual critic. Our second point is this. Mr. Mackenzie asserts that the vanguard was assigned to Randolph, Earl of Moray, ' with whom was the general mass of men of higher rank.' He does not quote his authority for the latter part of this statement, but probably bases it on Barbour, who says that * for to maintain his banner, Lords, that of great worship were, were assigned with their men into his battle for to be.' But in addition to these Randolph already had, as Barbour also tells us, his own men, who were of course the men of the Earldom of Moray, who had already done so much for Bruce and the cause of freedom. Moreover, Sir Thomas Gray tells us specifically that the vanguard under Randolph, which routed Clifford, were

NOTES 77

on foot and were armed with pikes, which can only mean that the force was composed, with few exceptions, of men who were not lords or knights. ' The general mass of men of higher rank ' were of course mounted knights, and they naturally were with the cavalry army under Sir Robert Keith,

These matters, however, do not affect the general accuracy of Mr. Mac- kenzie's volume, or minimise in any way the value of his general conclusions. His book is beyond doubt the ablest critical account of Bannockburn which has yet been written, and must take rank as the best, if not the only modern authority on the subject. It seems to us, in fact, that all other modern accounts of Bannockburn must be discarded forthwith, and that Mr. Mac- kenzie's book can alone be regarded as a safe guide to the story of the battle. "We congratulate the author cordially on a very able and a very stimulating piece of work. We rejoice that he has had the courage to cast oflF the bonds which have too long held those who have written on the War of Independ- ence, and that he has shown in his study of the subject a praiseworthy free- dom from the fetters of tradition, prejudice, and miscalled patriotism.

Evan M. Barron.

NOTES Sir Lancelot du Lake and Vinovia

Reasons were given in a previous note for equating the name of Lancelot with *Wlanciloth, and among the names advanced with the object of estab- lishing this hypothetical compound was ' Vinoviloth.' This occurs in the Getica of Jordanes in the following passage : —

'Sunt ex his exteriores Ostrogothae, Raumaricae, Raugnaricii, Finni mitissimi (Scanziae cultoribus omnibus mitiores) nee non et pares eorum Vinoviloth[i], Suethidi, Cogeni in hac gente reliquis corpore eminentiores . . . etc'

The name Vinoviloth occurs in the manuscripts without the plural end- ing. It is a very strange name to find in Gothic traditions. It is readily divisible into four vocables, viz. virio-, -vinovi, viloth, and -loth. Both vin and loth might be Germanic, but the medial syllable -vi-, whether we take it with Fino- or with -loth, creates unavoidable difficulty. No connection with the Anglian wlh, West-Saxon weoh, ' idol,' a frequent theme in names of men, can be supposed to have existed. The form -ve- in Mero-ve-as, Chlodo- ve-us, Hioth-ve-z, is quite distinct. Moreover, the form is not at all irregular, inasmuch as the practice of adding i to the stem of a prototheme is frequent in Gothic : cf. Ach-i-ulf, Ber-i-mund, Gaut-i-goth, Hun-i-mund, Theud-i-mer, and many more. But the prototheme Viii-ov- itself cannot be Gothic. It is actually Celtic in a Latin dress, as I shall show presently.

With this solution of the problem in view, the identification, I am about to advance, though at first sight it may appear hazardous, will be found in the sequel to draw so many remarkable coincidences in its train

78 THE CELTIC REVIEW

that it will be acknowledged that & prima facie case has been made out for a new departure in the investigation of the Lancelot legend.

In the Britannias, at the close of the period of Roman occupation, there were several place- and tribe -names which present the syllable -ov-. Among these we find the adjectival forms Ord-ov-ices and Delg-ov-icia, with which may be compared the Gallo-Roman Bell-ov-&ci. There were also the place-names — Corn-ov-ium, Con-ov-ium, and Vin-ov-ia. It is with the etymon of Vinovia that I would identify the stem of the prototheme in Vinov-i-loth.

Now what connection, other than a verbal one, can there possibly be between Vinovia and Vinoviloth? — that is to say, between a Komano- British town and a Gothic chief (or a Gothic tribe).

No attempt that has been made hitherto to prove intercourse between the Goths and the Britannias can be regarded as successful. Setting on one side, but with all respect, the theories of modern writers, we find that the West-Saxon informants of Bishop Asser in 885 were quite sure that a Gothic invasion of the Britannias had taken place in the fifth century. Speaking of King Alfred's maternal grandfather, Asser reports that : —

'Oslac Gothus erat natione ortns, enim erat de Gothis et Jutis, de semine scilicet Stuf et Wihtgar.'

A faint note of Gothic interest is also heard in one of the letters of Pope Gregory the Great, wherein the name of Eadbald, King of Kent, appears with the Gothic diphthong as ' Audubaldus,' Some seventy years earlier than this, suggestions were made, according to Procopius, that the Ostro- goths should be allowed to occupy the Britannias. And in the Gdica of Jordanes {scr. c. 560) we find a curious statement made about a Germanic tribe called ' Hunugari ' (S) to the eflFect that it had been overcome once upon a time in Britain, and had ransomed itself for the price of a single horse.

These points of doubtful value must now yield place to analysis of the various forms of the prototheme of Vinov-i-loth that have come down to us.

1. Vinovi-a 4. Guinue -an

2. Ovivvovt -ov 5. Ruoihm ( = Guoinui)

3. Guinui -on 6. Binchester.

Vinovia is a station on the road from Cataracto to Remenium. It is xxii. m.p. from the former and xlviii. m.p. from the latter. Cataracto is the ' Cair [Cajdraithon ' of the ' Nomina Ciuitatum ' in the Historia Brit- tonvm, and the Catterick of Modern English. It is believed that the distance of 22 m.p. from Catterick falls at Binchester, and that the first syllable of the Romano-British word Vinovia is reflected in the modern name.

The Ovivvoviov of Ptolemy may be either Winrmion or fFinnoimon. This form is represented in Early Welsh by— Guinui-on. This is coupled in the ' Arthuriana ' in the Historia Brittonum with the word 'Castellum.'

NOTES 79

A misreading, to wit, gunnion, infects all the manuscripts. In the Irish Nennius ' Castellum Guinnion ' is rendered — ' Les Guinneain.' In this name *les'=%s, 'palace,' ' court,' and 'Guinneain,' represents the posses- sive case of *Guinuean treated as a man's name. The eighth victory of King Arthur is recorded in the ' Arthuriana ' as follows :

' Octavum contra barbaros egit bellum iuxta Castellum Guinuion in quo idem Arthur portavit imaginem Sanctae Mariae Dei Genetricis semperque virginis super numeros suos, et tota ilia die Saxones per virtutem D.N.I. C. at S.M. matris ejus in fugam versi sunt, et magna clade multi ex illis perierunt.'

It may well have been after this defeat that the Saxons of the race of Hengist withdrew from the neighbourhood of the Picts' Wall and settled down in Kent, under -^sc. That the first settlement of the Jutes really was in the North is clear from what the Historia Brittonum says (cap. xxxviii. p. 178) :

*. . . da illis {sc. Hengisti filio et fratrueli suo) regiones quae sunt in aquilone juxta murum qui vocatur Guaul. Et jussit ut invitaret eos, et invitavit Ochtam et Ebissam, et venerunt et occupaverunt regiones plurimum ultra murum [MSS. mare\ usque ad confinium Pictorum.'

(Ruoihm) In chapter xxxi. (p. 171) this clear indication of the primary position of the Saxons in the pay of Vortigern is confused, and we are told that

' Guorthigirnus tradidit eis insulam quae in lingua eorum vocatur Tanet, Britannico sermone Ruoihm.'

This is quite erroneous, and is an adaptation of the misunderstood legend to the facts of a later time. In the Zeitschrift filr celtische Philologie, vol. v. p. Ill, I have shown that this impossible form is really Guoinui. This would permit us to locate the ' Goths and Jutes ' at Binchester, as I intimated just now.

This identification responds well to the political requirements of the fifth century, and to the legendary ones of the Historia Brittonum. The particular battle occurred after the ' Cat-Coet Celidon,' ' the battle of the Wood Celiddon,' which was situate in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It may be dated A.D. 466, four years before ' Mons Badonicus.'

The displacement of u in Uinnouion by b in Binchester is not an unusual phenomenon. We find the Forth called Avon Werid, Borda, and *Boredia ; Gwasgwyn=Vasconia, Baskland ; Lacus Vulsiniensis is now Lago di Bolsena, and 'Ebissa,' in the passage quoted just now, represents *Euissa, the Giwis of the West-Saxon pedigree, and the eponymous hero of the Geuissae.

We have now reached another stage in our journey. The name of Lancelot has led us to a Germanic Wlanci+loth and a Gothic Vinai+loth ; the prototheme of the last has been discovered, rightly or wrongly, in the name of a Roman fortified station — namely, Vinovia, the Early Welsh Guinuion and the Greek Oviwoviov ; and that station has been located at

80 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Binchester. The great importance of Binchester in the fifth century, when the regio administered from it was neither in Bernicia nor in Deira, is obvious from the reference made to it in the Historia Brittonum of c. 837. We are, therefore, postulated at Binchester, and we now have to show the connection between that city and *Wlanciloth or Lancelot.

The twelfth book of Malory's Morte d' Arthur, the one about Sir Lance- lot's madness, tells us (chap, vii.) how he came into the country north of the Humber (x. Ixiv.) like a madman, with dogs and boys chasing him through the city of Corbin, ' Cor ' (o) is the equivalent of ' Car ' (a), the English form of the Early Welsh * Cair.' (Old English a for ai of other languages, or dialects is quite in order.) Hence Corbin = Binchester word for word.

Alfred Anscombe.

Biabhach

As applied to cattle, etc., means 'brindled' (adj.), greyish, grizzled. In A.TTdin.= Bxiidheglas, yellow grey. To land, etc., Dalreoch, Teanga riabhach, grey, rough, grizzled, spotted. As a subst. masc. a grey or grizzled person, not attractive. The devil (inter alia) is ^An Biabhach Mbr,' the great brindled or singed one ! Among other places into which the word enters, in Skye, for instance, is Baile Mhic Illeriabhaich — Township of the grey or grizzled lad, etc., or rather of the son of, etc. This name has been much corrupted by English or Lowland scribes.

According to Dr. M'Laren M'llwraith of Sheffield, the M'llwraiths belonged to those lands, and a bond of manrent between them and the Lord of the Isles (or Macdonald of the Isles) was signed at Castle Camus (Knock), Sleat, Skye, on August 13, 1632. The original is (or was) in possession of A. J. Macdonald Williamson, who says it means, and is, the village of the M'llwraiths. Their patronymic was * Clann Ileirich,' and when asked to write, they always wrote 'MacDonald.' See Book of Clan Donald. 'Clann Domhnull Riabhaich' were hereditary Bards to Macleod of Dunvegan, then to Macdonald of Sleat. ' Darroch ' is said to be the same.

In the work written by Thomas Whyte on the Bethunes of Skye, two of that family at least, Angus and Ewan, held the title of ' Donnelrich,' i.e. Domhnull Riach or Riabhach. They were bold,, fierce-looking, soldierly men, as well as medical specialists, hence probably the sobriquet.

In the Contents of vol. viii. of The Celtic Beview, the author of 'Dr. Haverfield and the Saxon advent in Britain ' should be the Rev. A. W. Wade-Evans.

Reviews of a number of books, etc., are held over owing to want of space, but will be given in the next issue.

PHONOLOGY 81

A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR AND READER

By Julius Pokorny, Ph.D., LL.D. (Vienna)

{Continued from page 384)

Note. — Certain instances of compensatory lengthening before m are very scanty and occur only in the case of gutturals, e.g. for-6m{m)id * he is unable ' fr. *-ek{s)-med-et; cf. Welsh meddu 'to be able.' {ksm has very early become km).

Loss of Consonants by Haplology

§ 110. In words of more than two syllables an intervocalic consonant may be thrown out when followed by the same con- sonant. When the last consonant stood between o and e, i, the diphthong oi is produced.

e.g. for-roichain 'he has taught' fr. -*{p)rd-ke-kan-e, -*ke-kn-e; ir. for- chain 'teaches.' coim(')n)thecht ' accompaniment.' (com-iTriTH-thecht.) Note. — In words like

foil ' mission ' instead of *foidiuth (ending *-ltus) both dentals have coalesced, while the vowel of the second syllable has been thrown out. The t represents the voice- less stop (§ 1, 4), just as in -tuit (§ 210, note 3). Cf. § 86. This treatment seems to be confined to dentals.

Semi-Vowels § 111. I, E. j disappears in O. Ir.

e.g. ode ' young ' fr. *jovnko-, *jevn-ko, Welsh ieuanc ; cf Lat. juvencus, Engl, young, -tdu ' I am ' fr. *sthd-jo; cf Lat. stare ' to stand.' When immediately preceded by u, v, or a consonant it had de- veloped an i before it. Hence unstressed syllables preceded by a post- vocalic consonant (or u v) -\-j are never entirely thrown out. e.g. coire ' cauldron ' fr. *b'arijos, *k''rjos, Welsh pair ; cf Skr. daru. Onj in final syllables, cf. § 46. § 112. V is thus dealt with : 1. Initial v appears as /.

e.g. fid ' tree ' fr. *vidus, Welsh gwydd, O. High German witii. VOL. IX. F

82 A CONCISE OLD IKISH GRAMMAR

2. I*ost-consonantal v disappears except after aspirated d, I, n, r, where it is written h (pronounced v).

e.g. ardd ' high ' (with unaspirated d), fr. *fdhvos of. § 105. but fedb ' widow ' (with aspirated d) fr. *vidhvd, Welsh gweddw ; cf Engl, widow. On mv, see § 103. On sv, see § 98. On d{h)v, see § 94.

3. As regards intervocalic v (also when from mv, § 103) pre- ceded by a stressed vowel, the treatment varies according to the quality of the surrounding vowels.

We must distinguish between

(a) V before a final palatal vowel, with which it had coalesced

already before the loss of final syllables, (13) V before a lost « or o in final syllables, (y) V before a lost i% (also u from 6, § 118) in final syllables, (8) V in the interior of dissyllabic words (after the loss of final

syllables), (e) V in the interior of words of more than two syllables (after

the loss of final syllables).

a. av (9v) appears (a) as oi.

e.g. ad-doi ' kindles ' fr. *ad-d9v-U, cf. Greek Batco ; Skr. davah ' fire.' (/8) and (7) as du, later do, 6.

e.g. gdu, gdo, g6 ' lie ' fr. *ghdva ; cf. Greek 'x,avvo<s. (B) probably regularly as 0 (older du, e.g. due ' descen- dant,' later 6{a)e, u(a)e) ; in later 0. Ir. this 6 becomes u before preserved final vowels (§§ 44-46). e.g. soid ' turns ' fr. *sav-Ui.

god, later gud, fr. *gh9vds, ace. pi. of gdu. (On the quality of the following vowels, see §§ 44-46, 58.) (e) before o as u.

e.g. gti- fr. *gh9vo-, compositional form of gdu (in gu- brithemnacht 'false judgment,' etc.).

b. dv (fr. I. E. dv or ov) appears (a) as oi.

e.g. Tioi, fr. *ndvi, *ndvdi, dat. sg. of ndu ' ship ' ; (yS) as du (later d).

e.g. gnd (older *gndu) ' beautiful, active,' fr. *§ndvo- ; cf. Lat. (g)ndvu8.

PHONOLOGY 83

(7) as 6 (older 6u).

e.g. gno (older gnou), dat. sg. masc. of gno (fr, *gnavu, *^ndvdi) ;

(8) as 6.

e.g. nde fr. *ndvjds, gen. sg. of ndiL C. e-y has very early become ov and is treated like that.

d. ev has very early become Iv and is treated like that.

e. After O. Ir. ^, ia (fr. I. E. ei) v disappears without leaving any trace.

e.g. de fr. *deivi, gen. sg. of dia ' god.' dia fr. *deivos, Lat. c^ivus, Skr. devds.

f. I. E. w appears (a) as i.

e.g. 6i fr. *gHvi, gen. sg. of 6eo ' alive.' (y8) as e'u, eo.

e.g. 6eu, 6eo fr. *bevos, *gnvo8, Welsh hyw ; of. Lat. vlvus.

(7) as iu.

e.g. 6m fr. *bivu, *gnvdi, dat. sg. of 6eo.

(8) as i.

e.g. /iJu8 ' I shall fight ' fr. *vi-vik-s-d, 1st sg. fut. oifichid ;

cf. Lat. vincere, 0. High German wihan. (On the quality of the following vowels see §§ 44-46, 58.) (e) before d, 6 as e, before e, I, u as i.

e.g. hethu ' life ' fr. *bevothu *g'ivo-tut-s, Welsh byivyd.

g. After O. Ir. i (fr. I. E. e, i) v disappears without leaving any trace.

e.g. li ' colour ' fr. Hlvis, Welsh lliw ; cf. Gaulish Llvius. h. ov and ev appear, (a) as ol

e.g. 6oi 'he was,' fr. *bhove. (/8) as 6.

e.g. 6d fr. *g''ovo8, gen. sg. of 6d ' cow.'

(7) as u.

(8) before d, o as 6, before e, % -a as u.

e.g. cZo-co2;c2 ' he went ' fr. *-cbvdde, * -k<ym-vddh-e ; pres. dichet ' he can go.' Cf. rule 4 below. niie ' new ' fr. *nevijo-, Welsh newydd ; cf. Lat. novus.

84 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

The treatment before e varies, e.g. 6'dc 'youth,' of. § 111. but JiiJir * preparation ' f r. *u(p)o-v€r-om ; f r. fo-fera ' prepares. (On the quality of the following vowels, see §§ 44-46, 58.)

(e) before d as 6.

e.g. do-c6tar ' they went ' fr. *cbvdd . . . *kom-vodh . . .

before o as 6, iia or u ; before u probably as u. e.g. duilgine 'reward' fr. *de-vo-ldg-ine (cf. § 55 11. note).

tdbae ' cutting ' fr. *to-vo-be, older *-u(p)o-bhijovi.

tuaichle ' slyness ' fr. *to-vo-celle, older -*k'eisl(i)Jd.

The treatment before e, i presents likewise many difl&culties.

On the one hand we have (with vowel-contraction) toisech ' leader ' fr. *to-vid-tjdkos ; cf . Welsh tywysog fr. *to-vid-takos ; (Ogam gen. tovisdci), root vid 'to know,' on the other hand (with syncope of the second syllable) :

Mid. Ir. wdna ' famine ' fr. *novinjd *nevinjd, Welsh newyn (fr. *iw'wyn) ; cf. Goth. nauj>s. The 0. Ir. ndine (Thes. ii. 256), is very puzzling to me.

(cf. further § 126.)

i. uv appears. (a) as ui.

e.g. drui ' druid ' fr. *dru-vid-s. (/3) as 6, (7) as "ul. Certain instances are very scanty. (8) before e, I, 'Su, j, as u, before d, o as 6.

e.g. drudd fr. *dru-vid-os, gen, sg. of drui,

(On the quality of the following vowels see §§ 44-46, 58.)

(e) The material is very scanty. There is the same diffi- culty as in the case of ov. uvu gives of course u.

4. After unstressed vowels in final syllables intervocalic v has vanished without leaving any trace.

e.g. cualae ' he has heard ' fr. *Jcu-Iclov-e.

But in the interior of a word it had absorbed in certain cases the preceding vowel or had vanished already before the time of syncope. Thus kove gives k'e.

Examples : airde ' sign ' fr. *are-vid-jom, Welsh arwydd ; root md 'to know.' -dichet 'he can go' fr. *di-k''ed, -*kovedet, *^om- vedh-et (on the final t see § 84 d, note) ; root vedh ' to lead ' ; cf. Lith. vedii ' I lead.'

PHONOLOGY 85

Short Vowels § 113. I. E. d and a (also a Avhich has been developed in Celtic from I. E. r, I, m, r?, §§ 105, 106). appear

1. regularly as a.

e.g. aile ' another ' ; cf. § 46.

athir ' father ' fr. * (p)9ter, Lat. pater, Skr. pitd.

2. By the end of the archaic period au — which had been developed from a, preceded by Z or a labial or guttural (+r), and followed by u coloured consonants — became u.

Examples : mug, arch. 0. Ir. maug ' slave ' fr. *magus, Cornish maw ; Ingu, arch, laugu, 'smaller,' fr. *lagu, *hgh''j6S) cf. § 65, 3.

3. a preceded by a labial or guttural (+r) appears before certain palatal consonants as o or u. It is very difficult to make out the definite rules governing this change, which is later than the change of 0 to u.

Examples : coire 'cauldron' cf. § 111.

muig fr. * mages, dat. sg. of m^g 'field.'

4. as a or c; cf. §§ 54, 107-109.

5. on av see § 112, 3 a.

6. The 0 in loch 'lake' fr. Hakus, cf. Lat. laeus, Greek Aukkoc 'pit,' is very peculiar.

§ 114. I. E. e (also e which has been developed in Celtic from I. E. m, n, §§ 105, 106). appears

1. as e.

a. in old monosyllables where the final consonants have not been lost (§ 43).

e.g. -hert ' he carried ' fr. *hher-t.

b. when the following syllable contained d, o, o which had not become u (§ 48), or e (but not e in hiatus — i.e. e{s)-, e(j)-, 6(2?)-+ vowel — nor e preceded by ng) provided these vowels were preceded by consonants (but cf. §§ 107-109).

e.g. cerd 'craft' fr. *Icerdos, Welsh cerdd, Greek /cejoSo?.

berid ' carries ' fr. *hher-e-ti ; cf. Lat. fero, Greek (pepw. Tnedo (gen. sg, of mid ' mead '), fr. *'inedo, *nnedhous.

c. when the following syllable contained e in hiatus or u, i, j, provided those were preceded by voiceless t(t), s(s), th, ch or

86 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

by a group of two or more consonants, with exception of ng TKih, nd and perhaps some other groups. (But cf. §§ 107-109.) e.g. eich fr. *ekvi, gen. sg. of ech ' horse.'

inescae'dT\iJikenuess'fr*medh-sk{i)jd; cf Greek fieOvo-Koy ; serbu (comparative of serb ' bitter,' Welsh chwerw; cf Greek ^epos;) fr. *servju, *kservjd8.

2. as S.

St,, in the case mentioned in | 54.

b. when the e was originally followed by o or a coloured consonants which caused compensatory lengthening of a pre- ceding vowel (§§ 107-109).

e.g. tr^n 'strong' fr. *treg-no-; cf. O. Norse prek 'strength'; set 'way' fr. *sentus, Welsh hynt, 0. High German sind 'journey.' (On 4u, 4o, iu, see rule 4 below.)

3. as i.

a. in hiatus (resulting from the loss of vowel-flanked p, j, s), before all vowels, but before e only when this was originally pre- ceded hyj.

e.g. lack (gen. sg. of eo, ' salmon ') fr. *eoch, *esok-os, Welsh eog. Note. — Every e in hiatus had become {i)j in unstressed syllables, e.g. ad-suidi ' keeps back ' f r. *-sbdijet *sodejet.

b. when the following syllable contained ^, j, u (also when from 6), u or e in hiatus, provided these were preceded by single consonants (except voiceless t{t), s{s), th, ch), or the groups nd, mb, ng.

e.g. mid ' mead' fr. *medhu-, Welsh medd, Greek fiedv, Skr.

mddhu.

niTYie (gen. sg. of nem ' heaven ') fr. ^nemjos, *nemeo8,

*ne7nesos.

siniu ' older ' fr. *senjds, Lat. senior, c. when the following syllable contained e preceded by ng. e.g. cingid ' steps,' fr. khengeti, cf. 0. High German hinkan

' to limp.'

4. as eo, du, iu when short e was originally followed by palatal or u coloured consonants, the dropping of which has been discussed

PHONOLOGY 87

in § 109. But the diphthong appears only in final syllables or in stressed non-final syllables.

e.g. trSuin, triuin fr. *treg-ni; gen. sg. masc. of tren ' strong.' The u (o) is a rest of the lost consonant.

cen4uly ceniul fr. *kenetlo(i), dat. sg. of ceriel ' race.' (On this u, see § 49 exception.)

5. as a under conditions which are not quite clear. It seems that the change took place only after certain consonants before a palatal g.

e.g. taig fr. Heges, dat. sg. of tech ' house.'

graig ' herd ' fr. an oblique case of Lat. grex, gen. gregis. but lige ' bed ' fr. *leghjom.

6. On ev, see § 112, 3 c.

§ 115. I. E. i (also i which has been developed in Celtic from I.E.r,l,m,v, §§105,106). appears

1. as i.

a. in old monosyllables where the final consonants have not been lost (§ 43).

b. when the following syllable contained e or 4 (also u from 0), ^.^(butcf. §§ 107-109).

e.g. ith ' corn ' fr. *pitus, Welsh yd, Skr. pihi-S ' nourish- ment.' fir fr. *vire, voc. sg. of/er 'man.'

c. when the following syllable contained d, o-, or o, provided these vowels were preceded by the consonant group nd or ndn.

e.g. find ' white ' fr. *vindo-, *vindd, Welsh gwynn, fem. gwenn, Greek IvSdWofjLac I appear. ro-finnadar ' he knows ' fr. *-vind-nd-tro.

d. in hiatus in dissyllabic words.

e.g. sciad (gen. pi. of sc^ * hawthorn ' fr. *sk%jat-8) fr. *sA;"i;a^om, Welsh ysbyddad; cf. Lith. akujci 'pointed leaf.'

2. as e.

a. when the following syllable contained d,ooTo which had not become u, except when these vowels were preceded by nd or ndn.

88 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

e.g. fedo (gen. sg. oijid ' tree ' fr. vidus) fr. *vido, *vidous. fer ' man ' fr. ^viros, Welsh gwr, Lat. vir.

3. as e.

a. when e which had been developed from i according to the rule given above (2. a) came into final position (cf. § 54.)

e.g. cl^ ' left ' fr. *Jclijo-, /clija-, Welsh cledd, Lat. cliviua ' unlucky.'

b. when (stressed or unstressed) e which had been developed from i was originally followed by consonants causing com- pensatory lengthening of a preceding vowel (§§ 107-109).

e.g. cuilen ' whelp ' fr. *kulegno, *kulignos, *kolignos, Welsh colwyn.

4. as i.

a. when the i which had not been changed to e (see above, 2 a) was originally followed by consonants which cause compen- satory lengthening of a preceding vowel (§§ 107-109), except in the case mentioned in rule 5 below.

e.g. richtu 'reaching'; see § 108.

b. in the case mentioned in § 54.

5. as iu.

when the i which had not been changed to e, was originally followed by consonants, the dropping of which has been dis- cussed in § 111. The diphthong appears only in final (stressed or unstressed) syllables or in stressed non-final syllables.

e.g. cuiliuin (nom. pi. of cuiUn, 3 b) fr. *kulignl, *koligni, *kolignoi.

6. as u.

when originally preceded by k'r- and followed by a palatal or u coloured consonant.

e.g. cruim ' worm ' fr. *k''rimis, *kymis, Welsh pryf, Skr. kfTTii-S.

cruth ' shape, manner ' fr. *k''ritus, *kytus, Welsh fryd ; cf. Skr. sa-krt ' once.'

7. on iv, see § 112, 3 f.

§ 116. I. E. 0 appears. 1. as 0.

a. in old monosyllables where the final consonants have not been lost (§ 43.)

PHONOLOGY 89

e.g. ort ' he slew ' fr. *orcht, *org-t ; 3. sg. pret. of orgaid.

b. when the following syllable contained d, o, o, which had not become u (§ 48) or e (but not e in hiatus nor unsyncopated e preceded by single aspirated h or m) provided these vowels were preceded by consonants (but cf. §§ 107-109.)

e.g. torad ' fruit ' fr. ^to-ret-om ; cf. rethid ' runs,'

gort ' garden, field ' fr. *ghortos, Welsh garth, Lat. hortus, Greek ')(ppTo^.

c. When the following syllable contained e in hiatus or u, i,j, provided these were preceded by voiceless t(t), s{s\ iJi, or by a group of two or more consonants except Qnh, nd, {m)7nl, {7n)7nr, ggr (cr), ggl (cl), and the aspirated groups ml, mr (but cf. §§ 109- 111.)

e.g. roiss (gen. sg. of ross ' wood ' *pro-sthoin, Welsh rhos, Skr. prasthas) fr. *pro-8thi. rose (dat. sg. of rose ' eye ' fr. ^pro-shortx ; the same root with a different vowel gradation in sechithir ' follows,' Lat. sequitur) fr. *pro-sk'"di.

The treatment of -och- followed by i%, t, j is doubtful. Cf. Mid. Jr. scuchaid ' departs' besides 0. Jr. fo-scoichet they go away, Welsh ysgogi, ' to stir.' Cf. also § 65, 2, note 1.

2. as 6

(which had become ua in the course of the O. Jr. period except in final position and some other instances).

a. in the case mentioned in § 54.

b. when the o was originally followed by consonants which cause compensatory lengthening of a preceding vowel (§§ 107- 109).

e.g. huain ' reaping, striking ' fr. *bhog-ni-s ; cf. apaig § 94. sr6n ' nose,' see § 109.

3. as u.

a. when the following syllable contained i, j, u (also u from o) or e in hiatus, provided these were preceded by single con- sonants (except voiceless t{t), s{s), th) or the groups mh, nd, {m)'ml, ('m)mr, ggr (cr), ggl{cl), and the aspirated groups ml, m/r. e.g. ad-suidi ' he delays ' fr. *ad-sodijet, *-sodejet ; the same root with a different vowel-gradation in Welsh sedd ' seat,' Lat. sedeo, etc. Cf § 130.

90 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

slund (dat. sg. of slond ' appelation ') fr. *splonddi ; the same root with a different vowel-gradation in Lat. splendeo ' I shine.' guin ' wounding ' fr. ^g^hon-is ; cf. Greek 4'6vo<i. On ch see above, rule Ic.

b. when the following syllable contained unsyncopated e preceded by single aspirated b or m.

e.g. cuman ' recollection ' *ko7n-meno- (cf. § 103.) The same root in toimtiu *to-7nen-tjo ' opinion.' asriibart ' he has said ' (^arch. -rubert) fr. *eks-pro-bher-t.

4. as a

(though 0 is often analogically restored).

a. under certain conditions which are not quite clear, when the next syllable contained or contains d.

e.g. do-rat ' he has given ^ ; ni tdrat (fr. Hbrat) ' he has not given.'

robatar ' they have been ' ; ni rdbatar (beside analogical rhbatar) ' they have not been.'

b. when preceded by / and followed by palatal consonants before old e.

e.g. fa(i)dirc ' conspicuous ' fr. *fodirc, *u(jp)o-deric-is.

5. On ov, see § 112, 3h, on op see § 91. (On I. E. ot;see§ 112, 3 b.)

§ 117. I. E. u appears.

1. as u.

a. in old monosyllables where the final consonants have not been lost (§ 43).

b. when the following syllable contained e or 4, (also u from

o)^",i.

e.g. sruth ' river ' fr. *srutus, Welsh ffrwd ; cf. Skr. sravati ' flows.'

buith (dat, sg. of both 'to be' fr. *bhuta) fr. *bhuti, *bhutdi.

2. as u.

a. in the case mentioned in § 54, e.g. tru ; see § 54 ; cf. Lat. trux.

b, when the u (in the case of § 109 only u which had not become o, see rule 3 below) was originally followed by con-

PHONOLOGY 91

sonants which cause compensatory lengthening of a preceding vowel (§§ 107-109).

e.g. Crdnuin (gen. sg. of Cronon fr. *Crdnugnos) fr. *Crdnugni (proper name), perhaps fr. older *kroknu-gn% ; the same stem in cron 'yellow, swarthy,' fr. *krokno-; cf. Greek

Kp6K0<;.

3. as 0

when the following syllable contained a, o or o which had not become u.

e.g. cloth ' fame ' fr. *fdutoin, Greek k\vt6v ; cf. Welsh clod fr. *fdutd. both ' hut ' fr. *bhutd, Welsh hod ; cf. Lith. hutas.

4. as 6, (which became ua during the course of the 0. Jr. period except in final position and some other instances).

a. when the o which had been developed from u according to the rule given above (3.) came into final position,

b. when o, which had been developed from u was originally followed by consonants, which cause compensatory lengthening of a preceding vowel (§§ 107-109).

e.g. hrdn ' sorrow ' fr. *bhrughnos, Welsh brwyn ; cf. Greek /3/>u%&) ' gnash the teeth.' ciialae ' he heard,' arch, cole, fr. *fcufclove, Welsh cigleu ; 3 sg.

perf. of ro-cluinethar ' hears ' ; cf. Greek kXvco. Note. — Before intervocalic pI.E.u has fallen together with v ; hence *upo gives *vo, 0. Ir. fo 'under.'

Long Vowels § 118. I. E. d and o appear both as d. (This d has been shortened^ before r, I, m, 71+ consonant and treated like old a.) e.g. fdith ' poet ' fr. *vdtis, Welsh gwawd ' song of praise,' Lat. vdtes ' prophet.'

gndth ' usual ' fr. *gndto-, Welsh gnawd, Lat. (g)notus, Greek yv(or6<;.

meit 'size,' Welsh maint, fr. *7nanti, older *md-ntl] the same root in mdr 'great,' Welsh mawr, fr. *md-ro-. Final stressed 0, and 0 in unstressed final syllables (except before m, n, § 45, exception) have become u. e.g. cu ' dog ' fr. tcvo, Welsh ci ; Skr. svd.

92 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

jiru (ace. pi. of fer ' man ') fr. *virdns ; voc. pi. Jlru fr. *vir6s. (On dv, 6v, see § 112, 3 b.)

§ 119. I. E. e and % appear both as I. (This % (from e) has been shortened ^ before r, ^, m, 71 + consonant, and treated like old i.)

e.g. lin ' number ' fr. *plenu- ; cf. Lat. plenus ' full.' rim ' number ' fr. rimd, Welsh rhif, 0. Engl. Htti. In certain unstressed syllables S seems to have been shortened before it could become i,

e.g. cbmaln{a)ithe {-de, § 72) 'fulfil' fr. *kom-ldnd-thes ; 2 sg. imper. of comaln{a)ithir 'fulfils.' (On I. E. ev, Iv, see § 112, 3 d, g.)

§ 120. I. E. u appears as u. e.g. run ' secret ' fr. * rund, Welsh rhin, 0. Engl. riin.

Short Diphthongs § 121. u diphthongs.

I.E. au, eu, ou appear as 6. In the course of the O. Ir, period this 6 gradually becomes ua. Cf. § 116, 2.

e.g. luad 'talk' fr. HdudoTn,; cf. Lat. laus, gen. laudia * praise.'

tuath ' people ' fr. *teutd, Welsh tud, Goth. })iudq,. ruad 'red' fr. *roudho-, Welsh rhudd, Lat. rufus, Lith. rauda ' red colour.' Note 1. — In hiatus (produced by the loss of intervocalic^, s, j) au eu ou are treated like av-, ev-, ov-. (Cf. § 112.)

e.g. du, 6 ' ear ' f r. ams, *ausos ; cf . Lat. aurii, Goth. auso, dat. sg. oi, de fr. *aves. *anses. Note 2. — Final stressed au is preserved in 0. Ir. as du, later do, 6. Note 3. — Final unstressed -au, -eu^ -ou had early become u and act like u upon the preceding consonants.

But -aus, -eus, -ous had become os and are preserved in 0. Ir. as -o, later -a.

e.g. betho (gen. sg. of bith ' world '), fr. *gH-tous.

1 The shortening of long vowels before liquid + consonants must be later than the loss of nasals before s (§ 107).

Hence ace. pi. jiru fr. *virOs, older *virona. A form *vxrQn» would have given O. Ir. * fe.ro; cf. *»tchtmogo *70' fr. * ifptmmo-domi-t.

PHONOLOGY 93

§ 122. i diphthongs. I.E. ai appears as ai (de). e.g. cdech ' one-eyed ' fr. *kaiko-, Welsh coeg ' empty,' Lat, caecus ' blind.' I.E. 01 appears as oi (6e).

e.g. oin, den ' one ' fr. *oino-, Welsh un, 0. Lat. oino, Goth. ains. Already during the 0. Ir. period ai (de) and oi (de) have fallen together.

e.g. main beside moin ' treasure ' f r. *moinis ; cf . Lat. munus, Goth.

ga-mains ' common.' I.E. ei appears before palatal consonants as e, before non- palatal consonants as ia. (arch, ^a, e.) e.g. sciath 'shield,' see § 98; gen. sg. sceith fr. *skeit%. The treatment of final ei varies e.g. cia ' who ? ' fr. k'ei,

but -te (S sg. pres. subj. of -tiag, ^steigho 'I go') fr. *-steigh-s-t. Note. — Unstressed final -ai, -ei, -oi act like i upon the preceding consonants.

e.g. fir ' men ' fr. *mn, older *viroi. (On a, e, o before liquid + consonant, see §§ 101-104, 107, 108.)

Long Diphthongs

§ 123. In most cases long dipthongs have been shortened very

early and are treated like the corresponding short diphthongs.

e.g. tuaith (dat. sg. of tuath ' people ') fr. *teutai, older

*teutdi ; sia ' longer ' (compar. of sir ' long ' fr. *se-ro-),

fr. *seis, older *seis (stem se-H compar. ending -is);

Welsh hwy, cf. Lat. serus ' late.'

Note 1. — This shortening is later than the change of o to a or u.

e.g. fiur (dat. sg. oifer 'man') fr. *viru, *virui, *viroi (cf. § 124.) Note 2. — In final stressed position du, ou become du (later do, 6) ; iu becomes iu ; di, oi become ai ; ei becomes i.

e.g. ddu ' two,' fr. *dv6u, Welsh dau, Skr. dvdu. Note 3. — In hiatus (produced by the loss of intervocalic p, s, j) du, du are treated like dv- ; eu is treated like iu-.

e.g. ro-hrid (3 sg. subj. of bronnaid, *hhrus-nd-ti, ' hurts ') ; fr.

94 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAE

*-bnv-dt, *bhrev^sdt; cf. Welsh briwo 'to hurt.' Cf. § 121, note 1,

§ 124. Under certain conditions the second element of long diphthongs has been dropped. This dropping is much older than the shortening of the first element.

e.g. die 'day' fr. *dijes (see § 119), Welsh dydd, Lat. dies, older *dijsus, Skr. dijdus ' sky.' (On d, e, 0 before liquid + consonant , see §§ 118-120.)

Vowel Contraction

§ 125. When two vowels came together in O. Ir. owing to the loss of an intervocalic j, s, p (on hiatus produced by the loss of intervocalic v, see § II23), these vowels either kept their proper syllabic function and remained in hiatus, or they coalesced (provided the second vowel was not thrown out by syncope). In the latter case two identical vowels give the corresponding long vowel: d-\-e, % gives ai {de)\ (I + Ogives o; d-f it gives du, later Ao,6\ e+S,u gives eo, eu; i+U gives iu\ D + d gives d\d+e I gives oi (6e) ; u+l gives ui. i+a and u-\-a coalesce only (but cf. note.) in proclitic position ; the result is a diphthong ia, ua, with short i and u, while the i and u in the diphthongs ia and ua (from e and o) are long.

Note. — The quantity of stressed hiatus-vowels varies at different periods. At the beginning of the 0. Ir. period all long vowels had been shortened in hiatus, e.g. at-tdam ' we are ' (fr. *ad-sthd-jo-mos) ; but in the course of the 0. Ir. period all hiatus-vowels have been lengthened without regard to their original quantity. Towards the end of the 0. Ir. period all hiatus-vowels have been contracted, i-f a in stressed syllables becomes ia.

§ 126. We must distinguish between

1. Vowels in the interior of words of more than two syllables {after the loss of final syllables). Here we should regularly expect the loss of the second vowel by syncope.

e.g. fochaid ' tribulation ' fr. *fo-saigid, *u(p)o-sagidis.

There remain, however, some doubtful instances. See § 112, 3 h, c.

Note 1. — Vowel-flanked p has been dropped very early, so that the surrounding vowels have in some instances coalesced already before the time of syncope.

PHONOLOGY 95

e.g. cdera ' sheep' fr. *kaper-aks; of. Lat. caper 'goat.'

but iimme ' heat ' fr. *temmijd, older *iepesmijd ; of. t4 ' hot ' fr. *tepens. Note 2. — In compounds the second vowel has sometimes been restored by influence of the respective simple words.

e.g. htoasc beside regular htosc ' pressing out ' (*ess-to-fasc). Note 3. — Vowels between which no consonant has been lost have sometimes been contracted before the time of syncope (see rule 4 below), e.g. ara-folma ' that he may assume ' fr. *-fo-ema, *-u(p)o-em-dt.

2. Vowels in words ending in a consonant which were dis- syllabic after the loss of final syllables. Here, as a rule, no contraction takes place (cf. § 125 note), but when the lost con- sonant was p, certain short vowels which are liable to contraction

(§ 125) seem to have coalesced.

e.g. d^ec, later dSdc ' ten ' fr. *dvei-penk'om (' twice five '). siilr ' sister ' fr. *svesdr. scidd, see § 115, 1 d. but iar" ' after ' fr. *er, *eperom ; cf Goth, afar, Skr. apara.

Note. — In proclitic position contraction takes place very often, though not regularly.

e.g. diar cobair ' to aid us.' (Fel.)

3. Vowels in words ending in a vowel (or a consonant which had been dropped according to the rule given in § 43), which were dissyllabic before the loss of final syllables. Here contrac- tion is regular in the case of d-f any vowel, (^+'^, S, u; l-f i, 4; ^-fg, I, o; u+l,'ii, and perhaps some other instances which owing to the want of material cannot be properly ascertained.

The following vowels were never (but cf § 125 note) con- tracted: 6-\-d\ 0 or ^(when from an u diphthong or Old Celtic d, 0 -f -y) -j- any vowel; x + d, e, 6.

This contraction is older than the loss of final syllables; a word like 0. Celtic esoks ' salmon ' would have given *4 and not 4o.

e.g. -tail, -td ' I am ' fr. tdju, *sthdjd ; hiu ' I am wont to be ' fr. *hhvijo. Note 1. — Monosyllables which are the result of vowel-contraction are often made dissyllabic by analogy.

e.g. friv, ' towards them ' (beside regular friu) by influence of frie ' towards her,' etc.

96

A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Note 2. — Vowels which cannot be contracted in stressed dissyllabic words may coalesce in proclitic words, e.g. dia chorpdn ' to his body ' (F61.).

4. In genuine compounds the final vowel of a prefix has been thrown out before an immediately following vowel {orp + vowel), e.g. siar {so-iar § 126, 2) 'to the west'; tadall {Ho-ad-pelnom) ' visit.'

In later formations contraction may take place, cf. § 126 note 3,

ERRATA

Vol. viii. No. 31 : Pokorny

1. 4, for -derki- read -derki-. . 271, note, for pr(r)e read *pre. 5, for *aralro7i read *ar9trom. 22, note 2, for *heru read y'erw.

43, for *reg8 read *re^s.

44, for *traghets read *trdghets.

46, read : Final unstressed syllables preceded by a postvocalic consonant. 46, for *com- read *kom-. . 281, footnote, line 6, for The read In.

49, exception, for *katii8 read *katus.

50, for *r9trom read *ar9troin.

's Concise Old Irish Grammar

§ 53, 2* for "C07J read con".

§ 54, leave out (Cf. p. 29, note 1).

§ 55, I., for *to-mentio read *to-mentjd.

§ 55, I., Note c, for *aratron read

*aritrom. § 55 II. , for *regvjdi read *regnjdi. § 57, b, 1, for *are-mentid read *{p)are-

tnentjo. § 57, c. 2, for *ver-ono- read *verono-. § 59, for *n-kom-derkis read *n-Kom-

derkis. § 60, for *r9trom read *ar9trom.

Vol. viii. No. 32

i 63, note, read : e.g. the nom. sg. mlegun (by mlegon) may . . .

64, note 1, read : e.g. do-tiagat 'they come. '

I 65, line 8, read *ad-sthdjo-.

65, 3, line 9, after *lagi8amo8 insert *hg^hi-8inog.

I 65, 4, line 4, after *ad-ello-n insert

*ad-pel-no-m.

65, 4, exception, for *vlatjomos read

*vldtjomos. I 68, line 3, read *to-bhertjd8. • i 69, line 6, read: e.g. doaissilbi (witli

palatal ss), tabartae (with broad b). i 70, line 5, read : (fr. *t:om-(p)ldn . . .)

'be it fulfilled.' [81, exception 3, read *tov(ji). \ 85, line 7, read *tophennath, older

*to-8vend-n9-to. ! 93, line 15, read *vrt-grjd. \ 98, line 11, read *skeitos. < 98, line 1 7, for tiagure&A -tiag.

103, line 15, read *-Kom-v6dhe. i 104, line 5, read . . . {*en-ld-mo-) . . .

{*ad-u[p)o-ld-mo-) instead of {en-lam)

, , . {ad-fo-lam).

§ 104, line 8, read : accented syllables

except before consonants, in . . . § 104, line 13, read *grendhnet, line 14,

read *srenk-ndti. § 105, line 3, leave out (Cf. arathar,

§60). § 107, last line, read *regns. % 108, line 10, read *icom-1catus. § 109, line 2, after ' stop ' insert : ■vrhen

aspirated. § 109, after line 10, insert: nil 'cloud,' fr. *nebhlos, Welsh ni(f)wl ; cf. Lat. nebvla. % 109, line 15, instead of: 'The treat- ment of b{h)l is doubtful,' read : r.retar ' relic,' fr. *kredhrd, Welsh creir; cf. Lat. celeber (fr. *cereber). In the old group d(h)r the d re- mained un-aspirated, hence it was pre- served ; in words like dram 'number' fr. *ad-rimd the d had already become aspirated before the time when the com- pound was formed, hence it fell out with compensatory lengthening.

THE CELTIC REVIEW

NOVEMBER 1913

SOME KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY

Alasdair MacDonald (Inverness) [Continued from vol. in., page 15)

I AM satisfied thus that the puzzUng inconsistency between what have been described as Celtic physical features according to the historians of old and Celtic characteristics of modern times is explainable in the way herein indicated, or in a manner somewhat on these lines. From close study and observation for years I have myself stuck to the belief that these two Celtic types exist among us ; and from the way in which the two colours are found blended in the country it is impossible to dis- sociate the fairer Celt from the darker to the extent that, for instance, a typical Saxon differs from the latter. The fair and the dark are found so mixed and intermixed among the people now known as Celts that it seems to me out of the question to attempt individualising the one or the other as more or less truly Celtic. Types of the one and of the other exist side by side in the same family, even individuals have certain of their features from the dark tjrpe and others from the fair. And these characteristics are not modem developments. They are old. In the story of

VOL. IX. Q

98 THE CELTIC KEVIEW

Clan Usneach Deirdire's lover has hair as black as the raven, cheeks and lips as red as blood, and skin as white as snow ; and even in a love lyric of the olden time we find the very suggestive expression :

* M'ulaidh 's mo ghradh Fear dubh agus hkn.'

(' My treasure and my love — One dark and fair.')

Physically, the principal points of difference between these dark and fair types in these islands were that the early Celts had dark hair, dark eyes, dusky skin, and smaller limbs generally, while the fair or xanthous Celts were of fair or flaxen hair, blue eyes, or light grey, clearer skin, and larger limbs. They were of course mixed, and may have each had a percentage of the opposite features in their respective compositions. Certain it is that they each in- cluded long heads and round heads in proportions difficult to assess.

In the matter of mentality there are distinct points of difference between the two types. The dark Celt on the whole is more artistic, more imaginative, more poetic, and more spontaneous. He is not so much a worker as a dreamer. He is idealistic and visionary rather than practical. He is passionate ; easily discouraged or encouraged, as the case may be ; is proud and independent, and fond of freedom. He possesses great intuitive force, and is metaphysically inclined. He takes long to mature. The fair Celt is very much the opposite in all these qualities. He acts rather than dreams. He cultivates and improves. He is an organiser, a plodder, a builder on the material foundation of concrete fact ; in a word, possesses more of the Germanic or Saxonic qualifications. He ripens earlier in life. Of the two t3rpes, I am of the opinion that the people in history known as the Britons included more of the dark than of the fair. Everything points to that conclusion ; and per- haps the population of Wales includes in it as good types

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 99

of the early British as can now be identified, though this must not be taken to imply that the Welsh are quite free from an admixture of non- Aryan blood. The early Britons were, however, undoubtedly composed mainly of the two Celtic types I have been dealing with, plus a substratum of the earlier population they found before them in the country, to begin with. Later, of com'se, several diverse — but fundamentally related — peoples came into the islands, and materially affected the ethnic composition aU round.

Celticism, then, I believe, as we know it in early history, to be the product of the fusion of these two great race divisions — the Mediterranean and the Baltic — into one combined whole, after absorbing the best of whatever per- tained to the peoples whom the Celts subjugated from time to time, which must have been more considerable than has, perhaps, been estimated. It is too often concluded that when a people overcome another by conquest the con- querors impose themselves and their civilisation, with all its accessories, absolutely upon the conquered. The truth probably is, however, that the conquerors pick up and acquire, in some respects at any rate, more than they impart. I cannot account for the myths and legends which the whole world believes to be Celtic, except upon the considerations that the darker Celts, who unmistakably originated with the smmy south of Europe, contributed very largely at least to the combined whole, and that a great deal of the spirit and manner of these beautiful old tales are survivals of such as we associate with the classic nations of Southern Europe, as their distinctive creations and heritage. Is it not, indeed, the case that a number of our Celtic myths are, as it were, replicas of those of ancient Greece, built on the same plan, and very likely intended to convey similar messages ? Then there are various religious customs and survivals which point to the same conclusion, while the similarity of the Gaelic to the Latin tongues — already mentioned — is significantly suggestive. It seems

100 THE CELTIC REVIEW

to me on the whole necessary to conclude that while the Celts may properly enough be considered as composed of a sub- stantial Germanic element, they must at the same time be considered as very largely consisting of the dark races found associated with them, and particularly with their civilisation, throughout their history. Having regard to the mind aspect of this question, I am not quite certain indeed that the more typical Celt should not be of the darker type after all. I have dealt with this question on main lines only, discarding the numerous side-issues and points which might be introduced as meantime of secondary importance.

The next part of my subject — The Picts of Scotland and of Ireland — who or what were they ? — has been another conundrum, and a prolific source of discussion among historians and ethnologists in the past ; but for some years back there has been evidence that the question as to the racial identity of this people is being determined in a manner which promises to meet with general acceptance. The name ' Picts ' drops into British history in a way which leaves much to be explained as to its meaning and historic significance. It is often, as is well known, supposed to be from the Latin Pictus, paint, and to indicate, or at least suggest, that the people to whom it is found applied dis- played something in the nature of colour sufficient to attract attention. While this is quite possible, it is not at the same time impossible that the Latin word may have been derived from the name by which the Picts called themselves. The name is at least uncertain to base a satisfactory theory on as to race. One thing fairly certain, however, is that there are few, if any, scientific or historic grounds on which to establish an individuality of race in the case of the Picts. The Pictish people substantially consisted of the early settlers in Britain who were pushed northward, principally by the Romans, and possibly augmented by stray drifts of fairish xanthous immigrants from the regions of the Baltic, including Danes. There

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 101

probably would have been among them a very perceptible proportion of the Ibero-Celtic type, and probably of the aborigines of the country. The word ' Picts ' is understood to have first occurred in a panegjrric to a certain Roman emperor in which the Caledonians and other ' Picts ' are referred to. Early in the third century the tribes mentioned two hundred years previously by Tacitus as the Caledonians are found divided into two nations — the Caledonii and the Maeatse, or, as is supposed, Decalidonse and the Verturiones, but there is little doubt that the Picts at one time possessed the most of northern Britain now known as Scotland — both north and south — with the exceptions of the portion held by the Britons of Strath-Clyde and the Scots, which extended across mid-south Scotland — except Galloway — into Argyle and neighbouring isles. Roughly, the Grampians divided northern and southern Pictland. The Picts made them- selves thoroughly obnoxious to the Romans, as would be expected, and a good deal is heard of them between the third and ninth centuries, during most of which period they carried on a fierce war with the Scots who had come over from Ireland into Scotland early in the sixth century, and were making headway in the south-west and the Isles, The Picts practised certain rites and observed numerous customs and laws at that time more or less peculiar to themselves, but which, it is interesting to note here, became absorbed in those of the Scots in a manner which goes far to show that there was a degree of kinship between the two peoples which points to practically an identity of parental stock. In the eighth century the Picts are referred to b}'^ Bede as one of the four ' Nations or provinces of Britain, divided into four languages, namely the Britons, the Picts, the Scots and the English.' It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that they spoke a different language from that of the country. Different their dialect decidedly must have been from that of the Scots, but that they spoke an early form of Gaelic or British, and possibly to a considerable extent Celto-Iberian must, I think, be considered as open to no

102 THE CELTIC REVIEW

question at all. It was at most a different branch of the same parent tongue, and probably more akin to the Cymric than to the Goidelic branch of the Celtic, which eventually superseded it in Scotland. In Gaelic the Picts were called ' Cruithne,' a word that appears to have baffled satisfactory analysis. They confined themselves in Ireland mostly to the north, and it would appear most likely that they crossed to the sister isle and may have landed there when their brethren came to North Britain. There was a strong colony of them in Galloway, and Dr. Beddoe refers to that district in a manner which is interesting as confirming in a measure at least that the Picts included a considerable element of the Mediterranean type. He says : ' In Lower Galloway (Wigtownshire especially) the ethnology is complicated by the presence of a population formerly called Pictish, and who appear to have crossed over from Ulster. Their clan nomenclature resembles that of the Highlands, but they are oftener dark-eyed than the true Highlander. This is what we might expect to find, if the Cruithne or Picts were really Iberians.' The district had by this time, however, been influenced ethnologically by the Scottish people, who I think must have included among them a large percentage of the darker race. It might perhaps be interesting to mention, as pointing that way, that among the retinue of Conary, one of the high Kings of Erin, were three ' huge black and black-robed warriors of the Picts' {Myths and Legends of the Celts).

The historical record of the Picts is set forth in their own national history — The Pictish Chronicle ; also in certain of the literature of Wales, the writings of Bede, and others. They were certainly a ruling nationality when at the height of their glory — particularly in Northern Britain. Their seat of government appears to have been sometimes in the north — probably at Inverness, and sometimes in the south — probably at Scone.

The Picts made several raids into Northumbria. But it would appear that they were — at least the southern Picts —

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 103

rather seriously checked from time to time by the kings of that province. They came off conquerors, however, in the important engagement of Dunnichen in Forfar- shire, in or about the year 685. Less than two hundred years later they were brought under subjection by the Scots under Kenneth MacAlpine, and the country came to be known thereafter as Scotland. Pictish rule, cus- toms, and laws did not, however, disappear at once. The union was really an amalgamation of interests and civilisations in which the Scottish — because it had the advantage of contact with Ireland — prevailed, but which were fundamentally both much alike and materially akin.

Lastly, I should like to make a few observations regard- ing the origin and early development of the Scottish king- dom, with a view to indicating the relation between these and the people known in history as the Scots, who came over from Ireland early in the sixth century, and with a view more particularly to tracing the continuity of Celticism in this connection. I am not satisfied that these matters do not yet present considerable difficulties when considered in the light of Scottish history generally. We have seen how the British Isles appear to have been peopled, and how the various peoples were probably disposed as at the time of the union of the Pictish and Scottish crowns, about the middle of the ninth century. But who were those Scots who are credited with having conquered the northern por- tion of Britain and given it the name by which the country has since been known ? and to what extent did they influ- ence Scottish sentiment, nationality, and civilisation, as a consolidated force ? Were the Scots Celts, or what ? I am of opinion that there is something here which has not yet been fully appreciated, but I must step aside a little to explain. It would seem not impossible to show that until a comparatively recent time there never was a really consolidated Scottish kingdom. Certain it is that the Isles held out for independence all along till even consider-

104 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ably subsequent to the faU of the great House of Clan Donald, about the close of the fifteenth century, and that during the period of the MacDonald ascendancy the Isles were unmistakably a kingdom by themselves, to all intents and purposes independent of the central Scottish authority and the crown. There is also some reason to suspect that the northern Picts at any rate did not by any means fall into line with the south of Scotland immediately on the amalgamation of interests by the union. Thus there would have been for centuries probably not less than three more or less separate kingdoms in Scotland. Apparently the Isles held out longer for Home Rule ; and tradition is strong on the point that the battle of Harlaw, in 1411, was, if not a bold bid for the Scottish crown, at least an experiment in that direction. It was certainly the outcome of inde- pendent authority, with probably the continuity of such independence in view ; and it is not without great interest that the islanders and their retainers and followers were, of all the people of Scotland at the time, those who had stuck most closely to the manners and customs, the laws, the religions and superstitious beliefs, and the civilisation generally, which are believed to have been brought into the country by the Scots, also which has since, in the Island Kingdom and elsewhere been identified with the * Celts,' and characterised as ' Celtic' Who then were the Scots ? and what did they contribute to national development ?

There are two accounts of the origin of this people — ^the traditional-historic, and the ethnologic. The former is in- teresting, and it is not at all impossible that it may con- tain considerable elements of historic fact ; but to get at it, even briefly, requires an excursion into the history of Ireland — that home of so much that is of vital interest in the constitution and development of British history as a whole. It is within its confines that Celtic civilisation, institutions, art, and literature, and the latest surviving form of the Celtic language have flourished. The myths

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 105

of Ireland, according to historians generally, embrace the following events :

The period of Partholan.

The period of Nemed.

The period of the Fir-Bolg.

The invasion of the Tuatha-de-Danaan.

The invasion of the Milesians.^

The first of these goes back probably to about two thousand years before the Christian era, and is, along with the three following, generally characterised as mythical ; but I am firmly convinced that behind each myth is a kernel of fact, and that those so-called mjrths are really descriptive of historic events which have faded into shadowy propor- tions, but have been touched up by the imagination of a poetic and emotional people, characteristically susceptible to the glamour of the past. There would appear to have been wars and rumours of war in those far-off old times, and, as always happens, the later incomers conquered and subjugated the former population. Here is where the facts which crystallised into those beautiful myths — some of them the finest in the world — are to be looked for. There is a persistent tradition that the children of Miled came into Ireland from Spain. The ancient story — which pro- bably is only a story in so far as the connection with Egjqpt at any rate is concerned — is to the effect that the Milesians were originally Greeks. There was one among them who had a son. This son went to Egypt, where he married a daughter of one of the Pharaohs. Her name was Scota. Descendants of these and some followers eventually settled in Spain. Ith, the grandfather of Miled, discovered Erin, but was slain by the Danaans, who then ruled in Ireland. The children of Miled came across to wreak vengeance, and eventually settled in the country. Celtic traditions in Scotland confirm this ; but, of course, that may be attribut-

^ See Myths and Legends of the Celts.

106 THE CELTIC REVIEW

able to the circumstance that it was quite common with those in the Western Isles — the cradle of these traditions in Scotland — who aspired to any education, to pass a period of their youth in Ireland. In the MacDonald ancestry by the Macvurichs (see Reliquice Celticce) Mile is distinctly entered as having come from Spain (' Mile of Spain '), and a much later poet says :

' Aig gach linn mar a dh'fhalbh dhiubh, Dheth na Milidh le seanachas — B'ann diiibh Art agus Cormaic, Siol Chuinn a bha ainmeil, 'S sliochd nan Collaidhean garga, Leis'n do chuirte cath gailbheacb, 'S DomhnuU Ballach nan garbh-chrioch. Rinn Tigh-nan-Teud aig Leith Alba 'n a chrich,' —

a statement in Gaelic rhyme which tersely connects the princely House of MacDonald with the Milesians direct, and the closing lines of which are confirmed by the fact that Tigh-nan-Teud, which can still be pointed out in the vicinity of Killiecrankie, in Perthshire, is locally referred to as marking the centre of Scotland.

The ethnological account, for which our authority is MacFirbis, an Irish genealogist of the seventeenth century, says: 'Every one who is white (of skin), brown (of hair), bold, honourable, daring, prosperous, bountiful in the bestowal of property, wealth, and rings, and who is not afraid of battle or combat ; they are descendants of the sons of Miledh in Erin.' He also has given similar descrip- tions of the Tuatha-de-Danaan, whom he describes as ' fair-haired,' and of the Fir-Bolg and other peoples of ancient Eirinn, whom he classified as 'black-haired,' but adds cautiously : ' This is taken from an old book. How- ever, that it be possible to identify a race by their disposi- tion, I do not take upon myself to say ; though it may have been true in the ancient times, until the races subsequently became repeatedly mixed.' The fact would appear to be that those peoples, as in every other case of European

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 107

population, were mixed since known to myth, legend, or to history. But it would seem, all things considered, most probable that the Milesian stock consisted to a very large extent of the people known as the Scots, who came over from Ireland to Scotland in the sixth century. There were among them also a substantial proportion of immigrants from England, Wales, and Scotland, who had crossed into Ireland, as well as a considerable sprinkling of Picts. But in the mass, judging from the ethnic features common in the track of their subsequent movements in the country, it would seem beyond dispute that there was a very important majority of the dark races among them ; that these probably formed the bulk of the invaders ; and that they brought with them those distinctive characterisations generally which have been all along identified with the Celtic individuality and nationality alike. Particularly do I consider this to be true as regards the hterature, art, music, and such economics as the Celts possessed ; also as regards the dialect of the Celtic tongue which prevailed. Thus the particular type of Aryan civilisation known as Celtic would appear, at any rate at this time, to have been in the keeping of the predominantly darker race ; while we have seen that all along there has been no reason to deny them continuous association with it as a heritage and a possession ; which I think leads inevitably to the conclu- sion that the Scots were at least pre-eminently Celts. The events which followed the arrival of these peoples are well enough known nowadays, and do not require to be retold here ; but what does not seem to be quite well enough under- stood is the extent to which they influenced the country as a whole. Subsequent history no doubt goes to show that another Scotland — one different in many respects from that instituted and established by the Scottish conquest — emerged in course of time ; but that is quite an explainable development. That the Scotland which grew from more unto more from the eleventh century onwards was not the same, socially, politically, or economically as that which

108 THE CELTIC REVIEW

existed previous to that time, need not by any means be taken as belittling the earlier nationality. What appears to have happened would seem to be somewhat thus : After the conquest the Scots, whom I have made an efiEort to show to have been the Celts, or Gaels, of British history then, spread themselves over the south and south-west of Scot- land and the Isles, mixing freely with the Picts, and with the Britons of Strath-Clyde — those peoples being really all much related the one to the other racially. They im- posed their language and their civilisation generally upon the whole of North Britain ; also gave the country the name of ' Scotland,' by which it has since been known in English, though not in Gaelic. But central authority in those times could not have made its power — whatever that may have been — felt all over the country. It is, as a matter of fact, practically certain that there were numerous more or less separate independencies within the realm including, towards the seventh and eighth centuries, the beginnings of an English settlement which was afterwards to become a mighty power in Scotland. Thus in the reign of Malcolm Canmore (the eleventh century), while south, south-east, and south-west, also parts of Central Scotland formed the Scotland proper, the Isles and the northern districts largely would have been independent principalities. The Isles, after practically exterminating the Norsemen, eventually succeeding in establishing a kingdom of their own — which, as already shown, maintained a substantially separate existence till a comparatively recent time. But the Scot- land which has, however, prevailed and which historically has superseded all round is that which has grown around the central power. And there is in that Scotland, as already indicated, an element which bulks largely in this connection. That is the Saxonic. There can be no doubt that the followers of Queen Margaret must have been numerous and influential. Not only did the Scots or English tongue spring into greatly increased use in their time, but they must have tremendously influenced the principles of

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 109

that civilisation which the English introduced into the country, and which has always been materially different from the civilisation which we identify with the Celtic races. I do not think there is a period in European history which so clearly and effectively illustrates the parting of the ways between the Celt and the Teuton or Saxon — who is just a modified Teuton — as that we have now arrived at. Up to this stage we have fundamentally the Brittonic civilisa- tion, roughly speaking, in all the British Isles — or the Ibero- Celtic, plus the Grermano-Celtic of somewhat later date — with certain ethnic characteristics predominating in certain divisions of the Islands as a whole — but now the more purely Celtic — by which term ought to be understood the older and less matter-of-fact, less practical and less material, but the more spiritual, the more romantic, the more artistic, and the more picturesque civilisation, which had been slowly differentiating for a time, branched away to the more out- lying parts in Scotland — as it had previously done in Eng- land and Ireland — and made way for the later civilisation to which the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes, the Normans, and some other less important incomers had all contributed, and which had developed through England. The influence of the Norsemen in the western and northern isles was scarcely civilising at all, though, at the same time, its effect on the language, the people, and otherwise are distinctly traceable there. ' The history of the British Isles,' says Dr. Beddoe, ' is that of an irregular or intermittent current of invasion from the neighbouring continent, invasion of ideas, of customs, and of arts, even more than of human beings. Anthropologically, Britain has been always a stage further back in development than the continent,' and Schlegel, the German historian, has, with considerable success, traced and followed the ' stream of civilisation ' from Egypt and the East towards the West. Now, the point with regard to Scotland is that while the people are funda- mentally composed of those elements which at one time culminated in the predominance of a Celtic race and a Celtic

no THE CELTIC REVIEW

civilisation, yet the newer civilisation — which might with all justice be termed the Saxonic — has all along been on the increase. It made way, as shown in the natural order of things, from England — part of which (Western North- umbria) became part of Scotland in the tenth century. As already indicated, with that civilisation must be associ- ated a very large influx of the Saxonic element of race into Northern Britain. Here, however, let me introduce a small point for passing consideration. It is fairly clear that if there is any difference of importance between any two or more main races in the country, it is here that it must be found. But I incline to the belief that such difference is not so much as has been frequently thought. That the Saxon incomers as a whole were of the fairer races is, I think, undeniable, and that they included a less proportion of the darker races is equally true. But taking them and the other peoples mentioned all over they were a strong mixture ; and thus not by any means so very different racially from a considerable section of the native inhabitants — more particularly the Germano-Celtic. Both these had migrated from pretty much the same regions of continental Europe, and there was a sub -stratum of fundamental relationship all round. Thus the difference that is, as a rule, supposed to have sprung up at this period between Celt and Saxon is after all one principally of civilisations. But that certain social and economic differences have all along been in evidence is, I should say, unquestionable, and that the older order of things has had exceptional vitality is con- clusively proved by its survival and persistence still — though of course in modified fashion. What is required now to be fully understood is that to aU intents and purposes these peoples are all within historic times very nearly related in flesh and blood, and that the blending of them and their interests into one homogeneous whole is an evolutionary necessity in the natural order of things. To the extent that they have fused and blended the result has been un- alloyed improvement. I cannot myself conceive anything

KNOTTY POINTS IN BRITISH ETHNOLOGY 111

more likely to produce and maintain a great and prosperous nationality than the free fusion of the two illustrious repre- sentative elements of the racial constitution of Britain — the Saxon and the Celt. What progressive civilisation owes to both in Europe — and now indeed all over the world — is simply incalculable ; and while day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge may it be decreed that they be found together, carrying in the one hand the flag of freedom, and in the other the torch of light.

112 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE GAELIC VERSION OF THE THEBAID OF STATIUS

Professor Mackinnon

(Continued from page 33)

GAELIC TEXT

Et do chuaid i cend in sceoil : ' Inis Leimin,' ar si, * ata ^ ar in muir anbtheanaig, — Egeta, acus sliab n-Ethna do thaib di acus sliab Athos do'n taib aili di, acus in Tracia ob ri h-od ^ ria, acus feda croeb-glasa comora inti, acus imat gacha maithisa inti da dainib acus d'indmasaib. Acusni ferr innis Saim na inis Deil ^ na inis da raibi ar muir Eig uili na an n-inis (s)in. Acht chena, ni dearnsamar idbairt do Venir ban-dei na * toili riam. Acus ua fergach Uenir de sin, ^co ra adand ^ bruth acus dasacht ar ^ lucht na h-indsi uili. Ni subach so-menmnach na bid ar sloigi ' aidchi ac ^ lucht na h-indsi sin, acht mad anindi ^ acus esoenta, cein Foi. I la 1. no ^ CO tanic ar menmain do laechraid lan-diumsaig tocht do togail tiri na Tragia. Acus ge rauadar ^° a meic acus a munter 'ca n-astad,^^ nir ansad aco. Na mna imorro ^^ ua toirrsech iat side don turis inna fer sin uathib. Acus ua h-oc an-arsaid misi in tan sin, acus ni roibi snim ar mo menmain. Na mna aili, imorro, ro bi each dib ac com-dingnad a cheli ac feichim ^^ na Tracia uathib, ait ir-rauatar a munter a cathugad. Et oena fecht da rauamar-ni and', ar si ^*in ingen,^* ' a medon lai atchualamar cetre bresmadmanda isin n-aeor ^^ os ar cind, co ra ^^ crithnaigestar ^^ uamanda indsi Lemin ^^ acus in mur,^^ mar bad gaeth con-garbad, acus ua fidgrad fir-ulc sin. Uair is and sin ro erig bean uasal oirphi

* Eg. omits. ^ ob. ' Deol. * Ed. repeats na.

6-6 giir gabh. ^ Eg. omits. '^~'' maithe acainne.

' alnmine. ^ Eg. omits. i° ge do. liatar. " ag a fosdad/t.

" Eg omits. 13 feithim. "-" Eg. omits. "^ aer.

'*> gur. " crithnaigsiter. n-n ann.

THE THEBAID OF STATIlTS 113

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

And (Hjrpsipile) began the Tale : ^ ' The Isle of Lemnos,' ^ said she, ' is situated in the tempestuous Egean Sea. The hill of Etna is on one side of it, and Mount Athos on the other, while Thrace is right opposite.^ Trees large and tall abound therein, with abundance of everything good for men, and much wealth. And neither the isle of Samos nor the isle of Delos nor any other in all the Aegean Sea is superior to Lemnos. Nevertheless we never made sacrifice to Venus, the goddess of lust. Venus was angry thereat, and she kindled passion and fury in all the islanders. The in- habitants did not pass their nights in merriment and good- humour, but in quarrels and disputations, until at length the very haughty, valiant Lemnians resolved to invade the land of Thrace. Their children and their folk tried to detain them, but stay they would not. As for the women they were grieved when their husbands departed on that expedition. I was very young at the time, 'and no anxious thought disturbed me. But for the other women, each used to comfort the other as they gazed on Thrace in the distance where their people were fighting. As we were thus,' * continued the girl, ' on a certain day at noon, we heard four times repeated a dreadful crashing sound in the air right above us. The caves of Lemnos

1 This instalment relates the adventures of Hypsipile.

2 Th., V. 49. ' ob ri h-od. Evidently a familiar phrase. * Th., V. 85.

VOL. IX. H

114 THE CELTIC REVIEW

do mnaib indsi Lemin, acus ro gob bruth acus dasacht h-i, CO roibi ar foluamain ac buaidred in baili, ar letred a h-aigthi ^ d'a h-ingnib. Acus ro tinoil in baili co h-oen thech ro bai a mullach acus adbert : ' Daingniged uar crideada acus bid aicend ^ fearda fuapartach accaib ; acus marbaid uar firu uili, maccaib, braithrib, aithrib ; acus cuimnigid in miscais tucsad uar fir ^ oraib, ri re tri m-bliadan anosa. Acus, a thruagu,' ar si, ' na chualabair Brogna, bean Tir, do marbad a meic fen .t. Ites, a thabairt ir-richt * feola aili d'a athair ar bithin eiccni ^ tuc Tir ar a derb-shiair- si .t. Pilomena a h-ainm. Acus ro bean-sum barr a tengad di na h-indised fair. Acus ro scrib in a breit ^ d'(f)uil a tengad sin, acus ro taisben d'a siair iar tain. Conid imi sin ro marb Pergna ' a mac. Acus cid daib,' ar si Polixo, ' nach mairfed sib uar mic ^ acus uar fir ? ^ Acht mad misi, tra, mairfed mo mac acus mo fer. Acus ata,' ar si, *Venir ac a rada rind a marbad uili, acus do bera si ni ua ferr duinni an at-som.' Acus ua h-en menma ac mnaib insi Lemin uili m'an ^° comairli sin Polixo do denum, acus ro chindestar a firu uli do marbad itir oc acus sen.

* Is i sin oes acus uair do riachtadar laechrad insi Lemin o thogail na Tragia moiri. Ro bai, imorro, fid-nemed dorcha do-imthechta is in t-(s)leb ^^ ua comnesa doib, acus da chuad- ar mna insi Lemin d'iarraid (f)recra ar na deib. Acus tangadar badba beU-derga ichtair ifirn d'a m-buaidred-som CO n-ici sin. Acus ro uai Uenir uan-cumacht ^^ acus Emo urbadach, siur Mairt, dei in chatha, ac furail uilc ar na mnaib sin. Acus is amlaid ro bai Polixo, ben Charoip, acus taidbsi a meic 'na f arrad ann sin. Acus do rindseadar ^^ comluigi CO murfedis a firu. Acus ro gab adfuath adbul mise,' ar si Ipsiphile, ' ac faicsin na m-ban sin, amal aid Foi. iia 2. n-allaid ^* tim tecthech ^^ itir cuanairt croes-oslaicthi con- f adach da chonaib aUta.

' aidhchL * algnead. ^ g^y 4 ^ richt.

° inh-ecin. * brefdin. ^ Brogna. ^ macu. ' firu.

" uan( = fa'n). " t-slighidh. " cumachtach. " rigsiter,

" Ed. aid na..uaid. Eg. digh nalt. lo teichedh.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 115

and the rampart shook as if agitated by wind, and this was regarded as a presage of great evil. Then a noble, mature woman of Lemnos rose up, seized with frenzy and fury, and tearing her face with her nails went about here and there exciting the whole place. She gathered the city to one house which was in its highest part and said : " Harden your hearts and assume the daring nature of men, and slay all your menfolk — sons, brothers, fathers. Call to mind the aversion which your husbands have shown towards you during these three years. Wretched ones ! " continued she, " heard ye not how Procne, the wife of Tereus, slew her own son Itys and served him up to his father in the guise of other flesh, because Tereus had offered violence to her sister Philomela, and cut off the tip of her tongue, so that she could not tell of the outrage. But she wrote the story on a leaf with her tongue's blood, and afterwards showed it to her sister. Whence it was that Procne slew her son. And why should not you also," added Polixo, " slay your sons and your husbands ? As for me, I shall slay both my son and my husband. And," added she, "Venus tells us to slay them all, and she will provide us with better men than they." All the women of Lemnos with one mind agreed to carry out this counsel of Polixo ; and they resolved to slay all their men-folk, young and old. ' That was the time and season that the chivalry of Lemnos returned from the invasion of Thracia Major. Now there was a dark, impassable sacred grove in the hill nearest to them, and the women of Lemnos went to seek guidance from the gods. And the red-lipped furies of lowest hell came thither to tempt them. And the powerful Venus and the dread Enyo, sister of Mars, the god of war, were enjoining evil on these women. Now thus was Polyxo the wife of Charope with the apparition of her son beside her there. They bound themselves by an oath that they would slay their husbands. Great horror took hold of me,' continued Hjrpsipyle, ' as I beheld these women, like a hind, timid, desiring to flee, among a pack of gaping, furious wolves.

116 THE CELTIC REVIEW

* Cid tra acht tangadar na fir sin as a longaib, acus da ronsad idbarta ecsamla imda, acus ro leicset re h-ol acus re h-aibnius iat comdis mes(c)da mertnecha uili. Acus o ra (t)hoit a suan sirchotalta ar ^ ' na sluagaib tangadar a mna fegi furuagra ^ da n-indsaigid da marbad, cunsaeset ^ fuithib amal saga gera gortacha leoman da culenaib ac inred alma acus indili. Acus, a athair inmain, (a) Adraist,' ar si Ipsifile, ' ni fetar ca h-olc dib indesaid * duid ar tus. Acht ro marb Gorge arnaid aineolach a fer ann sin .t. Elemus. Acus is amlaid ro bai-sium acus a da laim impi-si co ro said in cloideb ind cor' gab arrindi ^ in a chorp fen. Acus ro bai-seom fos ac a pocad-si, acus a lama im a bragaid. Acus ni fhetaim-sea a n-airium uili gach ar marbad ann sin. Acht cena indesaid * becan da maithib uodein .u Mirmedon. Ro marb imorro ^ Epopea a mac ^ uadein, acus ro marb Licase a derbrathair comaesta' uodein .t. Cidomon, acus ro ui ac ciu os a chind. Acus ro marb ^ Alcimiden acus ro beanad a cheand de. Acus adchondarca ^ sin, rogab ecla acus adfuath me, acus tanac-sa badba ^^ buaidertha co tech m'athar i.e. Toaint. Acus ger' ^^ fata a mach o'n baili in tech ir-roibi ro bai ac a iarfaide '* ca raet ^^ in mum ^^," ar se, " ar atcluineam ^* is in baili ? " Acus ro indis uli da h-athair ^^ sin. " Erig a athair inmain," ar si, "uair da m-bertar oraind muirfer ^^ sinn aroe(n)."

* Acus ro erig Toaint ar sin acus Ipsiphile a ingen. Acus tangadar ar chaethib diamra in baili a mach co n-riachtadar conicci in arbach,i' acus ro badar co dicealta 'ca descain.^^ Acus ot'chondcadar na firu foena fiar-letarthi ^^ ina lepthaib ar n-a marbad da mnaib fen tre aslach Uenire ^^ forru, acus na cloidmi cro-derga tre na cnesaib acus na slega ar n-a sar-brisiud treompo, acus co n-snaetis ^^ na copana caema comola ar na lintib fala fir-mora batar ann re h-aidbli in

* for, 2 furfhuagra. 3 consoigsit. * indesat.

^ urrann. «-* Eg. transposes. " coimnesta. ^ Ed. omits.

9 0 do chondairc-sa. lo im Midhbh. " Eg. adds b.

" carat. " jjd. mum or marn. Eg. muirn. ** ro cluineam.

*'' do m'athair. i" muirfider. " aruich. " gdd fecsain.

" marbhtha. 20 Uenir. « snai^hd.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 117

' Howbeit the men left their ships and they made many and diverse sacrifices, and they gave themselves over to drinking and enjoyment until they were all drunk and ex- hausted. When the hosts fell into deep sleep their fierce and furious wives approached them to slay them, and they fell upon them like a fierce, hungry lioness attacking herds and flocks for her cubs. O beloved father, Adrastus,' continued Hjrpsipyle, ' I know not which of these horrors to tell you of first. But the unfeeling, insensate Gorge slew her husband Elymus there. And thus he was with his two hands around her as she plunged the sword into him, and the point of it pierced his body, while he was still kissing her with his hands about her neck. But I am not able to recount each individual that was there slain. How- beit I shaU name a few of their chiefs — the Myrmidones. Epopea slew her own son. And Lycaste slew her twin brother Cydimos, and was weeping over him. Alcimede slew (her father), and his head was cut off. When I saw these things fear and horror seized me, and I betook myself wildly and frantically to my father's house, viz. Thoas. And although the house in which he dwelt was far out of the town he was asking, " What means this uproar," said he, " which I have been hearing in the town ? " She told it all to her father (and added) : " Arise, beloved father," said she, " for if we are caught, we shall both be slain."

* Thoas thereupon rose accompanied by his daughter Hypsipyle, and they proceeded by the secret paths of the place until they reached the scene of the slaughter, and they were viewing it under cover. There they saw hus- bands mangled and prone in their beds, slain by their own wives at the instigation of Venus, with the blood-red swords through their bodies, and spears quite broken in the trans- fixed corpses, so that the beautiful drinking-cups could float in the great pools of blood made by the terrible mas-

118 THE CELTIC REVIEW

airlig, uair batar seanoraig ar na sitled and sin, acus oic ar na n-airlech, acus miccaim ar na mugad. Acus adchond- airc Ipsipile tai(d)bsi Baich ua tri ag iarraid a mic Toaint .t. a h-athar-si. Acus tucastar Ipsipile aichne ar Baith and sin, acus ro labair Baich riu : ^ " Dean ^ imtheacht, a mic," ar se, " acus facait inis Lemin. Acus is lor a fhat ris na deib ^ata inis Lemin acut.^ Acus a ingen," ar se, " ber let t'athair, acus cuir ina curach e, baili * i teit in mur is in muir moir a mach, acus dober-sa fortacht fair ar sin." Ro imthig Baich, acus ro fhacaib comartha sliged doib.^ Acus tangadar- Foi. lib 1. sum reompo sin sligid, acus ro chuir in ingen a h-athair ar in muir. Acus ro badar aroen . . .' ^ Acus tanic in n-ingen ar culu uada, acus ro uid '^ ac silliud ar n-a h-ais co minic ar a h-athair.

* Acus o thanic la co n-a Ian soillsi adchondcadar na mna insi Lemin na h-uilc sin do ronsad fen .t. a fir da marbad. Acus ba h-aithrech leosum sin. Acus rangadar, acus ro uatar a gul acus a gol-gairi uastu. Acht ua saidbir soch- onaig d'erraib acus d'armaib acus d'indmasaib in t-oilen sin conici sin. Acus na ^ uadar na mna sin o sen a mach nama gan tirecor ^ gan trebaire gan ar gan buain gan fhiru caema ga chomditin.

Imthusa ^^imorro Ipsipile ^^ : do ronni tenid n-idbarta i tig a h-athar. Acus do thocaib airm acus etgud a h-athar. Acus ro bai claideb ^^ in rig ^^ Ian d'fuil in a laim mar bad ar marbad a h-athar no beth acus ar n-a adluccun.^^ Acus tucad ^%nd sin ^* ferann a h-athardi .t. aireochus indsi Leimin uili. ^^ Ua minic lesi acus re Polixo cumnigud ^^ in chuil sin, acus ro bidis co tairrsech taetenacha acca tuireom eturru.^'

' Acus o rauatar mna insi Lemin amlaid sin dareis a fer adchoncadar in long luchtmair lan-moir amal o(i)lean do ^^ learaib in mara, no amal sliab lethan lan-mor ar met. Acua

' ria. * dena. '-' atai in Lemin. * in baili. ^ acti.

* Eg. reads : acomcai coma dal. Ed. is indistinct : achomchui coma i.

^ "oi. ' ro. » tireg«r, »o-io Eg. Ipsipile imorro.

" claidem. " a h-athar. " adlacadh. "-" Eg. omits.

'* Eg. adds acus. ^^ cumniugud. " Eg. omits. *® don.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 119

sacre. For old men were there drained of their blood, and youths mangled, and boys destroyed. Hypsipyle ^ saw three times the apparition of Bacchus seeking his son Thoas, her father. And Hjrpsipyle recognised Bacchus, and the latter spoke to them : " Depart, son," said he, " and leave the isle of Lemnos, for the gods deem that you have pos- sessed the island long enough ; and you, girl," said he, " bring your father with you, and put him in his coracle, where the wall abuts upon the open sea, and I shall afterwards aid him." Bacchus went away, and left with them the direc- tion of their path. They fared forward on that road, and the girl put her father on the sea, and both were

. The girl then turned back from him, but was frequently looking behind her at her father.

* When day with its full light came, the women of Lemnos saw their evil deeds in slaying their husbands, and they felt sorry therefor. They were weeping and wailing over them. Now up to that time that island was rich and pro- sperous in warriors and arms and treasures. But these women from that time forth were without agriculture or husbandry, without tillage or harvest, without loving husbands to guard it all.

As to the (further) proceedings of Hypsipyle : she made a sacrificial fire in her father's house, and she took her father's weapons and armour, and she held the king's sword all covered with blood in her hand, as if she had slain her father and buried him. The patrimonial inheritance was there and then given (to her), that is, the rule of all Lemnos. She and Polyxo used frequently to recall that foul crime, and mournfully, sadly, both used to weep together.

' When things ^ were thus with the Lemnian women after the death of their husbands, they saw a very large well- equipped ship, in size like an island on the sea expanse, or

1 Th., V. 265. * Th., v. 335.

Fol. lib 2.

120 THE CELTIC REVIEW

is ^ ro bai ^ and sin in benn fhata badb luath ^ cet long in betha^ .t. Argo, acus rigrad glend ^-mer glan-armach Grec innti, in tan do chuadar d'iarraid in croicind orda CO tir na Colachetta.* Acus o ra scuirsedar da n-imrud^ acus ro bai ®in muir ina toighleich® adchualamar,' ar si Ipsifile, 'guth oen duni as in luing. Acus is e robai and sin .t. Oirfeus "^ ceolbind cruitire, mac Oeager, acus a gualu ris in seol-crann ac arfidiud ^ do lucht na lunga comad lugaiti snim na sar-sluag re saethar in imrama. Acus ba samalta lindi coma h-iat lucht na Tragia do thogail indsi Leimin oraind. Et ro ergestar as a h-aithli sin sestan acus seiseilbi mor i toegib ^ indsi Leimin. Acus do chuamar-ni ar sin i toraib ro arda ro mora acus i crandocaib comdaingin ^^^ claraid os ^^cind na cathrach.^^ Acus ro tinolsetar mna croda crithnaigthecha indsi Lemin cairrgi cruaidhi com- amais, acus bera fata fir-gera, acus airm troma toirrsecha a fer uadein no ^^ marbsad remi sin. Acus ro gabsad a ^^ claidbi for-ruamanda fuilidi ina lamaib. Acus ro gabsad a lu(i)- recha i* salcha ^^ snadmandacha ma corpaibh acus a cath- bairr ^^ caema cathaigi ma ^"^ cendaibh. Acus ba samalta linni tra coma^^ torathar fir-mor for-granna fairrgi na beth and sin d'aithi ^^ acus do dighail ^^ ar n-uilc ^^ acus ar n-ecorach oraind,^^ acus nar ba long luchtmar lan-alaind. Is ann sin tra adracht ^^ gaeth gott-shnimach ^3 glorach ^^ co ra srain- eastair in luing sin urcur saigte sith-guirmi o tir acus o tracht a mach. Acus ro cumaiscseadar and sin neaill com- (fh)liucha ciachmora na firmaiminti cor uai dorchata ^^ dluith iter muir acus tir, acus contoguadis ^^ na tonda tren-mora na longa ^^ uar barr 2%en acus uar ^^ uachtar doib, acus coleictis dib sis in feacht n-aill co grian acus go ganem n-glas-ruad ar n-ichtar. Acus ger ba tenda talchara tra na

*~* uof. 2~' Eg. omits. ^ gloinn-, * Colchetta. '^ imrum.

«-« Ed. indistinct. ^ Orefeus. « airfidedh. " tighibh.

^^ comdaiugne. '*"" cennaib is in Kathraig. '^ acus ro. " Eg. omits.

" Eg. adds lasamna. ''' MS. salka. ^^ cathbarra. '^ uma.

1* cumadh ima. '" dd ithe. ^o jjg. adds orainn. ^^"^i Eg. omits.

22 do riachtatar. ^3 goid-shnimacha. ^* gloracha. ^^ dorcha.

»« Ed. indistinct. 27 in long. ^-^ &o. Eg. Ed. indistinct.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 121

like a great broad mountain. This was none other than the long, wildly -swift, foremost ship of the world, the Argo. And the rashly daring princes of Greece in gleaming armour, who went in search of the golden fleece to the land of Colchis, were on board. When they ceased rowing and the sea shone resplendent we heard,' said Hj^sipyle, ' the voice of one man from the ship, and this was the melodius harpist Orpheus, son of Oeagrus. His shoulder leant against the mast as he entertained the noble crew to ease their toil in their labour at the oars. It seemed to us that they were the Thracians coming to take the isle of Lemnos over our heads. Thereupon arose a din and uproar in the houses of Lemnos. We betook ourselves to very high, large towers and to very strong, wooden buildings above the city. The cruel, trembling Lemnian women collected there hard stones fit for hurling, and long, very sharp-pointed stakes, and the heavy, efficient weapons of their husbands whom they had previously slain. They grasped in their hands the very red, blood-smeared swords, and fitted on their persons the foul linked hauberks, and put on their heads the beautiful battle helmets. And now it seemed to us that it was a very large and hideous sea monster that had come to punish and avenge our evil deeds and crimes, and not a very beautiful, well-equipped ship. And now arose a withe-twisting, blustering wind which drove that vessel the cast of a long blue arrow out from land and beach. There were heaped on each other very wet and misty clouds of the sky, so that thick darkness fell on sea and land. And the mighty billows now hurled the ship aloft on their crests, and then sunk her down to the red-grey gravel and sand of the abyss. Stout and sturdy though the mighty men on board that ship were, they were unable to withstand the onset in that hour — such was the fury of the storm. The very tall and large mast of the ship was swaying violently and in danger of

122 THE CELTIC REVIEW

tren-fir ro uadar is in luing sin, nir ba tualaing ursclaidi na h-engnoma iat is in n-uair sin re met na mor ^ ainb thine. ^ Acus ro bai a seol-crann sir-fada sir-mor na luingi sin ac a dian-scailiud acus ad adrad brisiud^ ar a met acus ar a ro-airdi ac toenail acus ac toirniub * re sitgail na saeb- gaithi sin in uair sin. Acus dan ^ ro bamar-ni ac dibrucud acus ac dichur uaind na luingi sin do leth aile, co telcmais armu aith-gere urnocta in n-agid na miled sin .u in tren- fer thalchair Tailemon, acus Peleus mac Aicuis, acus Aercail mac Ampitrionis. Acus ua h-adual saethar na sar luingi sin re h-ainfine in mara acus re' r cathagud-ni do'n leth araill. Acus badar drem am do na deg sluaga(i)b sin ac dain- gnigud acus ac diden a luingi acus scell-bolga do sciathaib in * timchell, acus drem aili ac telad ^ acus ac taescad a h-uisci as a h-ichtar, acus drem am a cathughadh calma chroda os a cind. Acus ro telctea ^ atorra ^ and sin' ar si, 'cetha ^^ cumasctha cruad-arm coma samalta re frasaib cruaidi clothnechta ^^ in n-amsir gairb gemridh na bera rind-gera ro-mora, acus na clocha cruindi ^^ comdibhraicthi, acus na saighdi snasta so-dibraicti, acus na slega lasamna lan-gera tre n-aroile is in nuair sin.

' Et ^^ asahaithli sin ro ergedar gathana glan-ailli greni acus ruithnigud ro ^*-soillsi coma for nell acus for reill duind na sluaigh robadar is in luing. Acus o d'chondcamar iad uan samhla sin ro thuitsetar ar n-airm as ar lamaib, acus tanic ar n-aicned boeth banamail uadein duinn. Acus adchondcamar-ni amh and sin Peil mac Aicuis acus Taile- mon mor mac Aacms acus Anatheus tent^^ tomaithmech acus Ifiton data deag-lamaig. Acus ba foUus os na sluagaib snimacha sin archu n-eangnam in domuin .t. Ercoil mac Amp(it)rionnis. Ro claenad-som and sin each m-bord acus gach lita[?] ^^ do'n luing as a ticed re fiuchmad na fergi fir- moiri ac saeigtin ^' cus (na) ^^ sluagaib. Acus gid b' lason mac Eso(i)n imorro ba luthmor (le)tmech ^® sin ^^lunga sin,^^ acus

' Eg. omits. ' h-ainmfine. ' brisadh. * toirnedh. ^ Eg. omits.

* in a. ^ telach. * thelgthedha. ' adraina. *° cetedhusa (?).

" clothstii. '^ cruaidhi. " Eg. omits. " na. *'' tenn.

•8 leth. " saigin. is ^S. 7. " leidmech. *>-^'> ia in luing.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 123

breaking because of its size and excessive length, swinging this way and that with the fury of the whirUng blast in that hour. We, on the other hand, were also doing our best to repel and keep that ship away from us. We hurled very sharp, bare weapons against these warriors, the strong and sturdy Telamon, and Peleus son of Aeacus, and Hercules son of Amphitryon. Great was the struggle of that excellent ship fighting both against the sea tempest and our attack. Some of that splendid crew were strengthening and defend- ing the vessel under cover of overlapping shields, some were baling and emptying the bilge from her hold, others were fighting bravely and valiantly above these. There were discharged from either side,' said she, ' commingled steel weapons which seemed like hard showers of hail in rough winter weather, very large, sharp-pointed javelines, and round powerfully hurled stones, and polished well-aimed arrows, and flaming very sharp spears.

* Thereafter ^ the bright, beautiful rays of the sun appeared and a brilliant radiance so that the men of the ship became very clear and manifest to us. When we saw them in that guise our weapons fell from our hands, and our wayward womanly nature asserted itself. We beheld there in sooth Peleus the son of Aeacus, and great Telamon son of Aeacus, and Antaeus, stout and menacing, and Iphitus, handsome and dexterous. Conspicuous among these anxious men was the resolute war hound of the world, Hercules, son of Amphitryon. He bent every plank and taffrail on which he stepped, such was the fury of his great wrath to attack his foes. Jason, too, son of Aeson, nimble and active in the ship was he, and Oinides (Meleager) reckless and high- spirited, and Idas gallant and renowned, and Talaus stout

» Th., T. 394.

124 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Oenides mer mor-menmnach, acus Idas uaUach allata, acus Talabus talchar tairisi, acus da mac ^T(er)inda togaidi tindam, acus ^ Castor acus Pollux, acus da mac beoda Foi. i2ai. borrfadecha Borria .t. Setiusa^ acus Eiliais.^ Acus ba drem * do deg dainib na lunga sin in lucht sin.

' Batar tra fan rim-la sin ac fras-imram in mara acus ac dibrucan^ in mur uathib. Acus dan^ ro uai in luamairi fosaich fir-eolach inte .t. Tifis, ac stiuradh na lunga sin ^ da leicet a brisiud ' im chairrgib cend-garba in mara mor- ainbthenaig. Acus ro uadar-som is in n-eicin cein co erig lason mac Eson acus craeb alaind ola-craind ina laim acus ^ comartha sida. Acus isi seic ro bid il-laim Inopus,® taisig da muinter, acus ro bui ag iarraid sida oraindi.

* Acht chena nir ba miad re lucht na luingi in ro raid Jason. Acus ni chualamar-ni acht fogur bas ^° acus ^^ gotha ris in n-gaith chucaind. Et^^ is an sin ro erigedar in coeca^^ tren-fher ua teinn(e) acus ua tresi is in luing, acus ro gabsad ruadh-ramada ro-mora 'na lamaib, acus ro raeset co fortren feramail in luing sin do chum chuain acus calad- puirt. Acus ba so-charthanacha re silliud is in n-uair sin chena gnuisi gruad-so(i)llsi na curad croda re fornert in n-imroma acus ri fiuchad na fergi fir-moiri adracht intib. Acus ^* ba samail Hnni in sluag sin acus ba ^^ dei uaisli adhar- tha tiastais ^® do dindgnaib ro glana ^^richid uan ^^ talTnain. Et ^^ is ann sin adchonncamar Teis mac Eig meic Nephtuin ac erge as ^^ in luing. Acus ua diumsach in deg laech sin ahaithU thogla^^ na cathrach .t. Marathon. Acus adchond- camar dano ^^ ann sin in righ uasal Admeon.^^ Acus ad- chondcamar ^3 in criutire ceol-bind na Tragia .t. Orfeus. Acus ro bui ann sin din in miled Meleager mac rig na Calidone, acus Peleus mac Aicuis, acus lies ^* mac Ercail acus airm na laim.

'"' tenna toghaidhi tinnair .t. ^ Qg^^mga ' Calias.

♦ Eg. adds am. * dibrugan. " Eg. omits. ''''' conach leged a badh-brisedh. « .i. * Eg. omits. " bais. » a. " Eg. omits. » MS. .1.

" Eg. omits. '6 tain del " tisdia.

"~" righthighi liar. " Eg. omits. >9 is. ** fhogla.

" MS. .t. Eg. omits. 22 j^<jmet. »« Eg. omite. " Ilos.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 125

and loyal, and the two excellent resolute sons of Tjnidareus, Castor and Pollux, and the two spirited proud sons of Boreas, Zetes and Calais. These are some of the excellent men who formed the crew of that ship.

* Now they were during that live-long day vigorously whipping the sea and driving the ship through it. The pilot Tiphys besides was on board, staid and skilful, and steering the vessel to save her from being broken on the rough- headed rocks of that tempestuous sea. They were in that extremity until Jason, son of Aeson, arose with a beautiful branch of an olive tree in his hand, which was the emblem of peace, this very branch Inopus, a chief of the people, carried in his hand, and he besought peace from us.

* Howbeit the crew did not relish what Jason said, but we heard nothing save the clapping of hands and a (meaningless) voice carried to us by the wind. Then there rose up the fifty strongest and sturdiest men in the ship, and they took very large and stout oars in their hands and impelled the vessel forcefully and manfully to shelter and harbour. Very kindly and pleasant to look upon at that time were the bright countenances of these brave champions after their exertion at the oars and the boiling of the great wrath which they cherished. To us they seemed to be noble, adorable gods who had come from the bright dwellings of heaven upon the earth. Then we saw Theseus, son of Egeus, son of Neptune, coming out of the ship, and a proud man was that stout hero after the taking of the city of Marathon. We saw besides the noble king Admetus, and the sweet harpist of Thrace, Orpheus. There were there also the warrior Melaeager, son of the King of Calydon, and Peleus, son of Aeacus, and Hylas,^ son of Hercules, with weapons in his hands.

1 Hylas was a companion of Hercules ; v. Th., r. 443. Hyllus, a son of Hercules, is mentioned later, Th., viii. 507.

126 THE CELTIC REVIEW

* Cid tra acht,' ^ ar si, ' ro h-oslaicidh lindi doirrsi ^ tiged ris na damaib sin. Acus ni demaid idbarta na suan na sadaiUi acaind o ro marbusamar ^ ar firu co h-aes na f uairi * sin. Ro gobh gach fer dib sin ac toga ^ thochmairc uaindi in lin ro bamar. Acht chena tuigim-se na dei nar ua cedug- adh no comairle dom uadein fes re^ h-Iason is in naidchi sin ger ua sochraid so-charthanach re '^ mnaib aili 6. Acus ro uatar-som co cend m-bliadna comlaine acaind is a n-indsi sin cen co rucait clanna suarca so-cenelcha daib. Acus rucu-sa da mac ann sin ^ do lason mac Esoin .t. Toas acus Eumas a n-anmanna. Acht chena ^ ni f hetar an ord na n-aidhid,^^ uair is fichi ^^ bliadan co h-aes na f uairi ^^-sea o rus facus ac a n-aileamain acus 'g a n-altrom ac in rigain lam-gil, ac (L)ichasta.i^

' Acus i cind na bliadna sin tra ro gob lason a gresacht a muintiri um ^* an indsi d'facbail, of chondairc in mur co taighhgi.^5 Acus ge ra gell-sium ^® and sin techt a ris do Foi. 12a 2. m'indsaigi-sea co h-inis Lemin ni ra comaill a ni sin. Cid tra acht o ra airig Tifis, luamairi na luingi sin, ruithne grene ^^do glan-shoilHgud ^^ ro trellaim tacur ^^ a luingi. Acus . ro chomergedar na sluaig, acus ro gob lason a armo re ^^ each ann sin, acus ro facbadar amlaid sin in indsi. Ro bamar-ni 'ga ^ofeithem acus 'ga fegair-si ^^ cein con-dechaid ar seg as ar suilib 'ga sithellad.

* Asahaithli sin tra adchualadar ^^ mna indsi Lemin m'athair-sea do beth i rigi indsi Chio, indsi dear-brathar do .c. Cuus mac Baich. Acus ba h-olc leosum sin gan a marbad acus gan a mugugad dam-sa, amal ro marbsad fein a fir ^^ acus a n-aithrecha. Acus ro cindead leo mo marbad-sa ind. Of chuala sin imorro,' ar si, ' ro elus m'aenur uathib re taeb in mara. Acus o na ^^ f uarus nech re setugud sliged dam 2* d'innsaigid m'athar .t. Toaint, tucat me in dairi acus in dochraidi do chum bar crichi-si, a Grecu.'

' Ed. repeats acht. ^ j;g. adds ar, ' Ed. oromarosamar,

* h-uairi. ^ Eg. adds a. ^ le. "^ la.

* Ed. repeats ann sin. ^ Eg. omits. '^ oighedha. " MS. xx. *2 h-uairie. *^ locusta^ ** Ed. 7 u. Eg. man.

>'' Ed. tai i. eg ligi. Eg. teighlty/u. '^ Ed. adds = . Eg. omits.

17-17 gian soillsi do techt. '^ tachar. *' ria.

20-20 fegadh. " do. chualamair-ne. 22 gpu. 23 ^ach. 24 Eg. omits

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 127

* Now,' said she, ' we opened the doors of our houses to this company. We offered no sacrifices, nor did we sleep or rest since we slew our husbands until that hour. Each man of them took to choosing a partner from among those of us who were present. And I understood from the gods that I had neither permission nor counsel from them to wed Jgtson that night, loving and kind to other women though he was. These men were with us for a full year in that island. And we bore them weU-favoured children of good hneage. And I bore to Jason, son of Aeson, two boys there who were named Thoas and Eunios. However, I know not of their condition or their lot, for there are now twenty years since I left them to be nurtured and reared with the white-handed lady, Lycaste.

* Now ^ at the end of the year Jason began to urge his people to leave the island when he saw the sea quiet and bright. And although he promised to return again to me to Lemnos, he did not keep his promise. Moreover, when the pilot of the ship, Tiphys, observed the rays of the sun shining in full strength he made ready the ship. The hosts arose as one man, and Jason was the first to take to his weapons. Thus they left the island. We were watching them and gazing after them until our vision failed us after our long looking.

* Thereafter ^ the women of Lemnos heard that my father was king of the island of Chios, an island that belonged to his brother, Chios (?) son of Bacchus. They were angry because I had not slain and destroyed him as they slew their husbands and fathers, and so they re- solved to slay me. Now when I heard that,' added she, ' I slipped away alone by the side of the sea, and when I found no one to point the way to my father Thoas, I was taken in bondage and slavery to your country, O Greeks.'

» TL, V. 468. 2 xh., V. 486.

128 THE CELTIC REVIEW

IRELAND'S SHARE IN THE FOLK SONG REVIVAL ^

Alfred Percival Graves

A revival is ' a living again,' and suggests an active anterior life. This certainly was true of Irish folk song in the past. In Ireland's dim traditionary dawn, music is reputed to have been introduced into the country by the Tuatha Da Dannan, whom an early legend describes as coming up from Greece along what is known as the Amber route, to the mouth of the Elbe, across Lochlann, now Norway and Sweden ; thence across the centre of Alba or Scotland into Erin. And remarkably enough, inscriptions of the same kind as are found upon the tombs of these Da Dannan kings, inscriptions which a party of us from the Irish Literary Society saw there a few summers since, are to be found, as pointed out by Mr. George Coffey, the celebrated Irish antiquary, all along the line of the Amber Route, and in a belt of Norway and Sweden and Scotland and in Ireland and nowhere else in Europe.

What was the nature of the music that this early people brought with them to Ireland ? According to Dr. Petrie, our leading Irish musical antiquary, it consisted of plough tunes, lamentation airs and lullabies. And these would be accounted for in the weird old folk tale which describes how the harper of the Tuatha Da Dannan recovered his magical harp from his Fomorian foes by playing upon it the Goltree (Gultraigh) airs which turned their fury to weeping, and the Soontree (Suaintraigh) tunes which sent them all to sleep, so enabling the Harper Uaithne to escape unscathed with the Daghda's harp. But the old tale also states that the harper played upon another of the feelings of the Fomorians, by turning their weeping into laughing before they fell asleep,

^ An address given with musical illustrations by Mr. Plunket Greene and Miss Jean Stirling MacKinlay, at the Botanic Theatre of University College, London, on the occasion of the Coming of Age Celebration of the Irish Literary Society, June 10, 1913, by its President, Alfred Percival Graves.

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 129

through his performance of the Gentree (Geantraigh) or mirth-provoking music. If the old tale speaks truth, the class of Irish music which to this day is to be heard upon the harp and violin, setting us all dancing or quick-steppihg, and raising our spirits as well as our toes and heels, is of very early origin. And, indeed, this may be well believed by students of the manners and customs of the early Irish who were not, as some of our poets suggest, a merely mystical or melancholy people, but a joyous and festive race — at any rate in the intervals of hard fighting.

Dr. Petrie points out that the Irish lullabies are curiously like in character to Indian and Persian hush songs, and this would tend to support the belief in their early Eastern origin. The plough tunes similarly suggest a primeval origin by their character and intervals ; and this is true of some of the earlier laments, such as the ' Return from " Fingal " ' or the realm of the Dublin Danes, by the vic- torious Dalcassians, chanting the death dirges of Brian Boru and his son Murrough who had just fallen at the battle of Clontarf. It may be here mentioned that as a rule the Irish marches are quick-step marches. We have a number of these, and Mr. Arthur Darley, oui famous Irish violinist is, I am glad to believe, engaged in collecting them in a volume of Irish clan marches which should be exceedingly interesting to all our O's and Mac's. These quick-step marches have been further quickened into jig tunes, whether in f or f time, and clan marches may be recovered through this dance medium.

Irish music was now in the hands both of the bards and the ecclesiastics, and the national instrument was the harp of from thirty to sixty strings. To this instrument the bards of the princes and chieftains, even upon the battle- field, would recite the achievements of his fathers as an incitement to his hereditary lord. It is stated, indeed, that the bard thus chanted on the old Irish battlefield, surrounded by a group of harpers who accompanied him almost with the effect of a military band. In the Fenian tales there is

VOL. IX. I

130 THE CELTIC KEVIEW

reference made to the Dord, which would appear to be a concerted cry or chorus, a cry of warning if not a war cry.

As early as the close of the sixth century we gather from a passage in Adamnan's Life of St. Columba that the Irish monks sang canticles in counterpoint. St. Cellach, a student of Bangor, Co. Down, the name implying ' fair choir ' or ' chief choir,' gave his name to the monastery of St. Gaul in Switzerland, which became like that of Bangor, a famous music school. Again, St. MaildufE, the Irish founder of Mailduffsburgh or Malmesbury in England, flourished in 670 and composed many beautiful hymns. I may add that Dr. Joyce told me some years since that a Latin hymn by Sedulius, whose Irish name was Shiel, is still sung at the Irish College in Rome to a very early Irish air, probably contemporary with the sixth century Latin hymn.

Ireland, indeed, at this time was full of music ; for besides the harp, we had as musical instruments the war pipes blown through the mouth by marching pipers, not played as are our beautiful union pipes, by the hand, the wind being suppUed by bellows held under the arm while the musician remains seated. Great sums of money were paid to bards and minstrels for their songs — in those days ' not worth a song ' had no meaning in Ireland. There were hereditary families of minstrels, instrumental players and singers, and their names have come down to us, thus the word Ward is bard, Cronin has to do with the word Cronavm, the crooning of a song, Crotty is connected with the Irish Cruit, the Welsh Crwth, the English Crowd, and so forth.

Irish music was heard abundantly during the Crusades. Dante speaks with admiration of the Irish harp, and, indeed, there is a chorus of praise for Irish minstrelsy all through early and mediaeval times, abroad and in this country, which may well be summed up by Drayton's lines in his Polyolhion ; —

The Irish I admire

And still cleave to that lyre,

As our Muse's mother ; And think till I expire

Apollo 's such another.

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 131

When Henry viii. became overlord of Ireland, though not king, the Irish harp was added to the English arms, and his daughter. Queen Elizabeth, took the greatest pleasure in Irish music. Sir Henry Sydney, in a letter to her in 1569, waxes enthusiastic over the dancing of Irish jigs by the ladies of Galway, whom he describes as very beautiful, magnificently dressed, and excellent dancers. This, as Dr. Grattan Flood points out, disposes of the suggestion that the jig-dance was borrowed from the Italians in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Meantime Ireland had become the music school of Scotland and to a large extent of North Wales. There had always been much passing backwards and forwards of minstrels from the north of Ireland and that part of Scotland which in early times had been conquered by Ulster warriors, and Griffith ap C3nian, Prince of North Wales, had, through his Irish mother and residence in Ireland brought Irish minstrels and bards over to his country. There is considerable dispute as to how far North Wales was ever actually con- quered by the Irish. Sir John Rhys maintains that there is good evidence of this. Certainly somehow or other, as will be mentioned later, there is a great deal in common between what are believed to be the earliest Welsh airs and early Irish ones.

Of Shakespeare and Irish music Dr. Grattan Flood has written an interesting chapter in his History of Irish Music. There is no doubt that Irish music was, as he states, much in vogue in England during the sixteenth century and was in favour at court during the last year of Queen Elizabeth's reign ; for the Earl of Worcester writes on 9th September 1602 to the Earl of Shrewsbury in these terms : ' We frolic here in court, much dancing in the Privy Chamber of country dances before the Queen's Majesty, who is exceed- ingly pleased therewith. Irish tunes are at this time most pleasing.'

What are these dances ? They are referred to as the Hey, a coimtry dance or round, long known in the Irish Pale,

132 THE CELTIC REVIEW

and which is the origin of the English round or country- dance, according to Dr. Grattan Flood; and Trenchmore, an Anglicised corruption of Rinnce Mor or the Rinnce Fada, that is the long dance, the Hey being danced in a circle. One of the earliest Heys is stated by Sir John Hawkins to be ' Sellenger's Round,' which Sir Anthony St Leger or Sellinger saw danced in Ireland in 1540, and brought back with him to England in 1548, where its popularity was so great that it was arranged by the famous master Dr. William Byrd. Two Irish tunes mentioned under various names by Shakespeare had previously been identified by Malone, Petrie and others. Dr. Grattan Flood claims to have identified nine others. * Callino custurame ' (' Chailin og a stinir thu mi ? ' * Young girl, wilt thou guide me '), or ' Col- leen oge asthore ' ' Little girl of my heart,' and ' Ducdame ' ' diuca tu ' ' Will you come ? ' are the earlier pair of finds. Dr. Flood claims ' Fortune my Foe,' ' Peg a Ramsay,' and * Bonny Sweet Robin,' ' Whoop, do me no harm good man,' referred to in Wintefs Tale twice over, but better known in Ireland as ' Paddy Whack,' and adapted by Moore to his melody ' While History's Muse.' * Well-a- day' or 'Essex's last Good-night' is also claimed by Dr. Flood, though I think somewhat doubtfully, but ' The Fading,' mentioned in the 4th Act of A Winter's Tale, is by William Chappell's testimony, the Irish dance tune of the Rincce Fada, a dance to this day called The Faddy in Corn- wall. I have not so much faith in Dr. Grattan Flood's claim to ' Light o' Love,' and * Come o'er the bourn, Bessie, to me,' but ' Yellow stockings ' would appear to be the Irish ' Cuma Liom,' ' It is indifferent to me' or ' I don't care.' Moore set to it his song ' Fairest put on awhile.'

We now pass through a period of stress and struggle in Ireland. Its chieftains, in spite of notable rallies made by the O'Neills, Owen Roe O'Donnell, and the Geraldines, the Norman Irish Lords who became more Irish than the Irish, had less and less time to devote to the poetical and musical arts, and gradually, though very gradually, the Irish

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 133

bard, famous for the three feats of solemn, gay, and sleep- compelling music, degenerated under the stress of the internecine conflicts between Saxon and Gael in Ireland, into the strolling minstrel, and finally into the itinerant piper or fiddler or the street baUad singer.

The Irish Jacobite poems and songs, though one of them, the ' Blackbird,' is of great musical beauty, do not, for very good reasons, show that passionate attachment for the Stewart cause that pulses through Lady Nairne's beautiful Scottish Jacobite lyrics.

But some of them, such as the ' Slender Red Steed,' and the ' Dawning of the Day ' are full of patriotic fervour. Perhaps, however, the * Lament of the Irish Maiden for her Lover,' who has gone to serve the Stewart cause abroad, which is found in various Anglo-Irish versions under the titles ' Shule Agra ' or ' Shule Aroon,' or ' I wish I were on yonder Hill ' is for passionate melancholy the best musical exempHfication that could be given of these Irish Jacobite songs.

We now come to an important epoch in Irish folk and national music — that of the Granard and Belfast Meetings of harpers — promoted with the object of reviving the taste for Irish music, which had begun to decline during the Hanoverian period, under its German musical influences. These meetings, which took place between the years 1792 and 1800, were very successful, and awoke in the distin- guished Belfast musician Mr. Bunting such an enthusiasm for Irish music that he henceforth devoted his main efforts to its collection and publication. Of the Belfast meeting he writes thus vividly: 'AH the best of the old class of harpers, a race of men then nearly extinct, and now gone for ever, were present : Hempson, O'Neill, Fanning and seven others, the least able of whom has not left his equal behind. Hempson, who was more than a hundred years old at the time, realised the antique picture drawn by Cambrensis and Galilei, for he played with long crooked nails, the left hand above the right, and in his performance

134 THE CELTIC REVIEW

" the tinkling of the small wires under the deep notes of the bass " was particularly thrilling.

' He was the only one who played the very old music of the country, and this in a style of such finished excellence as persuaded me that the praises of the old Irish harp in Cambrensis, EuUer, and others, were no more than a just tribute to that admirable instrument and its then professors.'

Bunting's first collection, consisting of sixty-six hitherto unpublished pieces, was brought out in 1796, and its success, combined with the establishment of the Irish Harp Society in Belfast as a consequence of the meeting of harpers in that city, attracted the attention of Thomas Moore. He was at the time still a student at Trinity College, Dublin, and it is recorded that when he played the tune of the ' Fox's Sleep ' to his friend Robert Emmet, that young patriot strode about the room exclaiming ' Heavens ! what an air for an army to march to.' Moore then set himself to work to write words to Irish airs, chiefly derived from the Bunting collection, but had long to go a-begging with the MSS. of his earliest Irish Melodies.

It may have been that English publishers of music, however ready to own the beauty of the airs and their accompanying words, did not think them likely to pay, or possibly regarded some of them as perilously national for publication so soon after the Rebellion of '98. But Moore eventually secured the support of a compatriot in Power the publisher, and the assistance of a stiU more important Irishman in Sir John Stevenson, the arranger of the Irish Melodies : we know now with what a remarkable result.

Power in his first announcement mentions the promise of assistance in the work from ' other literary characters ' besides Moore, though he does not specify them by name. But these writers would appear to have given way to Moore, whose strong zeal for his share of the work is shown in a letter to Stevenson of the year 1807, from which I quote an important passage : —

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 135

' Our national music has never been properly collected and while the composers of the Continent have enriched their operas with melodies borrowed from Ireland, very often without even the honesty of acknowledgment, we have left these treasures to a great degree unclaimed and fugitive. Thus our airs, like too many of our countrymen, have, for want of protection at home, passed into the service of foreigners. But we are come, I hope, to a better period of both Politics and Music ; and how much they are con- nected, in Ireland at least, appears too plainly in the tone of sorrow and depression which characterises most of our early songs.

' The task which you propose to me, of adapting words to these airs, is by no means easy. The poet, who would follow the various sentiments which they express, must feel and understand that rapid fluctuation of spirits, that unaccountable mixture of gloom and levity, which com- poses the character of my countrymen, and has deeply tinged their music. Even in their liveliest strains we find some melancholy note intrude — some minor third or flat seventh — which throws its shade as it passes, and makes even mirth interesting. If Burns had been an Irishman (and I would willingly give up all our claims upon Ossian for him) his heart would have been proud of such music, and his genius would have made it immortal.

' Another difficulty (which is, however, purely mechani- cal) arises from the irregular structure of many of those airs, and the lawless kind of metre which it will in conse- quence be necessary to adapt to them. In these instances the poet must write, not to the eye, but to the ear ; and must be content to have his verses of that description which Cicero mentions, Quos si cantu spoKaveris nuda remanebit oratio. That beautiful air the "Twisting of the Rope," which has aU the romantic character of the Swiss Ranz des Vaches, is one of those wild and sentimental rakes which it will not be very easy to tie down in sober wedlock with poetry. However, notwithstanding all these difficulties,

136 THE CELTIC REVIEW

and the very little talent which I can bring to surmount them, the design appears to me so truly National, that I shall feel much pleasure in giving it all the assistance in my power.'

The melodies appeared in groups of sixteen at a time, and immediately found favour, but not with the populace, whom they very gradually reached. It was in the drawing- rooms of the upper classes, where Moore himself sang his melodies with a small voice, but exquisite feeling, that the Irish melodies first became famous.

Moore was before his time in recognising the artistic value of brevity in the modem song and ballad. More- over his knowledge of lyrical perspective is unrivalled, his thought is pellucid, never obscured by condensation or dimmed by diffuseness. But he most asserts his mastery in song-craft by the apparent ease with which he handles the most intricate musical measures, and mates the striking notes of each tune to the words most adapted to them both in sound and sense ; to say nothing of the art with which he almost Italianises English speech by a melodious sequence of varying vowels and alliterative consonants which almost sing themselves. Yet whilst Moore has, in addition to this vocal quality, the very perfection of playful wit and graceful fancy, as in * Quick ! We have but a Second,' and now and again real pathos, as in ' O breathe not his name ! ' * She is far from the land ! ' and again an irresistible martial spirit as in ' O the Light Entrancing ; ' and ' Avenging and bright falls the swift sword of Erin ! ' many of his melodies are not standing the test of time. This is either because our fine airs have been altered in time or character by him and Stevenson, and so depreciated, or have been assorted by Moore with the sentimental, metaphorical, and pseudo-philosophical fancies that took the taste of the English upper classes half a century ago, or because the tunes to which some of his finer lyrics are set are not of the first-rate quality.

If a great national collection of Irish melodies is to be

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 137

formed it will be our plain duty to divorce these ill-matched lyrics from their present partners, and to mate them to worthy airs in the Petrie and Joyce collections and in Bunting's last volume, which came after Moore's last melodies, and of which he was so ill-advisedly contemptuous. It is as plain an obhgation to slip out of their golden settings Moore's occasional bits of green glass and to slip into them the occasional emeralds of his contemporaries and suc- cessors.^

The collections of Bunting may be said to have brought about the first revival of Irish Folk music. His last volume — from which Thomas Moore drew nothing, and of which he spoke with unjustified contempt — considering the popular success of some of its melodies in Sir Charles Stan- ford's hands — appeared as late as 1840. For Bunting had long survived the romantic days of the northern Rebellion, when the ' Parting of Friends ' was very sadly and, as it proved, significantly sung in the presence of Wolfe Tone, and that noble Irishman, Thomas Russell, both of whom expiated their acts of rebellion against British authority by the death penalty.

It had long been a matter of wonder that the Irish verses to which these airs had been sung were not forth- coming, although English renderings from them by Miss Balfour and others were published in this de luxe volume of 1840. The mystery has been solved quite recently by the energetic secretary of the Irish Folk Song Society, Mrs. MiUigan Fox, under remarkable circumstances. Call- ing at Morley's, the harp makers, she learnt that one of his customers had recently ordered an Irish harp on the ground that his grandfather had been a collector of Irish music. Mrs. Fox inquired his name and address. The purchaser proved to be Dr. Louis Macrory of Battersea, who gener- ously put a great amount of unpublished material inherited

* The above criticism of Moore's powers as a lyrical writer is quoted from the introduction to my Irish Song Book, one of the volumes in the New Irish Library, published by Mr. Fisher Unwin.

138 THE CELTIC REVIEW

from his grandfather, James Bunting, at Mrs. Fox's disposal. He furthermore added to her deUght by informing her that there were other Bunting papers in a box in Dublin. This proved to contain a great number of the Gaelic originals of the tunes in the Bunting collection. Why had they lain neglected for fifty years or more ? Because Patrick Lynch who had collected them round the country had turned king's evidence against Russell, one of his employers, upon this quest. Russell was sent to the gallows, the friendly company of folk-song collectors was broken up, and there was a strong feeling against the publication of manuscripts collected by Lynch the informer, and hence their sup- pression tiU their discovery by Mrs. Milligan Fox. They have been in part translated into English by Miss Alice Milligan, Mrs. MiUigan Fox's brilliant sister. Their entire translation and publication may be looked for in the early future.

George Thomson, the music publisher of Edinburgh, who had drawn Robert Burns into writing words to Scottish airs and had levied a free impost upon Irish melodies for Scottish lyrical purposes, began to look around for fresh material, and in the year 1809 made a serious attempt, with the assistance of John Parry (Bardd Alaw) to fit the Welsh harp melodies with words. Delighted — writes Dr. Lloyd Williams, the editor of the Welsh Folk-Song Journal — with the beauty and peculiar character of these airs, he formed the resolution to collect and adapt them for the voice, to procure masterly accompaniments and characteristic English verses, and to render them in all respects as interesting as possible. The airs were sent to him by friends from different parts of Wales, and he also traversed Wales himself in order to hear the airs played by the best harpers. The total absence of English poems to the melodies surprised Thomson immensely. His astonishment was further increased when he was told by the Bard of Snowdon that there were hardly any lyrics even in Welsh. Thomson accordingly went to English

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 139

and Scottish lyrical writers for the words to these Welsh airs, and finally asked three famous German composers, Haydn, Kozeluch and Beethoven, to arrange them. When, in addition to this, it has to be stated that Thomson altered many of the melodies to suit his own taste (and that his taste did not equal his enthusiasm, is evinced by the bitter complaints of Irish and Scottish writers of the gross injustice done to their countries' melodies), it cannot be wondered at that the whole result, from an artistic and particularly from a national point of view, was a decided failure. ' It would be exceedingly difficult,' adds Dr. Lloyd WiUiams, ' to find a better object lesson in national music than this presents to us. Here we have an enthusi- astic Scotchman, who mutilates many of the Welsh airs which he desires to glorify ; we have a number of English and Scotch poets, most of whom failed to fit the airs with words that express either the rhythm or sentiment of them, whilst the foremost musicians of Europe write excellent arrangements, which yet lack the subtle something which breathes out the national feehng. All this shows us clearly that it is essential that both the poet who writes the words and the musician who sets the accompaniments, should be completely imbued with the national feeling, in order that the melody may retain its power of appeal to the hearts of the people that gave it birth.'

Mutatis mutandis this wise judgment appUes to the English words to Bunting's airs written by Scottish and English writers, and to the German versions of Scottish and Irish, as well as Welsh airs, with German verse trans- lations even of such Anglo-Irish humours as ' Paddy O'Rafferty.'

Thank goodness that bad time has gone by, and I think we of the four Folk Song Societies may congratulate our- selves upon having done something in our day to re- nationalise, instead of de-nationalise, English, Irish, Scottisli and Welsh airs, by simple and yet artistic settings of them, and by providing them with reverently restored versions of

140 THE CELTIC REVIEW

their old folk words, and where this is not possible, with lyrics which are worthy partners for them.

It may here be stated that the Irish and Highland airs seem most akin, not only owing to the remarkable alter- nations in feeling noticeable in different parts of the same air, but because of their melancholy, their passion and their exhilaration. Again the English and Welsh airs have some family likeness, though the fiery character of some of the old Welsh marches, and the melancholy of such a lamentation as the ' Marsh of Rhuddlan ' are more Irish than English. But certainly, whilst the Welsh music has a strain of its own, whether it be derived from the works of mediaeval harpers or from the modal folk-songs of the Cymric peasantry, there is about much of it a simpler, or, if I may put it, a less unexpected quality than is to be found in Gaelic music, and which relates it to the British Celtic music of Devon, Somerset and Cornwall, if it is wanting in the more robust qualities of the general body of English folk song.

The Isle of Man, conquered in turn by the Irish, Norse, Welsh, Scottish and English, has airs of all kinds, and yet there are half a dozen Manx airs such as the ' Sheep in the Snow,' and some of the Carvels or Carols which are sui generis^ indeed, individual to a degree.

To revert to Dr. Petrie and that distinguished Irish- man's great services to his country's folk songs. When Dr. Joyce was quite a young man he sent Petrie some beautiful folk songs which he had as a lad collected in his native Glenosheen. Petrie was delighted with these, and Joyce became a frequent caller at the doctor's house and heard his songs sung by Petrie' s daughter Mary, who in her youth was very beautiful ; Sir Frederick Burton's picture of the ' Blind Girl at the Well ' is an admirable likeness of her at that period. ' How well,' writes Dr. Joyce to me, ' I recollect the procedure when I returned to Dublin for my vacation. One of the first things was to spend an evening with the whole family, the father and the

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 141

four daughters, when Mary went through my new collection on the piano with the rest Ustening, especially Petrie him- self, in wrapt delight, as she came across some exquisite air he had not heard before. But of all the airs he was most delighted with the " Wicked Kerry Man," now in my Ancient Irish MusiCy page 84.'

Here is an anecdote of Petrie recorded by Dr. Joyce in another communication to me, showing how early his love for Irish music had been : ' When Petrie was a boy he was a good player upon a little single-keyed flute. One day he and another of his young companions set out for a visit to Glendalough, then in its primitive state of solitude. While passing Luggelaw they heard a girl near at hand singing a beautiful air. Instantly out came paper and pencil and Petrie took it down and then played it on his little flute. His companions were charmed with it ; and for the rest of the journey, every couple of miles when they sat down to rest, they cried, ' Here, Petrie, out with your flute and give us that lovely tune.' That tune is now known as * Luggelaw,' and to it Thomas Moore, to whom Petrie gave it, wrote his words (as lovely as the music) : —

No not more welcome the fairy numbers

Of music fall on the sleeper's ear, When half awaking from fearful slumbers,

He thinks the full choir of heaven is near, —

Than came that voice, when, all forsaken,

This heart long had sleeping lain, Nor thought its cold pulse would ever waken

To such benign, blessed sounds again.

And this brings us to George Petrie's famous collection of Irish music, in the gathering of which he had been en- gaged with passionate interest from his seventeenth till after his seventieth year.

At first he freely gave these folk airs to Thomas Moore and Francis Holden, and even offered the use of his whole col- lection to Edward Bunting. But finally, for fear that the priceless hoard might be neglected or lost after his death,

142 THE CELTIC REVIEW

and also as a protest against the methods of noting and dealing with the airs pursued by Edward Bunting and Moore and Stevenson, respectively, Petrie agreed to edit his collection for the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Ancient Music of Ireland, which was founded in December 1851.

One volume of this collection, comprising, however, only about a tenth part of it, saw the light in 1857. A supplement contains thirty-six airs, some of which Dr. Stokes tells us were sent to Petrie by personal friends, such as Thomas Davis the patriot, William Allingham the poet, Frederick Burton the painter, and Patrick Macdowell the sculptor ; ' whilst physicians, students, parish priests, Irish scholars and college librarians all aided in the good work. But most of Petrie' s airs have been noted by himself from the singing of the people : the chanting of some poor ballad- singer, the song of the emigrant, of peasant girls while milking their cows, or performing their daily round of household duty, from the playing of wandering musicians, or from the whistling of farmers and ploughmen.' And this description is typical of the method by which the airs were obtained, in this instance on the islands of Aran : —

' Inquiries having been made as to the names of persons " who had music," that is who were known as possessors and singers of the old airs, an appointment was made with one or two of them to meet the members of the party at some cottage near to the little village of Kilronan, which was their headquarters.

' To this cottage, when evening fell, Petrie, with his manuscript music-book and violin, and always accompanied by his friend. Professor Eugene O' Curry, the famous Irish scholar, used to proceed.

* Nothing could exceed the strange picturesqueness of the scenes which night after night were thus presented.

' On approaching the house, always lighted up by a blazing turf fire, it was seen to be surrounded by the islanders while its interior was crowded by figures, the rich colours of

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 143

whose dresses, heightened by the firelight, showed with a strange vividness and variety, while their fine countenances were all animated with curiosity and pleasure.

' It would have required a Rembrandt to paint the scene. The minstrel — sometimes an old woman, sometimes a beautiful girl or a young man — was seated on a low stool in the chimney comer, while chairs for Petrie and O' Curry were placed opposite, the rest of the crowded audience remaining standing. The singer commenced, stopping at every two or three bars of the melody to permit the writing of the notes, and often repeating the passage until it was correctly taken down, and then going on with the melody, exactly from the point where the singing was interrupted. The entire air being at last obtained, the singer — a second time — was called to give the song continuously, and when all corrections had been made, the violin, an instrument of great sweetness and power, was produced, and the air played as Petrie alone could play it, and often repeated.

' Never was the inherent love of music among the Irish people more shown than on this occasion : they listened with deep attention, while their heartfelt pleasure was expressed, less by exclamations than by gestures ; and when the music ceased, a general and murmured conver- sation, in their own language, took place, which would continue till the next song was commenced.'

Some further airs drawn from the Petrie collection, after the publication of the volume of 1857, have appeared in the form of piano arrangements by Francis Hoffmann, and in vocal settings in Songs of Old Ireland, Songs of Erin, and Irish Folk Songs, published by Boosey and Co., and in Irish Songs and Ballads, published by Novello, Ewer and Co. Now, however, the entire collection of about eighteen hundred airs in purely melodic form, exactly as they were noted down by Petrie, a vast treasure-house of folk song, has been published by Messrs. Boosey and Co. for our Irish Literary Society under the editorship of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.

\

144 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Of living collectors of Irish folk songs the longest at work, the most learned, most indefatigable, and the most enthusiastic — at any rate on this side of the Atlantic Ocean — is Dr. Patrick Weston Joyce, who forty-one years ago published Ancient Irish Music, containing a hundred airs, never printed before. At the age of eighty, he published, in 1909, with Longmans Old Irish Folk Music and Songs, a collection of no less than eight hundred and forty-two Irish airs and songs, hitherto unpublished, with a masterly preface dealing with the * Forde ' and ' Pigot ' collections contained in his volume, the characteristics of Irish narrative airs, the origin of various settings of Irish airs, the relation between Irish and Danish music, the question as to how far harmony existed amongst the ancient Irish, the various kinds of dance tunes, the pace at which different kinds of Irish music should be played, and the total number of Irish airs, probably some five thousand, in existence.

This volume is a mine of beautiful airs and of interesting Anglo-Irish song and ballad words, and it is amazing to think that it may yet be followed by another collection of the kind from the hands of our Nestor of Irish music.

Mr. Francis O'Neill, for long Chief of Police in Chicago, is another living Irish collector of folk music. This en- thusiast, beginning by setting down the Irish airs, learnt at his Irish-speaking mother's knee, and then through a course of years tapping the memories of fellow-country- men who had drifted to Chicago from all the four corners of the Green Isle, has succeeded in getting together a col- lection of some eighteen hundred and fifty Irish airs, of which at least five hundred had never been before in print. The great value of this collection consists in the number of instrumental airs which it contains. Levy's book of Irish dance music is dwarfed beside it. But to go back a little. A good selection from the Petrie collection, harmonised for the pianoforte but without words, was published after Petrie's death by Piggott of Dublin. The music was arranged by Hoffmann a

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 145

German resident in Dublin. The brothers Frank and Joseph Robinson also arranged Irish airs, and so did Sir Robert Stewart. But the first serious departure in this direction was made by Sir Charles ViUiers Stanford in his arrangements of Irish airs, chiefly from the Petrie collection, to my words, in three volumes Songs of Old Ireland and Songs of Erin, published by Boosey, and Irish Songs and Ballads, published by Novello. Dr. Charles Wood and I have also done a collection with Boosey entitled Irish Folk SongSy and we have a volume of fifty more Irish folk songs in the press, half the l3rrics of which are by Thomas Davis, Gerald Grifiin, Ferguson, Allingham, MacCall, and other well-known Irish song writers, the remainder being from my pen. Latterly Mr. Herbert Hughes has brought out his Songs of Ulla and Songs of Connaught, with lyrics by Mr. Joseph Campbell, Mr. Padraic Colum, and others, while Mrs. Milligan Fox, in conjunction with her sister Alice Milligan and her poetic friend Ethna Carbery and others, has arranged several groups of beautiful North Country Irish airs, besides putting the musical public much in her debt by her Annals of the Irish Harpers.

There has been indeed a gradually growing demand for Irish folk music, but this has been largely due to the appear- ance of several notable Irish folk singers. One of them, a truly great and versatile singer of folk songs, Denis O' Sulli- van, has, alas! passed from our midst, but we have, if I may say it in his presence, the most remarkable interpreter of Irish songs, tragic, impetuous, dreamy, rollicking, who has appeared in my day, Mr. Plunkett Greene. And not only is he a great singer, but a fine teacher, as anybody who has studied his volume on The Interpretation of Song must acknowledge. To every folk singer I commend what he says about the right way to sing folk songs, for with him precept and example are finely identical. Other fine singers of Irish songs have been Mr. Ledwich, better known as Herr Ludwig, and of course Joseph O'Mara ; but since the days of Katherine Hayes, I know no woman singer likely

VOL. IX. K

146 THE CELTIC REVIEW

to take the laurels which she is so fast winning as a singer of Irish baUads and dramatic songs as Miss Jean Sterling MacKinlay, the daughter of Antoinette Sterling, to whom Dr. Charles Wood and I owe so much for her beautiful interpretation of so many of our songs.

The establishment of Folk Song Societies in the United Kingdom arose with the foundation (caused by a conver- sation between Mr. Plunkett Greene, my brother Charles, and myself) of the Folk Song Society, whose object was the collecting and publishing of folk songs, ballads, and tunes. Its first meeting, with Mr. Fuller Maitland in the chair, was held in Adelphi Terrace at the rooms of the Irish Literary Society, of which I was then Hon. Secretary. Its Hon. Secretary was that delightfully accomplished musician and enthusiastic folk song collector, Mrs. Kate Lee. It was intended to be representative of the four nations, its presi- dent was, and is, an Englishman; its vice-presidents. Sir Hubert Parry, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Sir Charles Stanford, represent the sister countries. It coUects English airs chiefly, but not long ago Miss Lucy Broadwood, one of its most active members, and for some time its secretary, published an interesting find of Waterford airs in its journal, including one by quite a young girl who sang it to her. Folk songs are indeed still being composed in Irish-speaking Ireland and Welsh-speaking Wales, if not in Gaelic-speak- ing Scotland. The Folk Song Society has also recently brought out a remarkable collection of Highland airs, collected by Miss Tolmie.

But Ireland in its Home Rule tendencies needed special treatment, and an Irish Folk Song Society is now flourishing with Mrs. Milligan-Fox as its enthusiastic secretary. The Welsh Folk Song Society, which owes so much to the acti- vities of Dr. Lloyd Williams and Mrs. Mary Davies, took its origin at a meeting of the Cymmrodorin section at the Carnarvon National Eisteddfod of 1906, where papers were read by Principal, now Sir Harry, Reichel and myself, in which we urged the formation of a Welsh Folk Song Society

IRELAND'S SHARE IN FOLK SONG REVIVAL 147

to collect the perishing Welsh melodies. A handsome response was made, and now we have a most active and successful Welsh Folk Song Society, which is gathering Welsh Folk Airs of aU kinds in hundreds, nay thousands, up and down the Principality with pen and pencil and phonograph. One of my daughters has been thus engaged at Harlech quite recently, and has there bagged two inter- esting and long-lost Irish airs, ' What shall we do with the herring ? ' and ' Little Jimmy Murphy,' the first a rather unusual instance of an Irish cumulative song, the other a quaint pathetic Irish execution ballad, besides a dozen or more fresh versions of Welsh folk songs. The Dunedin Musical Association recently formed is also collecting Scottish folk songs. I hope they will prove as beautiful as the finds of Miss Murray, Mrs. Kennedy Fraser, and Mr. Kenneth Macleod in the Hebrides.

The Gaelic League has not been idle in the collection and singing of folk songs. They have reintroduced the singing of Irish-Gaelic into the concert room and collected many traditional songs and pipe and fiddle airs. The Feis Ceoil, the Irish Musical Festival, which sprmig out of lectures on Irish folk song, delivered before the National Literary Society of Dublin by Dr. Annie Patterson and myself, encourages Irish National music by prizes for singing in Irish and English, and some of its members have taken down songs and pipers' and fiddlers' tunes from the phonograph, but the Feis Ceoil does not, like the Welsh Eisteddfod, offer prizes for collections of folk songs. In Wales and in England there is a folk play departure which is helping to popularise Welsh and English folk songs, and Mr. Cecil Sharp and Miss Mary Neal have been doing splendid work in reintroducing the English Morris and country dances into the villages. I have heard the village children of Winchelsea in Sussex singing folk tunes in the course of their folk plays, and I have no doubt that the Hildenborough players, the Dorchester and Norwich players and the boys of Sawston in Cambridgeshire, as well

148 THE CELTIC REVIEW

as the performers in the Boxford Pastoral Masques and the Grasmere Dialect Plays are benefiting by the folk song and the folk dance coming in amongst them, and will thereby help to make England ' merrie ' again. I com- mend this excellent departure to the ' United Irishwomen ' who are now doing their best to brighten Irish village life. I have myself been a delighted witness of and listener to a Welsh village play, full of newly-discovered Welsh folk songs in the beautiful village hall erected by Mr. Davison at Harlech.

What is to be the outcome of this now generally diffused folk song movement ? Surely out of the four treasure houses of our folk songs — the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh — national schools of music should spring as surely as they have sprung up on the Continent. For has not every national school of music in Europe been built up from the foundation of its country's folk songs. One need but recall the names of Smetana in Bohemia, GHnka in Russia, Grieg in Norway, and the great composers of Germany, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, all of whom con- tinually acknowledged their indebtedness to German folk song. Already the leaven is working in this country. Norman O'Neill, Percy Grainger, Vaughan Williams and others are founding themselves upon the imexpected treasure trove of English folk song, Scotsmen, Irishmen and Welshmen will surely not be far behind. Indeed Sir Charles Stanford has already made notable essays in this direction. I hope the time is not far distant when he may crown his work by a really great Irish opera founded upon one of our noble heroic tales.

Note. — The above paper was read to the Irish Literary Society (London) on the twenty-first anniversary of its foundation.

FEASGAR SAMHRAIDH 149

FEASGAR SAMHRAIDH

Mac-ille-Mhuire

* Cha'n fhacas air talamh learn sealladh as boidhch' Na a' ghrian a' dol sios air taobh siar Eilein Leodhais.'

Tha e fhathast maille ruinn, am bard a ghleus a chlar- sach a chur an ceill cliu Eilein a ghraidh. Na sheann aois am meadhon baile mor na h-Alba tha a smaointean gach la a dol dhachaidh gu Eilean an Fhraoich, agus ged nach 'eil an comas aige an diugh 's iomadh ceum a tha a chasan a fagail air mointeach agus raon ann an Eilean a' chuain an iar. Cha 'n 'eil baile no dachaidh, tigh no airigh, beinn no tom, loch no 6b air nach eil e mion eolach. Agus gu ma sona a bhitheas a bhruadair aig crioch a latha, oir thug e dhuinn oran nach diochuimhnichear cho fada 's a bhitheas cridhe ann an com a' Ghaidheil. 'S iomadh ni a thug luchd ar foimeirt uainn, ach so aon ni air nach b' urrainn iad an lamhan granda a leagail. 'S leis a' Ghaidheal a chridhe fhein gu brath !

Bha mi air mullach na beinne aig am dol fodha na greine 'n uair a thainig gu m' aire briathran a' bhaird. Bha mi air mo chuairteachadh air gach taobh le gloir na cruinne, agus smaoinich mi gu de an t-aoibhneas a chuireadh e ann an cridhe an t-seann duine a bha dunadh a latha ann an gleadh- raich a' bhaile mhoir na 'm b' urrainn da an sealladh so fhaicinn aon uair eile 'na anmhuinneachd. Ach tha suilean a' bhaird aige agus tha e 'ga fhaicinn.

B' e sealladh e a dhuisgeadh cridhe neach sam bith aig nach robh a shuilean duinte. Am bheil gu cinnteach sealladh air thalamh coltach ri gloir Eileanan a' Chuain an iar ? Cha ruig mi leas innseadh gu de an t-Eilean air an robh mi air an fheasgar so, 'na m' aonar air mullach na beinne, a' faireachduinn nach robh deo air fhagail 'na m'

150 THE CELTIC REVIEW

chridhe aig meud maise agus sgeimh an t-seallaidh. Cha mhor nach robh mi a' faicinn a' chuain uile gu leir mu m' thimchioU. Aig aon aite a mhain bha e air a dhunadh bho m' shealladh, far an do dh' eirich beinn bheag thairis air nach b' urrainn domh faicinn. Cha robh i ach mar chnoc an coimeas ri beanntan an Tir-mhoir, a bha togail gu h-ard am muUach air taobh thall a' chaolais, a' dearrsadh le dathan uaine agus gorm agus dearg ann an solus na greine.

Ach 's ann air a chuan a bha m'aire, agus bha fhois fhein air a bhroilleach air an fheasgar so. 'S iomadh la a chmmaic mi sealladh eile air, 'nuair a bha na tonnan, a' briseadh geal thairis air Copaidh, agus 'g a thoirt as mo shealladh. Ach a nis cha robh gluasad no braon air aghaidh na mara, eadhon aig Spuir. Bha Spuir 'na laighe air uachdar a' chuain mar leomhann aig fois, gun ni air bith a' cur dragh air, agus a spogan sinte mach roimhe. 'S ann direach ris a sin a tha Spuir cosmhuil — creag anns a chuan eadar mi agus Hiort. 'S iomadh sealladh eile a chunnaic mi air Spuir. 'S iomadh latha a fhuair am maraiche am muir sleamhuinn aig Spuir. Gu de cho trie, 'nuair a bha mi 'na m' bhalach, a leum mo chridhe do m' bheul, agus a ghleidh mi m' anail a' faicinn nan tonn a' briseadh geal thairis air na h-eathraichean a bha togail nan cliabh ! Cha'n e h-uile latha a thogadh am maraiche na cleibh aig' ann a Spuir. Ach mu sin la eile.

Am falbh seirm na mara as mo chluasan gu brath ? Nach 'eil mi cluinntinn bron a' Chuain-an-iar anns an oidhche 'nuair a tha carbaid na smuid a' gleadhraich seachad ! Nach 'eil eigh agus taladh a' chuain am fhuil, agus mi ag iarraidh faicinn gu de a tha air taobh thall nam beann a tha 'g iathadh orm air gach taobh. Tha sealladh cho fada thairis air aghaidh na fairge a toirt samhchair do'm chridhe.

Thionndaidh mi do'n Airde 'n ear a dheas, agus bha sgiathan an fheasgair 'g am pasgadh fhein thairis air Maighdeanan Mhic-Leoid os cionn Dhuin-bheagain. Bha Eilean a' Cheo mu m' choinneamh le bheanntan arda, gorm,

NEIL MACLEOD

NEIL MACLEOD 151

agus anns an dubhar, na'b fhaide air falbh 's an Airde 'n ear, beanntan na Mor-thir, ag eirigh gu h-ard am measg nan neul. Bha beanntan na h-Earadh agus Dunarain a' boillsgeadh ann an solus na greine, agus Tur Chliamain, a bha cho f ada re nan linntean 'na Thigh-soluis do'n t-sluagh, 'na aon lasadh oir, a' glacadh ghathan deireannach na greine. Ach cha robh gloir na h- Airde 'n ear ri bhi ri-ri! an coimeas ri gloir na h- Airde 'n iar, 'nuair a thionndaidh mi rithist m'aghaidh ris a' ghrein. Bha i direach a' beantuinn ris na h-uisgeachan, anns an robh a solus a' deabachadh ann an iomadh dath. Tha e seachad air comas duine ailleachd an t-seallaidh a chur an ceill. An Cuan an iar air a lasadh suas leis an teine so a bha anns an adhar — buidhe, agus dearg, agus gorm, agus geal, uile gu leir dealrach. Bha Hiort air a comhdach leis a' ghloir, 'ga cumail mar nach bu mhiann leatha dealachadh ris an solus. Ach, uidh air n-uidh chaidh i sios do'n chuan. Ach bha a gloir 'na mo shuilean, agus seirm a' Chuain-an-iar 'na mo chluasan, agus na reultan a' toiseachadh ri priobadh a nuas orm, agus 'na m' chridhe smuaintean nach urrainn dhomh a sgriobhadh.

NEIL MACLEOD

Professor Mackinnon

Only five short years ago the Highlanders of Edinburgh were proud to reckon among their number three men who stood foremost in the front rank of the Gaelic authors of their day. The three were Islesmen bom : Donald Mac- kechnie in Jura ; Dr. Alexander Carmichael in Lismore ; and Neil Macleod in Skye. And now, although talented men and women remain, those of us who knew these three well, their work, ideals, and aspirations, feel that life in the ' grey metropolis ' will never again be quite the same without them.

Neil Macleod, the last of the three, passed away on the

152 THE CELTIC REVIEW

sixth of September last. He was born in Glendale, Skye, in March 1843. His birth was not registered, registration in out-of-the-way parts was at the time very irregular, and until quite recently the man himself believed that he was a couple of years older. But he is entered in the Census of 1851 at eight years of age, and the entry, in the absence of more definite evidence, must be taken as conclusive.

The poet's father, Donald Macleod, otherwise Domhnall nan Oran, was a well-known Gaelic poet in his day. He published a volume in 1811, and a few pieces composed by him at later dates, were printed by his son some years ago. The father was a merchant on a small scale in Glendale. He also occupied a small farm or croft, which he held rent free in virtue of his hardship, with succession to his widow, very probably the last tenure of the kind in Scotland.

The sept of Macleods to which the poet belonged showed in our own day talent, energy, and enterprise in various directions. A cousin founded a large commercial firm in Edinburgh and London, another rose from the ranks to be Major in the British army, while a third was leader of the land movement in Skye. In all of them, men and women, a gift of pointed and expressive speech, relieved by wit and humour, was conspicuous.

The futiu-e poet received such school education as the village supplied, which at the time did not count for much. StiU it enabled him to read and write English fairly well, and that to a lad of parts meant a great deal. He passed his boyhood much like the other lads of the glen, in rural occupation varied by herding and fishing, and of evenings attending the local ceilidh when song and story went round. These meetings, and not the village school, were the chief factor in the intellectual, moral, and aesthetic development of the future Bard. To hear him recall in after years, in his own inimitable way, a meeting of this ceilidh, and to read his views upon social, traditional, and literary questions, one has no difficulty in tracing the genesis and growth of Neil Macleod's ideas.

NEIL MACLEOD 153

The poet came South some forty-five to fifty years ago and found employment with his cousin, the late Mr. Rode- rick Macleod, in Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards he became one of the travellers of the firm, embracing Argyllshire, Skye and neighbourhood, and some southern counties in his ambit. He remained at this wearing work until the weight of advancing years made it advisable for him to retire. Constitutionally he was sound and strong. But a bad fall from a trap when on his rounds some years ago, followed soon afterwards by a cowardly assault on his own stairhead by a couple of ruffians, permanently affected his health, and, it is to be feared, shortened his life.

Macleod's poetical gifts developed early. He became known as the Skye Bard in early youth. A few of his best known compositions appeared from time to time in the Highland Press. From the encouragement thus received, and upon the advice of friends on whose judgment he relied, he published, in 1883, under the title of Clarsach an Doire, his principal compositions up to that date. The result was most gratifying. Highlanders at home and abroad hailed Macleod as the poet of Gaeldom, and not merely of Skye. A second edition, much enlarged, and with four tales in prose added, appeared in 1893, a third in 1902, and a fourth in 1909. This constituted a record in Scottish Gaelic Literature. No other secular author saw a fourth edition of his own work. This success was no doubt due in part to the Gaelic revival in recent years, but it was mainly due to the merits of the volume.

It may, I think, be safely affirmed that since Duncan M'Intyre died no Gaelic poet took such firm hold of the imagination of Highlanders as Neil Macleod was able to do. But it can hardly be said with truth that we had not in the interval Gaelic bards of poetic gifts equal if not even superior to his. Among such most people would name at least three — William Ross, William Livingstone, and Donald Mackechnie. Ross was, at his best, as e.g. in the poem in praise of Marion Ross of Stornoway, the most

154 THE CELTIC REVIEW

melodious of modern Gaelic poets. But he was very imequal, and unfortunately his editor, John Mackenzie, printed more than one unworthy piece which he attributes to this poet. Livingstone again undoubtedly possessed strength of intellect and imagination, with great command of expressive diction. But although he could infuse music as well as passion into his verse, as in the powerful com- position entitled Fios thun a^Bhdird, his poems are as a rule rugged, uncouth, and he remains largely unread. Donald Mackechnie is such an admirable writer of Gaelic prose that the merits of his verse are apt to be overlooked. Still some poems of his — ' The Bard,' ' The Brook,' ' The Voice of the Sea,' with others, are of the very highest order.

Macleod, on the other hand, shows a combination of gifts that enables us to imderstand his popularity beyond others of equal talent. There is as a rule a happy selection of subject. The treatment is simple, unaffected. You have on every page evidence of the equable temper and gentle disposition of the author, — gay humour or melting pathos ; happy diction ; pure idiom ; exquisite rhyme. His compositions are not all of equal merit, but in all of them there is one quality which never fails — read them with a touch of the Skye accent, and you are at once brought captive by the melody of the versification.

Our poet has hardly left a chord of the Highland lyre untouched, and from each he has brought forth sweet music. His poetical compositions number in all about ninety. Among them are songs which will be sung as long as the language endures. Where has the charm of the old home been more tenderly and sympathetically expressed than in 'My Native Glen'? Did 'The Cottar's Saturday Night' suggest the pervading sentiment of it ? Even if it were so the poem will not suffer much by a comparison. ' Annie and I ' is a worthy counterpart to ' John Anderson, my Jo.' John Campbell of Ledaig on one occasion sent to his brother poet a sprig of heather, a daisy, and a prim- rose. Macleod' 8 acknowledgement is in verse — five stanzas

NEIL MACLEOD 155

in all. One can hardly conceive a happier or more appro- priate reply, whether in conception or expression. Here is the first stanza (p. 127) : — ^

Ciad ikilt' ort fh^in, a bhadain fhraoich,

Bho thir nan aonach ^rd — An tir a dh' araich iomadh laoch,

Ge sgaoilt' an diugh an al ; Tha snuadh mo dhiithcha air do ghruaig,

Seasaidh tu fuachd is births, 'S e mheudaich dhomh cho mor do luach

Gu'n d'fhuair mi thu bho'n Bh^rd.

The humour of the poet finds frequent expression in his verse. He was a master of good-natured ridicule and chaff. Indeed if the man had done nothing else than raise Gaelic satire from the pit of coarseness and scurriHty in which it had lain from the dawn of our literature he would have deserved our lasting gratitude. I have always regarded ' The Song of the Old Maid ' as his happiest effort in this department. The humour of the whole composition is ex- quisite, while the character of the old maid, thoroughly womanly, but with her sturdy independence and self- respect maintained in face of her numerous disappoint- ments, is a unique conception in Scottish Gaelic Literature. If one could divest one's self of old-fashioned prejudice one would be prepared to say that this piece is worthy of Horace at his best.

The Bard was a man of great charm of manner. His presence at social gatherings was eagerly sought after. He was not averse to the platform, where his racy speech and fund of anecdote always told. But to know the man well, one must needs meet him at his own happy fireside, or in the company of one or two congenial spirits in the house of an attached friend. His countrymen honoured him on many occasions. He was Bard to the Celtic Society of the University of Edinburgh, and to the Gaelic Society of Inverness. On his retirement from business his ad- mirers presented him with an illuminated address written

156 THE CELTIC REVIEW

in Gaelic, and a handsome purse of sovereigns collected in all parts of the world, but mainly in Scotland and South Africa. A memorial was sent at the same time to the First Lord of the Treasury, signed by some fifteen or sixteen men and women — peers, ex-moderators, clergymen and scholars who knew the man and his work, and who were able to speak of him as the greatest living GaeUc poet, praying for the grant of a pension from the Civil List, but, to the great disappointment of the memorialists and the poet's numerous friends, the claim was not entertained.

The Bard was married to Katherine Stewart, daughter of the late Mr. Stewart, teacher at Kensaleyre, Skye. To the sorrowing widow, her two daughters and son, the deep sympathy of Gaelic-speaking people in all parts of the world has gone forth for the loss of the husband and father, a man as good as he was great.

AOIBHINN AN OBAIR AN T-SEALG William J. Watson

The hunting of the deer of old in Scotland was conducted on a scale and in a manner very different from that now in vogue. To illustrate this, take the following extract from the distinguished English traveller and antiquary, Thomas Pennant, to whose acute observation we owe so much information as to our own country in the middle of the eighteenth century. The scene is near Dunkeld.

' Walk through a narrow pass, bounded by great rocks. One retains the name of the King's Seat, having been the place where the Scottish monarchs placed themselves, in order to direct their shafts with advantage at the flying deer driven that way for their amusement. A chase of this kind had very nearly prevented the future miseries of the imhappy Mary Stuart. The story is well told by William Barclay in his treatise Contra Monarchomachos ; it gives

AOIBHINN AN OBAIR AN T-SEALG 157

a lively picture of the ancient manner of hunting, and in that account will perhaps be acceptable to the reader in an English dress.

' In the year 1563 the Earl of Athol, a prince of the blood royal, had with much trouble and vast expense, a hunting match for the entertainment of our most illustrious and most gracious Queen. Our people caU this a royal hunting. I was then a young man, and was present on the occasion. Two thousand Highlanders, or wild Scotch, as you call them here, were employed to drive to the hunting ground all the deer from the woods and hills of Athole, Badenoch, Mar, Murray, and the countries about. As these Highlanders use a light dress, and are very swift of foot, they went up and down so nimbly that in less than two months' time they brought together 2000 red deer, besides roes and fallow deer. The Queen, the great men, and others, were in a glen when all the deer were brought before them. Believe me, the whole body of them moved forward in something like battle order. This sight still strikes me, and ever will, for they had a leader whom they followed close wherever he moved. This leader was a very fine stag, with a very high head. The sight delighted the Queen very much ; but she soon had occasion to fear, upon the Earl's (who had been accustomed to such sights) addressing her thus : — " Do you observe that stag who is foremost of the herd ? There is danger from that stag ; for if either fear or rage should force him from the ridge of that hill, let everyone look to himself, for none of us will be out of the way of harm ; for the rest will follow this one, and having thrown us under foot, they will open a passage to this hill behind us." What happened a moment after confirmed this opinion, for the Queen ordered one of the best dogs to be let loose upon a wolf ; this the dog pursues, the leading stag was frightened, and he flies by the same way he had come there, the rest rush after him, and break out where the thickest body of Highlanders was. They had nothing for it but to throw themselves flat upon the ground and allow the deer to pass over them. It was

158 THE CELTIC REVIEW

told the Queen that several of the Highlanders had been wounded, and that two or three had been killed outright, and the whole body had got off had not the Highlanders, by their superior skill in hunting, fallen upon a stratagem to cut off the rear from the main body. It was of those that had been separated that the Queen's dogs and those of the nobility made slaughter. There were killed that day 360 deer, with five wolves and some roes.'

An even fuller description is that given by Taylor, the Water Poet, who for a wager visited Scotland on foot and without a coin in his pocket in 1618. He came through Glen Esk to Braemar. * There did I finde the truely noble and right honourable Lords John Erskine, Earl of Marr, and others. For once in the yeere, which is the whole month of August, and sometimes part of September, many of the nobility and gentry of the kingdome (for their pleasure) doe come into these high-land countries to hunt, where they doe conforme themselves to the habits of the Highland men, who for the most part speake nothing but Irish, and in former time were those people which were called the Red shankes. Their habite is shoes with but one sole apiece : stocking (which they call short hose) made of a warm stuff of divers colours, whiche they call tartane : as for breeches, many of them, nor their forefathers, never wore any, but a jerkin of the same stuffe that their hose is of : their garters being bands or wearthes of hay or straw, with a plaid about their shoulders, which is a mantle of divers colours, much finer and lighter stuffe than their hose, with blue caps on their heads, a handkerchiefe knit with two knots about their necke ; and thus they are att3n?ed. Now their weapons are long bowes and forked arrowes, swords and targets, harque- busses, muskets, durks and Loquhabor-axes. With these armes I found many of them armed for hunting. As for their attire, any man of what degree soever that comes amongst them must not disdaine to weare it ; for if they doe they will disdaine to hunt or wilUngly to bring in their dogges, but if men be kind unto them, be in their habit, then

AOIBHINN AN OBAIR AN T-SEALG 159

are they conquered with kindness, and the sport will be plentif ull. This was the reason that I found so many noble- men and gentlemen in those shapes. But to proceed to the hunting. My good Lord of Marr having put me into that shape, I rode with him from his house, where I saw the ruines of an old castle, called the castle of Kindroghit. It was built by King Malcolm Canmore (for a hunting house), who reigned in Scotland when Edward the Confesor, Harold, and Norman WiUiam reigned England. I speake of it because it was the last house that I saw in those parts ; for I was the space of twelve days after, before I saw either house, corne field, or habitation for any creature, but deere, wilde horses, wolves and such like creatures, which made me doubt that I should never have scene a house againe. Thus the first day we travelled eight miles, where there were small cottages built on purpose to lodge in, which they call Lonquhards. I thanke my goode Lord Erskine, he com- manded that I should always be lodge in his lodging, the kitchin being always on the side of a banke, many kettles and pots boyling, and many spits turning and winding with great variety of cheere : as venson bak't, sodden, rost and sten'de beefe, mutton, goates, kid, hares, fresh salmon, pidgeons, hens, capons, chickens, partridge, moorecootes, heathcocks, caperkellies, and termagantes ; good ale, sackes white, white and claret tent, or allegant, with most potent Aquavite. All these and more then these we had continually in superfluous abundance, caught by faulconers, fowlers, fishers, and brought by my lord's tenants and perveyers, to victuall our camp, which consisteth of fourteen or fifteene hundred men and horses. The manner of the hunting is this — five or six hundred men do rise early in the morning, and they do disperse themselves divers ways, and seven, eight, or tenne miles compasse, they do bring in or chase in the deere in many herds, two, three, or four hundred in a herd, to such or such a place, as the noblemen shall appoint them. When the day is come the lords and gentle- men of their companys doe ride or goe to the said places.

160 THE CELTIC REVIEW

some times wadeing up to the middle through bournes and rivers ; and then they being come to the place, do lye downe on the ground til those four said scouts, which are called the tinckhell, doe bring down the deere ; but as the proverb says, as bad cooks, so these tinckhell men do lick their fingers, for besides their bows and arrows which they carry with them, we can hear now and then a harqubusse or a musket goe off, which they seldom discharge in vain ; then after we had stayed three hours or thereabouts, we might perceive the deer appear on the hill round about us (there heads making a show like a wood), which being followed by the tinckhell are chased down to the valley where we lay. Then all the valley on each side being waylaid with a hundred couple of strong Irish greyhounds, they are let loose as occasion serves upon the herd of deere, that with dogges, gunnes, arrowes, durkes, and daggers in the space of two houres four scores off fat deeres were slain, which afterwards are disposed of, some one way and some another, and more than enough for us to make merry with all at our rendezvous. ' Being come to our lodging, there was such baking, boyling, roasting, and stewing, as if cook Ruffin had been there to have scalded the devils in their feathers, and after supper a fire of fir wood as high as an indifferent may pole ; for I assure you that the Earl of Marr will give any man that is his friend, for thanks, as many fir trees (that are as good as any ship's masts in England) as are worth if they were in any place near the Thames or any other portable river the best earldome in England or Scotland either. For I dare affirme he hath as growing there as would serve for masts (from this time until the end of the world) for all the ships, carrackes, hoyes, galleys, boats drumlers, barkes and water crafts that are now or can be in the world these forty years. This sounds like a lie to an unbeleiver ; but I know that I and many thousands do know that I speak within the compass of truth, for indeed they do grow so far from any paswage of water, and withal in such rocky mountains that no way to convey them is possible either with cart,

AOIBHINN AN OB AIR AN T-SEALG 161

horse, or boat. Thus having spend certain days in hunting in thebrea of Marr, we went to the next county, called Bagnoch.'

In connection with the above extracts may be taken two which are older, from the Description of the Western Isles, ' compyled by Mr. Donald Monro Deane of the Isles 1549.' Dean Monro, it may be noted, was a Ferindonald man, a native of Kilteam. With regard to Duray (Jura) the Dean states : —

(There) ' is twa Loches meitand uthers throughe mid lyle of Salt watter to the lenthe of ane haff myle ; and all the Deire of the West pairt of that forrest will be callit be tainchess to that narrow entres and the next day calht west againe be tainchess through the said narrow entres, and infinit Deire slaine ther. This lyle, as the ancient lyl- landers alledges should be called Deiray taking the name from the Deire in Nome Leid quhilk has given it that name in auld times.'

Here ' tainchess ' is used for ' tinchells ' ; ' meitand ' for ' meeting ' is still regular in Avoch ; ' leid ' means ' speech.' The ' ancient lyllanders ' were right as regards the derivation of Jura.

The other passage from the Dean treats of Rum, mis- spelled in my copy as Ronin (for Roum).

' Ane forest of heigh montains and abundance of litle Deir in it, quhilk deir will never be slaine dounewith, bot the Principall saitts man be in the heigh of the hill because the Deire will be calht upwart ay be the Teinchell or with- out t3nichals they will pas upwart perforce.'

In both these passages ' callit ' means ' driven,' moderr Scots ' ca' ' e.g. ' Ca' the yowes to the knowes.' The deer of Rum, it is to be noticed, refuse to be slain on the flat ; they will pass uphill. So says Duncan Macintyre of the doe of Ben Doran : —

Air chaisead na leacainn, cha saltradh i comhnard.

The old Statistical Account of the Small Isles, printed in 1796, contains a valuable description of deer-hunting,

VOL. IX. L

162 THE CELTIC REVIEW

which does not appear to agree with that given by Dean Monro. The writer, the Rev. Donald Maclean, says : —

' In Rum these were formerly great numbers of deer ; there was also a copse of wood that afforded cover to their fawns from birds of prey, particularly from the eagle. While the wood throve the deer also throve ; now that the wood is totally destroyed, the deer are extirpated. Before the use of fire arms, their method of killing deer was as follows : On each side of a glen, formed by two mountains, stone dykes were begun pretty high in the mountains, and carried to the lower part of the valley, always drawing nearer, till within 3 or 4 feet of each other. From this narrow pass, a circular space was enclosed by a stone wall, of a height sufficient to confine the deer ; to this place they were pursued and destroyed. The vestige of one of these enclosures is still to be seen in Rum.'

Information as to the details of the great huntings in AthoU, their organisation and rules is given in Mr. Charles Ferguson's series of papers in the Transactions of the Inver- ness Gaelic Society entitled ' Sketches of the Early History of Strathardle,' in particular vol. xxiii. p. 177. In vol. xx. p. 263, he states that in ' August of 1582 King James held a grand royal hunt amongst the hills of AthoU and Strath- ardill. The great meeting-place, to which all the deer were driven, was at the hill of Elrick, on Dirnanean Moor {Doire nan Eun)^ which hill, as its name indicates, had been for ages before one of the noted hunting-places of Atholl. ... As a proof of what a hunting country Strathardle must have been in olden times, I may mention that my late uncle Robert Forbes (than whom none better knew these hills), told me that he knew twelve elrigs in the district above Kirkmichael.'

For the description of an elrig we are indebted to Dr. Robertson of Callander, who in his work on the Agri- culture of the County of Perth, 1799, p. 328 (quoted by Mr. Ferguson) writes thus : —

' The natives hunted the deer by surrounding them

AOIBHINN AN OBAIR AN T-SEALG 163

with men, or by making large enclosm'es of such a height as the deer could not overleap, fenced with stakes and inter- twined with brushwood. Vast multitudes of men were collected on hunting days, who, forming a ring round the deer, drove them into these enclosures, which were open on one side. From some eminence which overlooked the en- closure the principal personages and others who did not choose to engage in the chase, were spectators of the whole diversion. The enclosures were called in the language of the country elerig, which is derived from another word signifying contest or strife. One of the farms in Glenlochy of Breadalbane is called ' Craggan-an-Elerig,' a small rock which overhangs a beautiful field resembling the arena of an ampitheatre, probably the first that was cleared of wood in that district, and admirably adapted for this purpose by the natural situation of the adjacent ground. There are elerigs in various parts of the country.'

The purpose of the elrigs (or elricks) is by no means forgotten in Perthshire at the present day, naturally, seeing that the great huntings continued on into the eighteenth century. Some years ago I talked with AthoU men who knew about them and mentioned several in AthoU, such as Eileirig an Tdisich, used by Mackintosh of Glen Tilt, and Eileirig nan Gobhach, the Gows' Elrick. The meaning of the term is therefore not in doubt. The Elrick was an en- closure, usually in relatively low ground, into which deer were driven by the ' tinchell.' The derivation of eileirig has long been a puzzle. That it is of the feminine gender appears by such expressions as Tom na h-Eileirig. Dr. Robertson's ' Craggan-an-elerig ' should certainly have been Cragan na h-Eileirig, to judge by the modern instances. Dr. MacBain, who gave the question much consideration, ultimately regarded it as formed from eilear, a deer-walk, and the best spelling would therefore, on that theory, be eilearaig, a locative of eilearag, literally, a small deer-path. In certain districts, outside of Perthshire, the term is pro- nounced iolairig, and indeed till I came to Perthshire, this

164 THE CELTIC REVIEW

was the prormnciation familiar to me, as applied to Elrick in Strathnairn. The variant naturally led to a folk- etymology from iolaire, an eagle ; but an Elrick is, as a rule, the last place where one would expect eagles to haunt, and, in any case, to call a place ' a little eagle,' ' an eaglet ' would be absurd. The variation is one of dialect, but it may have been helped by the supposed connection with iolaire, for otherwise it is difficult to see how the slender I could have become broad. Dr. MacBain's derivation is certainly plausible, and it may be right. There is one fact, however, which is seriously against it. In the Book of Deer is recorded : Malcolum mac Moilhrigte dorat indelerc, Malcolm son of Mael Bride, gave ' indelerc' MacBain, who edited the Gaelic text, and all others have read this last in delerc. I think that it should be read as ind elerc, ' the Elrick.' Now in the ' Letters of procuratorie and resignacioune of the Abbaice of Deir,' dated 1587, there appear as part of the patrimony of the Abbey the lands of Littill Elrik and the lands of Meikle Elrik, and at the present day there are Mains of Elrick, Elrick Hill and Elrick moss about five or six miles southwest of the church of Deer. It will be found that the possessions of the Cistercian abbey of Deer, as set forth in the document mentioned, include (apart from the Elricks) four or five places recorded in the Book of Deer as having been granted to the old Celtic monastery, and I would identify indelerc of the Book with the Elricks of 1587, and the modern Elrick. If this is accepted, then we have in elerc the oldest form by far, and however it may be analysed it is certainly not a diminutive form. For elerc becoming eleirig, compare Old Gael, loarcc. Mod. Gael. Idirig ; teasairg, pronounced frequently teasraig ; Lanark, pronounced Lanrick. (The two Perthshire Lanricks are both in Gael. Laraig, with ar nasal.) I have not met the word elsewhere in Gaelic literature. Dr. Joyce does not record it as occurring in Ireland, nor does Father Power in his highly intensive study of the place names of Decies. The Strathnairn Elrick is near the east end of Loch

AOIBHINN AN OBAIR AN T-SEALG 165

Ruthven, on the low ground, where there is a pass or small glen, overlooked by a ' cragan.'

The Elricks are found from the Moray Firth to the Solway especially in Aberdeenshire and Perthshire. There is none known to me north of Inverness. We should have ex- pected to find Elricks in Monar, the scene of the great huntings of the Lords of Lovat, in Freevater, where the Earls of Ross and later the Lairds of Balnagowan were wont to hunt, and in Sutherland. None, however, appear on record, and the old tradition has largely gone with the people who once knew the ground in connection with their shielings and grazings.

North of Inverness, but not confined to that region, we find another term, namely eileag. Travellers between Lairg and Lochinver know Mointeach Eileag ' the moss of eileags.' This term also was long puzzling. The solution came when I was told the tale of Eileag Bad Challaidh, a place near Amat, Strathcarron, somewhere about Sal- lachy. Very few now seem to know the exact spot, and though I know the locality fairly well I have not seen it. The tale goes that in the old times the people of Strath- carron were often hard pressed by the Lochlannaich, which, in view of the place names Dibidale, Amat, and Alladale at the head of the strath and Gruinzeord at its foot, is no doubt correct. At such times, two places were of great importance, Cairidh Ginn-Chdrdain the weir of Kincardine, near the parish church, for the catching of salmon, and Eileag BadChallaidh in the heights, for deer. The eileag^ according to my informant, was an arrangement very like that described in the 0. Stat. Ace. as once prevalent in Rum for catching deer. There are about half a dozen names in Ross known to me involving eileag, and about the same number in Sutherland. The term is based on Old Gael. ail, stone, whence eileach, a mill lade, Craigellachie, na h- Eileachan Naomha, etc., and the true eileag would be of stone as described in Rum. The stone structure would be resorted to where wood was scarce, or for permanency.

166 THE CELTIC REVIEW

In Sutherland there are the remains of a number of old walls constructed of stones and earth running across moor, mountain and glen in a very remarkable way. One of these, which I have seen, begins at Ben Vr aggie, runs up part of Dunrobin glen, then strikes across the hill on the north side of the glen, and comes out at Altnaharra. An- other is said to connect Loch Brora and Loch Shin. The length of one is said to be nearly thirty miles. In Boss similar walls occur. One runs between Loch Maree and Loch Torridon, another runs right through Coigach. An- other runs east and west on the high ground between Loch Broom and Little Loch Broom ; a burn which crosses it is called Altnaharrie, and the wall runs up to a hill called Maoil na h-Eirbhe. I have explained eirhJie elsewhere to be the old word for a fence or wall. The purpose of these walls has never been considered, and indeed antiquaries seem to be unaware of their existence, but when they do come to be mapped out and studied, a connection with the great deer-hunts is one of the possibilities that might be considered.

The term ' tinchell ' which recurs so often in connection with the hunts, of course means the body of men, sometimes numbering thousands, who drove the deer into the elrig or eileag, and seems to be a rather loose use of timchioll, a circuit. The drive usually took place in August, before harvest began, when the men were free. The time occupied appears to have usually been about a week or a little more ; the hunt got up for Queen Mary's visit to AthoU must have been exceptionally magnificent, if it involved two months' preliminary driving. The Duke of AthoU on 1st August 1710 orders the fencible men of Glen Fernate and Glen Brierachan to meet him at the foot of Ben Vurich the following night, with a day's provision, for a deer hunting the day after. On 12th August similar orders were sent to Blair and Struan, Kirkmichael, Moulin, Cluny, Glen Almond, Logierait, Weem, Dull, and Fortingall. Invitations were sent to Farquharson of Inverey and Mackenzie of

AOIBHINN AN OBAIR AN T-SEALG 167

Dalmore to come with ' some pretty men,' and as many dogs as they can provide. The vassals and tenants met on the Green of Blair, and on 23rd August the men were drawn up on Druim na h-Eachdra (Ridge of the Expedition) at the head of Glengirnaig. There the orders were read out to all the officers before the tinchell was sent out viz. —

1. That none shall ojffer to fire a gun or pistol in the time of the deer-hunting.

2. That none shall offer to break up a deer, or take out a grealloch, except in His Grace's presence, where they are to be disposed on.

3. That none be drunk or swear an oath.

These details are taken from Mr. Ferguson's paper, where stiU more may be had.

When the last great deer hunt in the old style took place I have not ascertained, but imagine that the ostensible hunting held in the end of August 1715 by the Earl of Mar in Braemar must have been among the last. They passed with the passing of the Stuarts.

It is a matter of regret that our extant Gaelic literature contains but scant, if any, references to those great huntings, which must have stood for much in the life of the people. The older poetry of Atholl, Aberdeenshire, Ross and Suther- land has all gone ; had it survived, we might have some idea of the feelings of the man in the tinchell. Rob Donn knows only the modern method of stalking and shooting ; so also Dimcan Macintjrre needs only man, gun and dog. In Oran na Comhachaig we seem to get back to the grand style when with regard to Creag Ghuanach at Ceann Loch Treig the hunter poet of Lochaber says : —

A' chreag mu'n iathadh an fhaghaid Bu mhiann learn a bhi 'ga tadhal, An uair bu bhinn guth gallain gadhar A' cur graigh gu gabhail chumhann.

The rock around which rolled the hunt ; It was my desire to visit it When sweet was the baying of hounds Driving a herd to a narrow pass.

168 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

There are other touches in this poem — surely one of the finest poems in any language — ^which are decisive of its antiquity,^ and there can be little doubt that it contains references to the great huntings in Lochaber, by distin- guished chiefs of the West Highlands.

A complete account of what is to be known of these great huntings from Otterburn in 1388 to Braemar in 1715 would make an interesting book, and add a valuable chapter to the history of Scotland. The notes given above, fragmentary as they are, may serve to direct attention to the subject.

BOOK REVIEWS

Poems from the Welsh. Translated into English Verse by H. Idris Bell, with some additional renderings by C. C. Bell. Carnarvon : The Welsh Publishing Co., Ltd., 1913.

This volume does great credit to the skill and poetic feeling of the trans- lators, and renders at the same time a genuine service to the poetry of Wales. The authors of the work have caught the true spirit of the Welsh muse, and have bestowed as much care upon the verse of their translations as if they had been composing for the most cultured English readers. It is a strong temptation to translators from Welsh poetry to imagine that their English renderings best represent the spirit of Welsh poetry if they are characterised by some measure of roughness and uncouthness. It is this feature that leads the English reader to imagine that Welsh poetry is marked by a certain barbaric wildness, whereas the exact contrary is really the case, for the conception of finished form is a dominant one in Welsh poetry. The first poem (in four parts) is one by Mr. W. J. Gruffydd called 'The Old Bachelor of Tynymynydd,' 'The Old Quarryman,' 'The Old Sailor,' and ' The Young Poet.' This striking poem should be a revelation to the non- Welsh reader of the inner spirit of W^ales, and Mr. Bell has well interpreted that spirit in his fine translation. The next poem is a trans- lation of a fine ode by Islwyn on ♦ Y Dylanwad.' Mr. Bell translates this by ' Inspiration,' and this is perhaps the nearest English rendering, but ' Y Dylanwad ' refers specially to the eflFect of religious feeling, not so much on an inspired speaker as on a body of hearers. The poem which comes third

* DomhnuU Mac FhionDlaidb nan Dan, the reputed author of the poem, was a con- temporary of Donnchadh Dubh (Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy), who died at Bealacb in 1631.

BOOK REVIEWS 169

is called 'The Empty Nest at BroGynin,' and is the work of one of the ablest of modern European poets, T. Gwynn Jones, a writer of rare genius. The translation of Ceiriog's * Nant y Mynydd ' is accurate and melodious, but it is hard to produce by means of English words the eflfect produced by the original, since to a Welshman the objects described are far more familiar and intimate than they would be to an Englishman of the plains, while the peasants of the English mountains never dream of writing poetry. A poem called 'By the Pacific,' by R. Silyn Roberts, gives us a vivid picture of a Welshman's feeling when in another land. Another poem by Richard Hughes introduces the Welshman as well as the Englishman to a poet from Lleyn who lived at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century. The Love-Song by Wil Hopcin has been well translated, but it is a hard task to reproduce the rare charm of the original in its exquisite sim- plicity. We have next a translation of Penillion gracefully rendered by C C. Bell, and afterwards a pleasant rendering of a poem called ' Eilonwy,' by Talhaiarii. A song by Elphin as here translated is a faithful and not inadequate rendering of the original. The next song that follows is one called ' The Well,' a translation of a poem by the Rev. E. Pan Jones, Ph.D., who was the pioneer of the movement of Welsh students to German universities. The poetic power of this clear-sighted bard, whose poems have the ring of reality, has never been fully recognised by the Welsh people, and Wales has reason to be grateful to Mr. Idris Bell and others for reveal- ing his greatness. A poem called 'By the Sea,' by Eifion Wyn, introduces us to one of the most gifted of modern European poets, and this is followed by a pleasing translation called ' The Cloud,' by Professor J. Morris Jones. Poems called ' Memory ' and ' Night on the Sea ' reveal the poetic skill and at the same time the modern spirit of T. Gwynn Jones. A small poem called ' The Sea,' by Islwyn, translated by C. 0. Bell, deserves quotation : —

The sea hath many graves, but no gravestone ;

In its vast bosom sleep the dead unknown.

A stormy graveyard this, like none, save life alone.

A fine poem by ' Awen Mona,' called 'A Summer Evening,' is a delight- ful exposition of the Welsh spirit. ' The City ' reveals the poet W. J. Gruflfydd as an observer of humanity under the conditions of modern life. It is a noticeable feature of modern Welsh poetry that the poet seeks to give expression not only to the life of the country, which has a traditional and an honoured place in Welsh poetry, but also to that of industrial Wales, with all the problems which to the older men were unknown. Islwyn's poem, ' The Angel,' translated by C. C. Bell, is a fine representation of the less modern spirit in the poetry of Wales. 'The Messenger,' by T. Gwynn Jones, is a fresh and striking poem describing the poet's recovery of his religious faith through his child. The next is a fine poem called 'The Cloud,' by Sir T. Marchant Williams, well and gracefully rendered. The

170 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

hymn by Ann Griffiths is well translated, but it is well-nigh impossible for any translation to represent the marvellous power and beauty of her hymns, and the same may be said of the translation of a well-known hymn by leuan Glan Geirionydd. The poem called ' The Palace of Darkness ' is an excellent translation and brings out the mystic charm of the poetry of Silyn Roberts, and the poem 'Tempora Mutantur' well renders the more direct poetic power of W. J. Gruflfydd. In a poem called ' The Little River,' we see the attitude of J. Morris Jones towards Nature, and his lucidity of expression. The sonnet by Elphin brings out the poet's modernness of spirit and his struggle with the problems of the mind of to-day. W. J. Gruflfydd further shows the richness of his mind in his poem on ' The Spirit,' ' Ode to Autumn,' 'Tristan and Iseult,' 'In Memoriam Sororis Meae,' 'Stanzas in Imitation of Omar Khayyam,' and 'Rest.' There can be no doubt that this gifted poet, like others in modern Wales, is winning a high place in the roll of European poets. The authorship of a poem called ' Disillusion ' is uncertain, but it is clear that the author was a true interpreter of the spirit of his age. It is gratifying to find among the poets represented here the classical Dyfed, whose poem, ' The Shadow of Death,' well maintains the central tradition of Welsh poetry. Islwyn's splendid ' Dawn on the Mountain ' has been trans- lated before, and has been published in Young Wales and in Welsh Characteristics, but there is ample room for two versions of this fine poem. In ' Dawn-joy ' we are introduced to a very able poet J. D. Richard, whose poems well repay translating. The next poem, 'The Jewish Cemetery,' contains a powerful satire by Dr. Pan Jones, the pioneer of modern Welsh poetry. Islwyn's ' Vale of Clwyd ' again reveals that keen-eyed poet in a descriptive mood, and this fine translation is followed by some ' Penillion ' and by a charming translation by C. C. B. of a poem by Eifion Wyn entitled ' Birds at Evening.' That young and much lamented poet, Ben Bowen, is represented by a short stanza on ' The Wind,' and this is followed by a poem called 'The Seagulls,' by J. Morris Jones. Poems by Ceiriog, T. Gwynn Jones, Elfed, E. Pan Jones, Elphin, Eifion Wyn, R. Silyn Roberts, and a number of fine ' Englynion ' are also included, but perhaps special mention should be made of a poem on St. David's Day by Sarnicol (the chaired bard of 1913) and of a beautiful Epithalamion by a poet of exquisite skill, J. Glyn Davies. The translators deserve the highest praise for their translations, while they have further helped the reader by giving short bibliographical accounts of the poets whose verses they translate.

E. Anwyl.

The Story of an Ancient Parish, Breage with Germoe. By H. R. Coulthard, M.A. Camborne: Cornwall. 3s. Gc?. 162 pp.

The Vicar of Breage has done good service in collecting and arranging the memorials and traditions of this Cornish parish. The first chapter, which deals with the Celtic period, is the least satisfactory. The statement, for

BOOK REVIEWS 171

instance, that the Druids used the stone circles for purposes of astronomical observation involves two propositions that are so far unproved. Indeed such knowledge as we possess of the stone circles indicates an origin long prior to Druidical times, if we accept Druidism as Celtic. The information that the people of each Cornish parish possessed a nickname, such as Wendron goats, Madron bulls, St. Agnes cuckoos, is interesting. Mr. William Mackenzie, in a valuable paper contributed to the proceedings of the Gaelic Society of Glasgow, records the same practice as prevalent over the Highland area. The Norsemen found the tribe of the Cats in the north on their arrival there, and Ptolemy records the Caireni or sheep folk in the north-west of Sutherland at end of the first century. This, however, need not imply totemism, as Mr. Coulthard suggests. Christianity, Mr. Coulthard considers, probably came to Cornwall either by way of the tin trade routes or in the wake of the Roman legions. The first definite tradition bearing on the history of the parish is the arrival from Ireland (Munster) of St. Breaca and St. Germoe (Sancta Bryaca, Sanctus Gyrmough, 1346) about 500 A.D., in company with between seven hundred and eight hundred Irish saints, among them Gwythian, Cruenna, Wendron of Wendron, Moran of Modron, la of St. Ives, Levan of St. Levans. In ancient deeds the church of Breage is referred to as Eglos Pembroc, i.e. the Church on the Hill of St. Breaca, a name surviving as Plembo. The Cornish people of the time according to tradition did not welcome the Irish missionaries, an attitude with which Mr. Coulthard sympathises. The legend, however, is probably to be taken together with the undoubted Gaelic conquest of Cornwall towards the end of the Roman occupation.

No record or vestige of Saxon churches in the parish occurs. Norman churches were built at Breage and Germoe, possibly about 1100 a.d. In 1219, William, son of Humphrey, was made vicar on the resignation of William, son of Richard. Thenceforward the list of vicars is complete, the present incumbent being the thirty-fifth in the succession. The present church of Breage dates from the fifteenth century, and is carefully described.

The general history before the Reformation is succeeded by a chapter bringing things up to the end of the Commonwealth, when a chapter follows dealing with recent times. These afibrd interesting and varied information. • The name of Angus Macdonald appears in the Germoe registers after the '"Forty -Five.'" A descendant of his still living in the parish informed Mr. Coulthard that he married a Breage woman soon after his arrival. He had plenty of money, was a man of high station in his own country and had a price set on his head. He disappeared suddenly, leaving his Cornish wife and family behind.

A chapter is devoted to the great family of Godolphin, and another to the Arundells, de Pengersicks, Militons and Sparmons. 'Worthies and Un worthies' form another interesting chapter. The book concludes with a chapter on local place-names and superstitions, which might have been

172 THE CELTIC REVIEW

much fuller. There is a good index. A map would have added to the interest.

A Book of Manx Poetry. William Cubbon. Illustrations by Alan C. KissACK and the late Professor E. Forbes. \s. 6rf. 101 pp.

This interesting little book contains of Manx two poems, a dozen proverbs, and the Lord's Prayer. The rest is English, with an occasional Manx word or phrase, and includes a number of really good pieces as well as some middling and some poor ones. All are by Manxmen or deal with Man, the editor's work has been selection, and the addition of biographical notes on authors deceased. The work was worth doing. The Isle has produced at least one poet of distinction in T. E. Brown (1830-1897), who is represented by eleven pieces. Eliza Craven Green, the authoress of ' Elian Vannin,' which has become the national anthem, though not a Manx- woman by birth, lived in Man. Edward Forbes (1815-1854), born in Douglas, and educated at Edinburgh University, became a scientist of great reputation and Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh. He is represented here by some charming poems and a number of sketches. The frontispiece is a drawing of ' Gorry, King of Man, circa 947 ' {i.e. Godfred Crovan), after a design by E. H. Corbould, KA., made in 1860, and intended for a monument to be erected in Douglas. Mr. Cubbon has made two errors which are worth noting. The Manx motto ' Quocunque ieceris stabit ' he translates as 'Whatever circumstances may come, I stand.' The meaning of course is, • In whatever direction you throw him, he will stand ' — with reference to the three-legs of Man. The Manx version, given on p. 94, is correct, 'Raad erbee cheauys oo eh, hassys eh.' The other error is in connection with the Fenian ballad on p. 1, a version of the well-known episode of the burning of the Fenian women by the hero, Garaidh Mac Morna. In the Manx (English) version Garry becomes Gorry, and Mr. Cubbon, taking him for ' a prince of the royal line of Norse rulers,' remarks with justice that ' it is difficult to explain the anachronism of introducing Fin Mac Couil and Prince Gorry as contemporaries.'

As to tone, some of the poems, while showing forth an orthodox dislike of the Saxons, are apt to leave one in doubt as to which ancestry the writers affect, Gaelic or Norse. The book is well got up in respect of printing, illustrations and binding.

The Royal Highland Regiment. The Black Watch, formerly i2nd and 13rd Foot. Medal Roll 1801-1911. Edinburgh : William Brown. Price 21s.

The history of the 42nd Foot, the Black Watch, is yet to be written. Whoever ventures to undertake the task will find his life's work cut out for him. Since its establishment in 1667 the title of the Regiment has been altered six times. Its character and reputation have remained unchanged

BOOK REVIEWS 173

throughout, and the stories of its deeds are household words among us. The bibliography of such a corps is naturally extensive. Cannon's Historical Record is but a meagre complication, and many copies in circulation want pp. 197-98, correcting the author's account of Corunna, and printed by him after the issue of his volume. One Of the most interesting of the late additions to the bibliography is an elaborately illustrated work giving an account of the deeds of the Regiment at Ticonderoga, issued about two years ago by Mr. Frederick B. Richards, secretary of the New York State Historical Association. Now we have this handsome quarto of three hundred and fifty pages entirely devoted to the Medal Lists of the 42nd and 73rd. The labour in compiling these must have been immense, and it is a melancholy consideration that even as they stand they do not do justice to the prowess of the corps. The general service medal for the Peninsula and Egypt was only issued in 1847, nearly half a century after the services commemorated began, and then only to the oflBcers, non-commissioned officers and men who survived. Even so, 475 medals were issued. Had they been sent out with the promptitude which marks modern usage, and then as now to the relatives of those slain in battle or who died of their wounds, some idea of the length to which the roll would have extended may be gathered from the fact that in Egypt and the Peninsula the 42nd had 239 officers and men killed in action and 1216 wounded. There is at present no material available to per- mit of any estimate being formed of the number of men who passed through the ranks of the 42nd during the Peninsular war, and whose names had they survived until 1847 would have appeared on the list. We do not observe in the work any reference to regimental medals. There have been eleven issues of these in the case of the Black Watch, a record only equalled by another Highland regiment, the 71st. There have been eight such dis- tributions in the 5th Foot, and two or three regiments such as the 2nd, 37th and 40th Foot have had seven. The names of the recipients of such medals might well have appeared and no clear reason for their exclusion is apparent. As it is, the volume contains the names of the officers and men who received medals over a period of one hundred and one years, and they number some- where between fifteen and twenty thousand. It is a marvellous record. To a few — for the world is made up of all sorts of people — the work may appear but an arid list of names, but to leal-hearted men every page with its infinitude of detail will recall episodes in the history of the nation which will cause the cheek to flush and the eye to sparkle. The volume is the only one of the kind we have met with in the history of the British Army, and, we take it, is unique among regimental monographs. Captain Stewart has laid not only his corps but the nation at large under a sensible obligation by producing a work which recalls in so striking and dramatic a form the valour and the endurance of the Highland soldier.

Andrew Ross, Ross Herald.

174 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Bidionary of the Irish Language, based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials, published by the Royal Irish Academy under the Editorship of Carl J. S. Marstrander, Professor of Celtic Philology in the University of Kristiania. Fasciculus i., D-deg6ir. Dublin : Royal Irish Academy ; Hodges, Figgis and Co., Ltd. ; London : Williams and Norgate. 8s. 6c?. net. 7s. to subscribers.

The present fasciculus forms the first instalment of the Royal Irish Academy's projected Bidionary of the Irish Language. The aim is to provide a thesaurus of the Irish language, arranged on historical principles, from the earliest period down to the present day. The work is based upon material collected by the Academy during many years past, drawn from printed literature and manuscripts, and frequently supplemented by illustrations from the spoken language. When Professor Kuno Meyer undertook the editorship in 1907, in succession to Professor Robert Atkinson, it was decided that as the letters A to Dn had already appeared in Professor Meyer's Contributions to Irish Lexicography, the Dictionary should begin with the letter D, leaving A to C to the end. It is estimated that the Dictionary when complete will fill three volumes of about 1000 pages (of two columns) each. The price to subscribers will be Is. per sheet of 16 pp., post free ; or large paper edition, of which only a hundred copies will be printed at Is. 3d. per sheet. The page is large quarto. The print is exceedingly clear, the matter is well displayed, without any feeling of crowding, and the paper appears to be all that could be desired. The work is largely conceived. It will be an inestimable boon to students of the language. Its inception marks an important stage in the study of the language. Henceforward the linguistic knowledge painfully garnered by scholars since the time of Zeuss, recorded in many publications, here a little and there a little, in form of note, translation, or glossary, as well as in lexicographical collections specially made for the Dictionary, will all be available to the student in an orderly systematic fashion. It will no longer be necessary to hunt up the meaning or usage of a particular word in the great array of unrelated publications. The present fasciculus contains seven sheets, or 223 columns, a volume will contain about nine such fasciculi. The intervals at which the parts may be expected are not stated, but on a quarterly basis the complete work would take about seven years to produce.

Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century and the Transmission of Letters. By Kuno Meyer. Dublin. Is. net.

In this pamphlet is printed a lecture delivered by Professor Kuno Meyer in 1912 before the School of Irish Learning in Dublin. It deals with the problem of the causes which led to that remarkable outburst of classical learning which appeared in Ireland at the end of the sixth century. It has

BOOK REVIEWS 175

long been recognised that this learning could not have been the result of the labours of St. Patrick, who was undoubtedly no scholar, as he himself so often admits. It has been suggested that these studies were brought to Ireland by Gauls or Britons who accompanied Patrick. This, says Professor Meyer, is not at all probable. He does not believe that the introduction or promo- tion of classical learning was due to any missionaries. ' The origin of that wide culture embracing not only the study of Plautus, Horace, Ovid, Persius, Sallust, etc., but also grammar, metrics, and other sciences, such as astronomy, must be traced to a much deeper and broader influence.' The solution of the problem accepted by Professor Meyer is due to Zimmer and was found among his papers after his death. Zimmer made use of a document printed in 1866, containing, amid a glossary of Latin words, a note in Latin stating in effect that in consequence of the devastation of the Roman Empire by the Huns and other barbarians, the learned men of the Continent fled away, and in regions oversea, i.e. in Hiberia and elsewhere, brought about a very great advance of learning to the inhabitants of those regions. This entry, according to Zimmer, was written not later than the sixth century in the west of Gaul. Hiberia is a scribal confusion for Hibernia. Professor Meyer's lecture is devoted to elucidating and establishing the position that here at last a flood of light is thrown upon one of the darkest yet most important periods in Irish history, and a new starting-point for investigation is provided. He draws attention to a passage in St. Patrick's Confession which appears to refer to pagan rhetors from Gaul resident in Ireland. He further shows how, in all probability, the Latin oratory practised by these rhetoricians influenced the form and rhythm of early Irish composition. It is pointed out that here yet another field of study is opened up which needs skilled workers to explore it.

Zur Keltischen IFoiikunde iii. KuNO Meyer.

In this contribution to the proceedings of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, Professor Kuno Meyer has seventeen short articles, some of them of unusual interest. In No. 41 he deals with Ptolemy's Epidion Akron. This has long been equated with the Mull of Kintyre, and Dr. MacBain assigns the tribe of the Epidii to Kintyre and Lorn. The root is epos, horse ; the Epidii were the ' horse folk,' and significantly enough Kintyre in historic times has always been claimed as the habitat of the MacEcherns, from Ech-tigern, ' horse-lord.' Professor Meyer's contribu- tion to the question is the identification of Epidion Akron with a place-name occurring in the Irish saga 'Aided Chonr6i, the Death of Curoi.' There mention is made of a hero called Echde who lived in Aird Echdi i Cinn Tire, and Professor Meyer points out that Ard Echdi is simply the Gaelic form of Epidion Akron.

In No. 42 Professor Meyer notes the occurrence on Scottish soil of the ancient names for Ireland — Eriu, Banba, Elg, and F6tla — a point already

176 THE CELTIC REVIEW

noticed by Skene and others more or less completely. Eriu, genitive Erenn, undoubtedly appears in the various stream names Earn, of which we have at least five, one being in Renfrewshire. Under Banba Professor Meyer notes Banff in Banffshire, and Bamff in Perthshire. There is another Banff in Kincardineshire. The word forms the base of the Banavie burn which flows by Blair Castle in AthoU, and there is another Banavie burn and Loch Banavie in Sutherland. Professor Meyer mentions a Banavie in Argyll, of which I have not heard. He is mistaken in thinking that Banavie, near Fort-William, is a stream name : it is a place-name.

F6tla occurs in AthoU, which has been repeatedly and rightly explained as New Ireland.

Elg occurs in Elgin. This also has been pointed out more than once, but Professor Meyer considers Elgin to be a diminutive in -in of Elg, and therefore parallel to Atholl. The fact of the Gaelic form being universally Eilginn is against this view. We have also to reckon with Glen Elg, in Gaelic Gleann Eilge and its derivative Eilginneach, which points to Eilginn being a locative formation. There is a stream Allt Eilgnidh in Sutherland.

Professor Meyer suggests that the occurrence of these names in the east of Scotland may point to a direct occupation from Ireland in early times. This is a suggestion well worth considering on various grounds, but, as I have pointed out, the Elg, Banba, and Eriu names occur also on the west coast.

The other articles are on : ar-cridiur, Cathdir, Diwrnach, esclae, the root S'ljel in Irish, minne, etrain etrdnaim etraigim, all=a. hall, cennmar, bruinnim, aiste, cnatur-ldrc, facht gwaeth, inellgim, Uanaind.

Alt-Celtischer Sprachschatz. Von Alfred Holder : Leipzig.

This, the twenty-first part of Dr. Holder's great work, continues the additions and corrections. It runs from Cabillus to Corhdcum, being 225 columns of additions to an original of about 450 columns.

Antiquarian Notes; a Series of Papers regarding Families and Places in the Highlands. By Charles Eraser-Mackintosh. Second Edition, with a life of the author, notes, and an appendix on the Church in Inverness, by Kenneth Macdonald, Town Clerk of Inverness (xxxii+462 pp.). Stirling : Eneas Mackay. 21s.

Dr. Charles Eraser-Mackintosh's Antiquarian Notes needs no recom- mendation. The Notes contain a vast amount of accurate information regarding the Highlands, and no one interested in Highland history or genealogy can afford to neglect them. For some time copies of the first edition, issued in 1865, have been rather diflScult and expensive to obtain, and this new edition will be welcomed. The editor has done his part with care and competence. The life of the author, with an excellent portrait of

BOOK REVIEWS 177

him prefixed, is succinct and full. His was a life that deserves remem- brance, and the pious duty has evidently been congenial to the editor, who writes with the authority of contemporary acquaintance. The editor has also supplemented the text with notes illustrative and occasionally corrective, which add considerably to the interest and value of the book. The appen- dices on Smuggling and the Church in Inverness are also by the editor. The latter is a particularly full and able piece of work, embodying the result of prolonged research, consideration, and discussion. It is impossible in a brief notice to give an adequate idea of the amount and variety of matter brought together in Antiquarian Notes. The valuation roll of the SheriflFdom of Inverness, including Ross, for 1644 is a treasure in itself. Among similar documents are given the rental of the forfeited estates of Cluny ; the rental of the Bishopric of Moray for 1641 ; rental of the Scot- tish Bishoprics 1692 ; list of the writs of the lands of Kheindoun in Urray ; the titles of the Urquharts of Cromarty ; the rental of the Scottish counties 1649; the rental of the Bishopric of Ross, 1691; list of the heritable jurisdictions in Scotland and sums asked for their abolition, 1751; valuation roll of Inverness-shire 1691. These are, all of them, most valuable docu- ments, and they form but a part of the collection, which runs to one hundred and one headings. We have noticed some points that look like slips.

On p. 404 the editor in dealing with Robert Ingerami, treats Ingerami as a regular surname. Surely the meaning is 'Robert son of Ingram,' just as on the same page David Senescalli means David son of the Senescal or Steward. On p. 379 it is stated that the brave Alexander MacGillivray who fell at Culloden ' was reddish haired and a great frequenter of markets, being termed Alastair ruadh na feile.' The epithet na fiile means ' of hospitality,' 'hospitable'; so Duncan Campbell of Glen Lyon, who lived in the middle of the sixteenth century, was called Donnchadh ruadh na fdile, ' Red Duncan of hospitality.' In the note referred to, f6ile, the genitive case of fial^ is confused with f6ill, a market. It may be added that ' red Alex- ander of the markets ' would be Alastair ruadh nam fMltean. On p. 382, and again on p. 397, the name Ay is equated with Adam. This equation may be correct in these particular instances, but it needs proof, for else- where, as is well-known. Ay (or Y) stands for Aodh or Aoidh, both as a personal name and in the surname Mackay, MacAoidh. On p. 251 a note states ' Ballifeary is not Town of the Watchers,' as Dr. Fraser-Mackintosh interpreted it. This is doubtless true, but in view of the spelling Balnafare, 1244, it would be bold to say that Ballifeary does not mean "Town of the Watch' (Baile na /aire), the view which had the support of Dr. MacBain. These, however, and suchlike are small points which only very slightly detract from the value of an excellent and well-edited work. W. J. W.

VOL. IX. M

178 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR AND READER

By Julius Pokorny, Ph.D., LL.D. (Vienna)

[Continued from 'page 96)

Vowel Gradation or Ablaut

§ 127. I.E. roots containing e (ei, eu), or d {di, du), e (ei, eu), o (oi, du) show several grades of vowels. The vowels and diph- thongs mentioned represent the chief instances of the so-called noTTnal vowel grade.

e.g. seiss, ' he will sit ' fr. *sed-8-ti

nnel{a)i'}n ' I grind ' fr. ^onel-o-'mi ;

'Hag ' I go ' fr. *{s)teigh-o ;

-tdu ' I am ' fr. *sthd-jd ;

sil ' seed ' fr. *se-lo-m ;

ddn 'gift' fr. *do-nu-8.

§ 128. In I.E. unstressed syllables the root vowels take the reduced vowel grade. There are several grades of reduction ; the most common reductions are the following : e is thrown out •^ (hence ei and eu become i, u ; er, el, em, en become f , I, m, n ^), while d, e, o are reduced to d. This d may be still further reduced to zero. (Long diphthongs show likewise several grades of reduc- tion ; a well-known change is that of the long i diphthongs to I, i and of the long u diphthongs to il, u.)

e.g. net ' nest' fr. *ni-zd-os, older *ni-sd-os; cf. seiss, § 127

(normal vowel grade).

mlith 'grinding' fr. *ml-ti-s; cf. melim § 127 (normal

grade).

techt 'going' fr. *{s)tigh-td; ci-tiag § 127 (normal

grade).

' It seems certain, that in some positions the short e was not entirely thrown out but was reduced to a kind of murmured vowel, which was different from 9. This reduced e appears in O. Ir. before liquids as a, otherwise it has fallen together with the I.E. unreduced e (§ 114).

2 Other grades of reduction are denoted by f , Z, m, n, but there is much con- troversy about these sounds. Cf. § 105 (plnos) and the following notes, r, I, m, n before vowels (e.g. tldmo, § 105) are sometimes written rr, II, etc. They are best taken as mere symbols denoting r, I, m, n, preceded by a kind of reduced e (see the preceding note).

ACCIDENCE 179

ross ' promontory ' fr. *pro-sth-om : cf. -tdu § 127 (normal

grade).

aaithe 'swarm' fr. *89-tJos; cf.sil § 127 (normal grade)

ciil 'back' fr. *kul-os; cf. Greek ktjXt) fr. *kdul-d

(normal grade).

§ 129. Under certain conditions which are hard to define, the normal vowel grade is changed to the deflected vowel grade, that is, e (ei, eu) becomes o (oi, ou), while e and d become o. e.g. suide 'seat' fr. *sod-jo-7n; cf. seiss § 127. mol 'mill-shaft' fr. *mol-08; cf. melim § 127. moidid ' boasts ' fr. *moid-Ui ; cf. miad ' honour ' fr. *7neido- (normal grade).

Greek a.<f)€(OKa 'I have sent away' fr. *a7r-eQ)/ca = *se- so-ka; cf. sil, § 127 (normal grade).

§ 130. From e (normal grade): o (deflected grade) must be distinguished the so-called lengthened vowel grade e: o which appears in syllables whose normal vowel is e.

e.g. the suffix ter (lengthened normal grade) in athir ' father ' fr. *p9-ter

-.tor (lengthened deflected grade) in Greek a-irdrcop ' fatherless ' fr. *-p9-tdr ; cf. the normal grade ter in ace. pi. aithrea fr. *p9-ter-ns. sid ' peace ' fr. *sed-os (lengthened normal grade) :sdidid 'fixes' fr. *sod-Ui, 0. Slav, saditi 'to plant' (lengthened deflected grade); cf. seiss § 127 (normal grade), suide § 129 (short deflected grade).

§ 131. In I.E. dissyllabic roots the vowel gradations are limited by the rule, that at least one of the root-syllables must appear in the reduced vowel grade, though it is possible that both syllables have a reduced vowel grade. A good example for such a root is, for instance, I.E. pelo (with normal grade of the first syllable: pie (with normal grade of the second syllable) ' to fill.' In applying the rules of vowel-gradation to this root, we get the following forms : pel(d), pol{d) ; pie, plo ; pi, pi, pi. e.g. il ' much ' fr. *pel-u ; cf. Goth. filu.

uile ' all ' perhaps fr. *pol-jo- ; cf Greek ttoWo^ ' much.

180 A CONCISE OLD lEISH GRAMMAR

Un 'number' fr. *ple-nu-; cf. § 119. Idn ' full ' fr. *pl-no-} Cf. § 105.

It is to be noted that in dissyllabic roots whose second syllable is (when in the normal grade) a long vowel or long diphthong, the vowel of the first syllable can never appear in the lengthened vowel grade. e is regularly thrown out before an immediately following vowel, e.g. il, fr. *pel-u, older *pel9-u. «

C— ACCIDENCE

The Definite Article § 132. Paradigm of the article.

Singular
	masculine	neuter	feminine
nom.	in, int (before vowels)	a"	in(d) ',2 int (before a)
gen.	in(d) ', int (before a)	inna
dat. (after preps, ending in a vowel) (after other preps. )	— n(d) ', — 7it (before s) — {8)in{d) ", — {a)int (before S}
ace, (after of) (after other preps.)	— (s)»n"	— a" — (s)o"	— («)m"

^ Some scholars deny the possibility of 1 giving Id and postulate an I.E. *pld-no-, assuming a vowel gradation e : d. The whole question is very compli- cated. The same difficulty arises in the case of f, m, n, cf, § 105. It is indeed very peculiar that Z should have given sometimes al and sometimes Id. This dififerent treatment may perhaps be explained by assuming a different I.E. accentuation. A satisfactory solution has not yet been offered. There is how- ever no doubt that f, I, etc., are in many cases mere symbols, denoting r, I, m, n preceded by a kind of reduced e (cf. the preceding notes) and followed by 9. Here a different secondary I.E. stress may have caused the different treatment alluded to.

'^ ' indicates that the form aspirates.

ACCIDENCE 181

Plural
nom.	in{d) ', int (before s) inna, na
gen. (of all genders)	t?ina", na"
dat. ,,	— {i)naib (only after prepositiona)
ace. ,,	inna, na, — ($)na (after preps.)

The final -d of the article remains only before vowels or aspirated /, /, 71, r (in Wb. also occasionally before aspirated b and m.) Before the numeral da, di ' two ' the article appears in the nom. gen. and ace. of all genders as in, in the dat. after prepositions ending in a vowel as -n, after other prepositions probably as -{s)in.

The Noun A. — Vocalic Stems

§ 133. -0- stems. Masc. fer ' man ' (fr. * vivos). Neuter acel ' story ' (fr. *sk"etlom.)

	Singular	Primitive Endings
m.	n.	m.	n.
N. fer	scd	-OS	-om
G.fir	sceuil, sc4oil	-%	-I
D. fiur	sceul	o{i)	-o(^)
A. fer	seel	-om	-om
Y.fir	seel	-e	-e

182 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAE

Plural

N. fir	scSl^
G. fer	seel
D. fer{a)ih	scel(a)ih
A. firu	scd"^
V. firu	8C4l

-01	-a
-dm	-dm
-obhis	-obhis
-ons	-d
-OS	-d
-ai>	-a
-d	-a
-obhim	-obhim

Dual NA. fer scd

G. fer 8c4l

D. fer(a)ib scel(a)ib

^ The frequent bye-form scSla has taken its -a from the nom. ace, pi. of the fem. -a- stems,

§ 134. -jo- stems, Masc. comarp(a)e ' heir ' (fr, *kom-orbjo8). Neutr. cride ' heart ' (fr. *}crdjom).

Singular Primitive Endings

The endings are those of the -0- stems, preceded by j, which developed an i before it, when fol- lowing u (v) or a con- sonant.

	m.	n.
N.	comarp(a)e	cride
G.	comarpia)i	cridi
D, A, V.	comarpu comarp{a)e comarp{a)i Plural	cridiu cride cride
N. G. D. A. V.	comarp{a)i comarp{a)e co7narp{a)ib comarpu comarpu Dual	cride cride cridib cride cride
N.A G. D.	comarp(a)e comarp{a)e C07narp{a)ib	cride cride cridib

^ The I.E. ending -ou has been replaced by Celtic -a, which was taken from the corresponding numeral da (older da), where the -a had been developed inproclitie position from I.E. -ou ; cf. the ace, pi. of the article imia fr, *8in-dds.

ACCIDENCE

183

§ 135. -a- stems. Fern, dram ' number ' (fr. ^ad-rima) and the irregular hen ' woman ' (fr. g'end).

Singular	Primitive	Primitive
		Endings	Forms of ben
N. dram	hen	-a	g^en-d
G. dirme	mnd	-jds, -jes	g^n-ds
D. dr{a)im	mnai	•di	g'n-di
A. dr{a)im.	mnai	•em	[Analogy to
V. dram	hen	-9	the dat. sg.} g'en-d
Plural
N. dirmea	mnd	-d8	g'n-da
G. dram	han	-oTn	g^n-om
D. dirmib	m,ndib	-dhhia	g^n-dhhis
A. dirmea	mnd	-dns	g'n-dns
V. dirmea	mnd	-as	g'n-da
Dual
N.A. dr{a)i7n	mnai	-di	g"n-di
G. dram	han	-d	g'n-d
D. dirmib	mnd'ih	-dbhim	g"n-dhhim

136. -ja- stems. Fem. guide 'prayer' (fr. g'hodhjd), ungae * ounce ' (fr. Lat. uncid).

Si	ingular	Primitive Endings.
N. guide	ung{a)e	-jd
G. guide	ung{a)e	-jds
D. guidi	ung{a)i	•jdi
A. guidi	ung(a)i	[-jrii or -jem]
V. guide	ung(a)e Plural	-P
N. guidi	ung{a)i	-ejes
G. guide	ung{a)e	-jom
D. guidih	ung{a)ih	-jdbhis
A. guidi	ung(a)i	'ins
V. guidi	ung(a)i	-ejes

184 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Dual

guidi ung{a)i -j&i

-ja -jabhiTTi

N.A

G. guide D. guidib

ung(a)e ung(a)ib

§ 137. -i- stems. Masc. fdith ' prophet ' (fr. *vdtis) ; fern, nouns (e.g. flaiih ' sovereignty ' fr. *vl9tis) are declined in the same way. Neut. guin ' wound ' (fr, *g'honi).

Singular		Primitive	Endings
m.	n.	m.	n.
N. fdith	guin	-is	-i
G. fdtho^	gono^	[Analogy to -u- stems]
D. fdith	guin	-ei	-ei
A. fdith	guin	-im	-i
V. fdith	guin	-i	-i
Plural
N. fdithi	guine	-ejes	-ij9
G. fdithe	guine	-ijom	-ijom
D. fdithib	guinib	-ibhis	-ibhis
A. fdithi	guine	-ins	-ij9
V. fdithi	guine	-ejes	-ij9

Dual

fdith guin

fdtho ^ gono ^

fdithib guinib

-i 'I

[Analogy to -u- stems] -ibhim -ibhim

^ Also fdtha, gona with change of final -o to -a.

§ 138. -I- stems. Fem. rigain 'queen' (fr. *regn'i). In I.E. there were i:jd and %:je stems. This distinction cannot be upheld in 0. Ir., where both classes of -%- stems have fallen together.

		ACCIDENCE
	Singular	Primitive Endings
N.	rig(a)in	-I or -I
G.	Hgn(a)e	-jas „ -jes
D.	rign{a)i	-jai „ -jei
A.	rign{a)i	-jin » -jem
V.	rig{a)in Plural	-I „ -I
N.	rign(a)i	[Analogy to - i- stems]
G.	rign{a)e	-jom „ -jom
D.	rign(a)ih	-jabhis „ -jehhis
A.	rign{a)i	[Analogy to -i- stems]
V.	rign(a)i Dual	[Analogy to -i- stems]
N.V.	rig(ayin	[Analogy to -i- stems]
G.	Hgn{a)e	-ja „ -ja
D.	rign(a)ib	jdhhim „ -jebhim

185

Note. — Already in 0. Ir. some nouns belonging originally to this class have gradually passed into the -a- (e.g. nom. sg. mdt beside regular mSit 'size' fr. *md-nil; dat. sg. mdit instead of *m^{i)ti, etc.) or -i- declension (e.g. gen. sg. inseo beside regular inse, nom. sg.inis 'island'; dat. ace. luib instead of *lu(i)bi, nom. sg. luib ' plant,' etc.)

§ 139. -u- stems. Masc. auth ' offspring ' (fr. *sutu8), neut. dorus ' door ' (fr. *dhvorestu).

Singular Primitive Endings

	m.	n.	m.	n.
N.	8Uth	dorus	-us	-u
G.	sotho ^	doirseo ^	-oua	-oua
D.	auth	dorus	-eu or -u	-eu or -u
A.	suth	dorus	-um	-u
V.	auth	dorua	-u	-u

186 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

	Plural
N.	soth(a)e '	dorus '	-eves	-u
G.	soth{a)e *	doirse	[Analogy to	'i- stems]
D.	8oth{a)ib	doirsib	-ovobhis	-ovobhis
A.	euthu	dorus ^	-uns	'U
V.	(I have no examples.)
	Dual
N. A.	8Uth	dorus	-u	-u
G.	sotho ^	doirseo ^	[Analogy to the gen. sg."
D.	8oth(a)ih	doirsib	-ovobhim	-ovobhim

^ Also sotha, doirsea with change of final -o to -a.

2 Already in Wb. so^^(a)« could occasionally (before affixed pronouns) become sotha (cf. § 41). Another by-form soth{a)i owes its ending to the influence of -i- stems, though the preceding consonants have kept as a rule their non-palatal colour.

8 The by -form doirsea (fr. *doressd) owes its final a to the influence of 0 stems {e.g. nom. ace. pi. n. sc4la beside sc4l).

* The endings of the -i- stems hare been added to the primitive form *sotho (fr. *sutovom, *sutev67n) ; the vowel of the first syllable and the consonant before the ending, however, have kept their older quality ; the same occurs in monosyllabic neuters, e.g. rend(a)e, gen. sg. of rind ' star ' (fr. *rendu).

§ 140. -u- stems. Such are deug 'drink' (fr. *degu; the e instead of t is due to the influence of -&- stems, where every t had to become e in the nom. sg. ; cf. § 115), gen. sg. dige; mucc 'pig.' The nom. sg. ended originally in -u ; in the oblique cases they follow the declension of -a- stems ; the v that originally preceded the oblique case-endings had vanished after most consonants (§ 112, 2) e.g. dige fr. *degvjds.

§ 141. Stems in a diphthong. bd masc. fern. ' ox, cow.'

	Singular	Primitive Forms
N.	*bdu, b6	g^ou-s
G.	bo (arch. b6u)	g^ov-os
D. A.	boin	[Analogy to coin § 145]
V.	bd	g'ou

			ACCIDENCE
	Plural
N. G. D. A. V.	*boi, bai bdu, bdo, buaib bu Dual	bd		g'ov-es g^ov-om g^ou-bhis g^o-na
N. A. G. D.	*boi, bai bd buaib			g^ov-e g^ov-d g^ou-hhim

187

B.— Consonantal Stems

§ 142. General Remarks.

The dat. sg. has in most cases two forms : a long one (primi- tive ending -i or -ai) and a short one (formed from the mere stem). The short form of the dat. sg. occasionally replaces that of the ace. sg., e.g. ace. sg. traig (=dat. sg. traig fr. *trdghet) beside regular traigid (fr. Hrdghet-m).

The vocative has in the singular the same form as the nominative, in the plural the same form as the accusative. Hence it is unnecessary to give it in the following paradigms.

§ 143. Guttural stems. Masc. ri ' king ' (fr. ^re^-a), aire 'prince' (fr. *prjok-s), li{a)e 'stone' (fr. Hevank-a), 4,0, eu 'salmon' (fr. *esok-s; cf. § 126 8.); fem. sail 'willow' (fr. *salik-s), nathir 'snake' (fr. *ndtrik-s), cdera 'sheep' (fr. *ka(p)erak-s).

1	Singular			Primitive
m.		f.		Endings
N. ri	aire	nathir		-a
G. rig	airech	nathrach		-OS
D. rig	airig	nathr(a)ig,	nathir	-{a)i, — ,
A. rig	airig	nathr{a)ig		-m

188 A CONCISE OLD lEISH GRAMMAR

Plural

N. rig airig 7iathr(a)ig -es

G. rig airech nathrach -om

D. rig{a)ib airech(a)i¥ nathrach{a)ib ^ -obhia

A. riga airecha ^ naihracha ^ -ns

Dual

NA. rig airig nathr{a)ig -e

G. rig airech nathrach -a

D. rig(a)ih airech(a)ib^ nathra^h(a)ib^ -obhim

^ The preservation of the vowel of the second syllable is due to the fact that *prjok- had become *arijok- before the time of syncope.

2 *natrikobhis and *natrihis should have regularly given *naithirchib and *naithirchea (§§ 55 II., 59, 69.) ; their present forms are due to the analogy of the other cases.

§ 144. Dental stems.

Masc. car(a)e ' friend ' (fr. *k9rant-s), cin ' fault * (fr. *k'inut-8), jili ' poet ' (fr. *velet-s), bethu ' life ' (fr. *gHvo-tut-8), fiado ' Lord ' (fr. *veidont-8)\ fern, traig 'foot' (fr. *tr9ghet-s); neut. dSt ' tooth ' (fr. *dnt.)

The primitive endings of the masc. and fern, are the same as those of the guttural stems.

Singular
m.		I	n.
N. carae^	Jili	traig	det (fr. *dnt)
G. carat	filed	traiged	det
D. carait	filid	traigid, traig	deit
A. carait	filid	traigid	det (fr. *dnt)
Plural
N. carait	filid	traigid	det (fr. *dnt9)
G. carat	filed	traiged	det
D. cairtib^	filed{a)ib '	traigthib	det{a)ib
A. cairtea^	fileda ^	traigthea	det (fr. *dnt9)

ACCIDENCE 189

Dual

N.A. carait filid traigid deit{ii.*dntl)

G. carat filed traiged det

D. cairtib^ filed{a)ih^ traigthib det{ayib

1 Final -ants seems to have given -e ; the non-palatal colour of the preceding r is probably due to the influence of the verb caraid 'loves.'

2 -ant- had become -edd- (§ 108) before the time of syncope (of. § 55 II.) J hence e.g. cairtea fr. *kareddas, *kdrant7is (cf. § 107); also the spelling cairdea, cairdib occurs (§ 1, i.).

^ We should have exTpected JiUib,f,ltea; cf. § 55, I., note b.

§ 145. Masculine and feminine nasal stems.

Masc. brithem 'judge ' (fr. *bhrt{i)jamd, full stem %hrt{i)- jamon-), menm{a)e ' mind ' (fr. *menmen-8} gen. sg. menvian fr. *men7n,en-os) ; fem. derucc 'acorn' (fr, *derunkd, full stem *derunkon-), gen. sg. dercon, if oi-m^m ' meaning ' fr. *to-me7i-t{i)jd, full stem *toment{i)jo7i-) bru 'belly' (fr. *bhruso, the oblique cases from the stem bhrusn- ; the nom. sg. is used as the short dative), cu ' hound ' (fr. *fcvd, full stem Icvon- ; gen. sg. and pi., probably also dat. and ace. pi. and gen. and dat. dual are formed from the weak stem Icun-).

The oblique case-endings, which are those given in § 142, have been as a rule added to the full stem ; in I. E. only the nom. voc. ace. loca- tive (=0. Ir. dative) sg., the nom. ace. dual and the nom. voc. pi. were formed from the full stem, but in 0. Ir. the weak (unstressed) form of the stem had been replaced by the full stem in most instances.

Singular

m. f.

N. brithem'^ toimtiu cA

G. brithemon toimten con

D. brithem{u)in,^ brithem toimtin, toimte * coin

A. brithem{u)in toimtin coin

190 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Plural

N. hrithem{u)in^	toimtin	coin
G. brithemon	toimten	con
D. hrithemn{a)ih	toimten{a)ib	con{a)ib
A. brithemna	toimtena	cona

Dual

N.A. brithem,{u)in* toimtin coin

G. brithemon toimten con

D. brithemn{a)ib toim,te7i{a)ib con{a)ib

1 The unrounded quality of the m is peculiar (cf. talam, § 105).

2 Also hrithemain (§ 61).

8 Also toimtiu ; the nom. sg. has sometimes been used as a dative.

Note. — aiiam 'soul' (fern.) fr. *an9md, full stem an9mon-, is regularly declined in the plural ; in the singular it has been influenced by ainm{m) 'name (§ 145) and by the Lat. anima. Hence the m is un- aspirated in the sg., while n and m are sometimes made palatal; the gen. sg. anm{a)e seems directly taken from ainm{m). In the nom sg. appear the forms anam{m), ainim{m), an{a)im(m), in the dat. and ace. sg. appears anim{m) beside the regular anin{u)in, anm{a)in.

§ 146. Neuter nasal stems.

gairTn ' call ' (fr. *grsmn), ainm(m) ' name ' (fr. wmn), c4imm ' step ' (fr. *knhsmn, older *kng-smn), reimm ' course ' (fr. *reid-smn), imb ' butter ' (fr. *ngo-n).

Singular Primitive Forms

N.	gairm		grsnnn
G.	garmae		grsmen-s
D.	garm{a)im{m ^),	gairm	grsmen-i, grsmen
A.	gairm,	Plural	grsmn
N. G. D. A.	garm^n(n) gar7nan{n) garman(n)aib ^ garman{n)		grsmn-9 grsmnr-om grsmn-obhis grsmn-9

^ The gen. dat. and ace. pi. seem to have been formed from the weak stem *inenmn: In the gen. sing, the full stem *menmen- seems to have been analogi- cally introduced ; fr. *menmnos one would have expected *menmon (§ 60).

ACCIDENCE

191

Dual

N. A, gairm G. garman(n) D. gar7nan{n)aih '

[Analogy to the nom. sg.] grsmn-d grsmn-obhion

1 The final -mm {*grsmeni would have given *garmain) is due to the influence of the short form.

2 The second a {*grsmnohkis would have given *garmnaib) is due to the influence of the other cases.

Note. — In words like cdimm, rdimm the palatal -mm- has been analogi- cally introduced into the plural forms {dimmenn, rdimmenn, etc.).

§ 147. Neuter -s- stems.

sliab ' mountain ' (fr. *8leibos), mag ' field ' (fr. *magos), tech ' house ' (fr. *tegos).

N. A G. D.

N. A G. D.

N. A G. D.

sliab sleibe sleib

sUibe sleibe sleibib

sliab sleibe sUibib

Singular

Plural

Dual

Primitive Forms *sleib-08 *sleib-esos *8leib-es

*8leib-es9

*sleib-esdm

*sleib-esobhis

*sleib-d [Analogy to the gen. sg.] sleib -esobhimn

Note. — The masculine -s- stem mi ' month ' (fr. *mens), gen. sg. mis (fr. *mens-os) is inflected like the guttural stems. The nom. sg. is analogically used as nom. ace. dual.

§ 148. Nouns of relationship in -r-.

Masc. ath(a)ir 'father' (fr. *p9ter), brdth{a'yir 'brother' (fr. *bhrdter); fem. mdthair 'mother' (fr. *mdter), s'iur 'sister' (fr. *svesdr).

192 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

		Singular	Primitive Forms
N.	ath{a)ir ^		pdter
G.	athar		p9tr-08
D.	ath{a)ir ^		pdter-i
A.	ath{a)ir ^	Plural	pdter-m
N.	aithir		p9ter-es
G.	athr(a)e '		pdtr-ijom
D.	athr{a)ih ^		pdtr-hhis
A.	aithrea	Dual	pdter-ns
.A.	aithir		pdter-e
G.	athar		pdtr-d
D.	athr{a)ib ^		pQtr-obhim

^ The non-palatal quality of the th is due to analogy.

2 Also aithre, aithrib with analogical palatalisation of the th.

Note. — siur ' sister ' forms the dat. ace. sg. and nom. ace.

dual

(sieir) from the regular stem *svesor- ; the other cases (e.g. gen. sg. sethar, nom. pi. sethir) owe their th to the influence of ath{a)ir, mdth{a)ir, brdth{a)ir.

The Adjective

§ 149. '0- and -a- stems.

sen ' old ' ; masc. fr. *s€n-os ; fem. fr. *sen-d ; neut. fr. *sen-07n. Where the adjective is used substantively it has the same inflexion as the noun (§§ 133, 135). It is only the attributive and the predicative adjective that call for special discussion:

a. Dissyllabic adjectives whose second vowel was originally palatal take in the nom. ace. pi. of all genders the ending of the -i- stems.

e.g. uasal ' high ' (fr. *oupselo-), nom. ace. pi. uaisli.

b. Towards the end of the eighth century the ending of the ace. voc. plur. fem. and neut. spread to the masculine, though also the regular ending -u may still be found.

e.g. isna lucu arda (Ml.) ' into high places.'

c. In the nom, ace. plur. neuter only the longer form in -a is found (§ 133, note 1).

THE CELTIC REVIEW

JANUARY 1914

CIUTHACH

William J. Watson

At the present day in Lewis one expresses admiration of a young fellow's vigour (tapachd) by the expression ' Bu tu fhein an Ciuthach,' ('It's yourself that's the Ciuthach'). In the parish of Uig, in Lewis, there is an ancient fort on Borronish (i.e., borgar-nes, fort-point), near the manse of Uig, called Ditn a' Chiuthaich, and in the same locality a rock called Creag a' Chiuthaich. The legend connected therewith is stiU current in Uig, and has been written down by the Rev. Malcolm Maclennan, Edinburgh, who has kindly com- municated it to me, as follows : —

An uair a bha an Pheinn an Eadar-a-fhaodhail chaidh iad aon 1^ a mach a shealg, agus dh' fhag iad Fionn agus na mnathan agus a' chlann aig an tigh. Bha duine a' tamh faisg orra ann am Boronis d' am b'ainm an Ciuthach. Tha dun ann an sin gus an la an diugh ris an abrar Dun a' Chiuthaich.

An uair a chuala an Ciuthach gu 'n d'f halbh an Fheinn gu leir ach Fionn agus na mnathan agus a' chlann, chaidh e far an robh e agus thoisich iad air sabaid. Bha e dol cruaidh ri Fionn agus dh' iarr e dail bheag air a' Chiuthach gus an deanadh e tiomnadh do bhalachan beag a bha 'n a ogha dha, agus sh6id e 'n fheadag.

'S ann gu beannaibh Barbhais a stiiiir Oscar a chursa, agus thug e leis gille agus Mac an Luinn. Thachair duine riu anns na beannaibh sin agus claidheamh aige air an robh truaill mhaiseach. Nise 's e truaill ghrannda a bha air Mac an Luinn. 'S ann a rinn Oscar agus an duine cumha gu 'n deanadh iad iomlaid anns na claidhmhean gun an toirt as na truaillean. 'S e claidheamh meirgeach a thachair a bhi anns an truaill bhreagha. An uair a thainig an oidhche laigh Oscar agus an duine sios agus chaidil iad, ach cha do chaidil gille Oscair. VOL. IX. N

194 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

An uair a bha each 'n an cadal chuir an gille Mac an Luinn anns an truaill bhreagha agus mar sin bha e aig a mhaighistir air ais.

Anns a' mhaduinn chuala iad feadag 'g a seideadh. Dh'aithnich Oscar gur i feadag a sheanar a bha ann, agus thuirt e :

' Tha cath 'g a chur is tha feum air fir, Tha gaoth bharr sluaigh ach is truagh gun Mhac an Luinn.'

An uair a bha iad aig sruth Linseadair chuala iad an fheadag a ris, agus thuirt Oscar mar a thuirt e an uair a chuala e anns a' mhaduinn i. Dh'fhaighnich an gille dheth de dheanadh e na 'm biodh e aige. ' Chuirinn treas earrann a' chath,' thuirt Oscar. Ghabh iad air an aghaidh agus aig sruth Locha Rog chuala iad an fheadag a ris. Thuirt Oscar mar a thuirt e an uair a chuala iad an toiseach i. Dh'fhaighnich an gille de dheanadh e na 'm biodh Mac an Luinn aige. Thuirt Oscar gu 'n cuireadh e da thrian a' chath. Bha iad a' gabhail rompa agus aig Lag na Clibhe chuala iad an fheadag a ris agus thuirt Oscar mar a thuirt e roimhe. ' De dheanadh tu,' ars' an gille, ' na 'm biodh e agad ? ' ' Chuirinn an cath 'n am aonar,' arsa Oscar. ' Tha e agad,' ars' an gille, ' agus cha 'n e thu fein a choisinn dhuit e.' Tharruinn Oscar an claidheamh a mach as an truaill a shealltuinn an e a bha aige. A chur dearbhaidh air, sgud e 'n ceann bharr a' ghille — ^gniomh bu duiliche leis a rinn e riamh.

Ach ghabh e air aghaidh agus an uair a rainig e an t-aite anns an robh a sheanair bha e 'n a sheasamh agus a dhruim ri creig agus e ri cumail dheth a' Chiuthaich. ' Sgoch a mach a sheanair agus leig mi fhein greis 'n a d'aite,' arsa Oscar. Ghabh e aite a sheanar, agus chuir e an ceann bharr a' Chiuthaich le aon sguab de 'n chlaidheamh agus dh'fhalbh e (an ceann) tri iomraichean treabhaidh, 's e sin mar a their sinne tri feannagan.

(When the Fiann were in Eadar-a-fhaodhail,^ they went out one day to hunt, and they left Fionn and the women and the children at home. A man lived near them in Borronish called the Ciuthach [Kewach). There is a fort there to this day, called the Ciuthach's fort.

When the Ciuthach heard that all the Fiann were gone, except only Fionn and the women and the children, he went where Fionn was, and they began to fight. It went hard with Fionn, and he asked the Ciuthach for a little delay till he might make a will (testa- mentary dispositions) to a little lad who was his grandson, and he blew the whistle.

It was to the hills of Barvas that Oscar had shaped his course, and ^ ' Between two fords,' called in English Ardroil.

CIUTHACH 195

he had taken with him a lad and Mac an Luinn (i.e., Fionn's magic sword). In those hills a man met them who had a sword with a goodly sheath. Now it was an ugly sheath that was on Mac an Luinn. Oscar and the man agreed to exchange swords without taking them out of the sheaths. It fell out that it was a rusty sword that was in the fine sheath. When night came, Oscar and the man lay down and slept, but Oscar's attendant did not sleep. While the others slept he put Mac an Luinn in the fine sheath, and so his master had it back.

In the morning they heard a whistle blow. Oscar knew that it was his grandfather's whistle, and he said : —

* Fight is on foot, and need is of men, Wind blows from host, but it is sad without Mac an Luinn.' ^

When they were at the stream of Linshader, they heard the whistle again. Oscar said as he had said when he heard it in the morning. The lad asked him what he would do if he had it. 'I would take on me the third part of the battle,' said Oscar. They went on, and at the current of Loch Roag they heard the whistle again. Oscar said as he had said when he heard it first. The lad asked, what he would do if he had Mac an Luinn. Oscar said that he would take on him two-thirds of the battle. They were going ahead, and at Cliff Hollow they heard the whistle again, and Oscar said as he said before. ' What would you do,' said the lad, ' if you had it ? ' 'I would fight the battle alone,' said Oscar. ' You have it,' said the lad, ' and it was not yourself that won it for you.' Oscar drew the sword forth from the sheath to see if it was it he had. To prove it, he swept the head off the lad — the deed of all the deeds he ever did that he was most sorry for.

But he went on, and when he came to the place where his grandfather stood, he was standing with his back to a rock trying to keep the Guthach off him. ' Slip out, grandfather,' said Oscar, ' and let myself a while in your place.' He took his grandfather's place, and sent the head off the Ciuthach with one sweep of his sword, and it shot over three rigs of plough-land, that is, as we say, three lazy-beds.)

The Rev. Malcolm Macleod, Broadford, who belongs to Uig, writes that Creag a' Chiuthaich is on a machair across a faodhail (sea-ford) from the Dun. Four or five miles

* Compare J. F. Camphell's West Highland Tales, ill. 360.

196 THE CELTIC REVIEW

away, and not far from Gallon Head is Uaigh a' Chiuthaichf the Ciuthach's grave, ten feet long or more, also called Uaigh Og righ Bhdsainf In local tradition, says Mr. Macleod, the Ciuthach was a giant and a real hero, a man not only of great size but of great dignity. ' Cha bu diu leis lamh a chur ann an duine cumanta,' ' he would scorn to lay hand on a common man.' When the Feinn came, Fionn and his band came opposite the Dun, and offered the Ciuthach ' cogadh no cumhachan sithe,' ' war or con- ditions of peace.'

Cha do chuir e 'dhiu annta na sheall e an taobh a bha iad, ach thainig e a mach as an Dun agus morgha aige 'n a laimh, agus chaidh e sios an traigh a mharbhadh leobag a bhial na tuinne, Chaidh so air aghart fad seachdanach, Fionn is an Fheinn a' toirt diilan dha is gun esan a' cur a dhiu annta na shealladh e an taobh a bha iad. Ach fa dheireadh bha e air a thamailteachadh leis a* ghraisg a thainig a chur dragh air, agus smaoinich e a' mhaduinn so gu'n d'rachadh e agus gu'n deanadh e sgoltadh a' chudaig air buidheann no dha dhiubh. Chunnacas a tighinn e, ach bha moran de an Fheinn air falbh anns a' bheinn sheilg, agus bha iad a smaoin- eachadh nach tigeadh an Ciuthach an taobh a bha iad. Thainig e nuas am machair, is mar a bha iad a tachairt ris, bha e sgudadh a' chinn dhiubh gus 'na rainig e Fionn, ceann na Feinne, ach chur esan stad air. Ach ma chuir, cha b'fhada, is e gun Mhac-an-Luinn. Bha Osgar is gaisgich eile a deanamh cluich airm le Mac-an-Luinn air Cnoc na Cuthaig. Agus, ma bha, cha b' fheairrde Fionn sin. Bha an Ciuthach 'g a chur gun sgur an comhair a chuil. ' Anta,* arsa esan, ' bu mhaith a nise Mac-an-Luinn ' ; is sheid e an fheadag. Is ma sheid, leum Osgar is dh' eugh e, ' tha mo sheanair an teinn, ach ma tha, cha bhi fada. . . . Sguch a mach, a sheanair, is leig mi fhein le Mac-an-Luinn 'n ad aite.' Bha Mac-an-Luinn ag gearradh is a' leon is thoisich an Ciuthach a' do! an comhair a chuil, is b'e sin an d^ latha. Rinn e air a' chiad chreig a b'fhaisge dha gus tac fhaighinn, ach leis an t-sion a bha air is Osgar le Mac-an-Luinn 'n a dheidh, chaidh e troimhe 'n chreig, agus tha l^rach a mh^is is a dhk shlinnean an Creag a' Chiuthaich gus an latha an duigh.

(He cared not for them enough to look their way, but he came out from the Fort with a fish-spear in his hand, and he went down to the strand to the wave-mouth to kill flounders. This went on for a week, Fionn and the Feinn challenging him, while he cared not

CIUTHACH 197

for them enough to look their way. But at last he was affronted by the rabble that had come to trouble him, and he bethought him that on this morning he would go and would cuddy-cleave a troop or two of them. They saw him coming, but many of the Feinn were away in the hunting hill, and they thought that the Ciuthach would not come their way. He came down through the plain, and as they met him he slashed off their heads till he reached Fionn, the chief of the Feinn, and he stopped him. But if he did, it was not for long, since Fionn was without Mac an Luinn. Oscar and other warriors were at weapon-play with Mac an Luinn on Cuckoo Hill. And, if they were, Fionn was none the better of that. The Ciuthach was driving them backwards without stop. ' Well,' said Fionn, ' good now would be Mac an Luinn ' ; and he blew the whistle. If he did, Osgar leaped and cried, ' My grandfather is in straits, but if he is, he will not be so long. . . . Slip out, grand- father, and let me with Mac an Luinn in your place.' Mac-an-Luinn was cutting and wounding, and the Ciuthach began to go back- wards, and that was a new thing for him. He made for the nearest rock for support, and what with the impetus of him with Osgar and Mac-an-Luinn after him, he went through the rock, and the mark of his buttocks and his shoulders is in the Ciuthach's Rock to this day.)

Mr. Macleod adds : ' Of course no man could overcome the Ciuthach: it was the "uncanny" Mac-an-Luinn that kiUed him, and not wholly that : it was his own impetus and strength against the rock that killed him. The impres- sion of him left on my mind (through these Uig sgeulachdan) is that of a "big" man with a big soul, a man of great strength and prowess, conscious of his own capacities and strength, yet never showing them ofiP.'

It is to be noticed that both the tales given above are current in the parish of Uig : both versions are known to each of the gentlemen who have written down the tradition for me. Yet the conception of the Ciuthach's character differs. In the former he is the aggressor, taking a rather mean advantage of an old feeble man. In the latter he is a proud and noble personage, slow to anger, but pitiless when roused. So far as I can make out, there may be said to be a pro-Ciuthach and an anti-Ciuthach feeling in Uig.

As to the tradition of Eigg, Mr. Kenneth Macleod says :

198 THE CELTIC REVIEW

* I remember distinctly two old people in Eigg — dead some twenty years — talking about " an ciuthach a bha fuireach anns an uaimh " (the ciuthach who once lived in the cave). When in Eigg last summer I tried to find out something more about the ciuthach, but nobody even recognised the word, except one man who said : " Theirinn ciuthach ri blast de dhuine " (I would apply the term ciuthach to a beast of a man). I have heard the word used in that sense else- where : " Nach b' e an ciuthach e ! " (Is he not a ciuthach !) It is possible that the two Eigg men who spoke of the ciuthach in the cave used the word in the sense of " wild man." In Cromarty the word ciutharn is applied by the fisher-folk to an unkempt or unpleasant sort of person.'

The Ciuthach is still remembered in Barra, but my sailor informant — a young man — could not give details of the tradition. I have found no tradition of him with Skye people, nor with the people of the mainland. That he was at one time known on the mainland, however, appears from the following statement by Alexander Graham of Duchray, written in 1724 : ' On the north side of the Loch (Loch Lomond) and about three miles west from the paroch church,^ upon a point of land which runs into the Loch called Cashell is the mines of an old building of a circular shape, and in circumference about sixtie paces built all of pro- digious big quhinstone without lyme or cement, the walls in some places of it are about nyne or ten foot high yet stand- ing. And its incredible how such big stones could be reered up by the hands of men. This is called the Gyants Castle and the founder thereof said to be one Keith Maclndoill or Keith the son of Doillus, who is reported to be contemporary with the famous FinmacoeU and consequently to have lived in the fifth century of the Christian Epocha.' This Keith, according to Graham, was also credited with the construc- tion of * ane artificiall Island ' in Loch Lomond at a little distance from the point on which the old castle stands.^

' i.e. of Buchanan,

* Macfarlane's Geographical Collections, i. 346.

CIUTHACH 199

The ruins of this ancient fort may still be seen on Strachashell Point opposite Inchlonaig. It was excavated by Mr. David MacRitchie, and found to contain chambers, Hke those of the brochs. Its waUs and door also resemble those of the brochs, but whether it possessed galleries seems uncertain. Mr. MacRitchie states, on the authority of Buchanan of Auchmar, that the fort was also called Caisteal nam Fiann, of which Duchray's ' Gyants Castle ' is possibly a translation.^ In the light of what follows it will be seen that ' Keith Maclndoill ' is to be read as Ciuthach (or Cithich) mac an Doill. Thus the tradition of the fort on Loch Lomond side agrees so far with that of the fort on Borronish in Lewis. Both are named after Ciuthach, who is made contemporary with Finn mac Cumhail.

In the tales of the Fionn-cycle the Ciuthach plays a part in the story of the elopement of Diarmad and Grainne. J. F. Campbell's Leahhar na Feinne contains two versions of the ballad ' Is moch a ghoireas a' Chorr,' wherein Diarmad reproaches Grainne for faithlessness in deserting him for the giant. In the second of these Diarmad says : — An te dhibir righ na Feinne 'S a thug sp6is do 'n Fhamhair mh6ir (p. 155a).

(The woman who forsook the king of the Fiann And gave love to the great giant.)

Grainne replies : —

Ge do dhibir mise Fionn

0 na b' annsa learn do ghl6ir,

Cha do thaobh mi am Famhair treun : Is m6r a b' eibhinne do che6l. (Though I did abandon Fionn Since I preferred your speech,

1 did not turn to the mighty giant : Pleasanter far was your music.)

The first version concludes with the lines, in the mouth of Diarmad : —

Gabhaidh mi riut fein mar mhnaoi, Ged roghnaich thu am Fomhair m6r.

* Compare : Tubernafeyne of the grett or kemppis men callit ffenis is ane well (glosa on charter of Alexander ii. to the monks of Kinloss, dated 1221).

200 THE CELTIC REVIEW

(I will accept you as my wife

Though you did choose the great giant.)

•

The giant's name is not mentioned in the ballads. The arguments prefixed to them, however, give the tradition on that point. ' They [Diarmad and Grainne] came over to Scotland, and on their travelling they found a cave at Lochow side in Argyleshire where a Giant was living named Ciach, meaning fierceness. He and Diarmad began to play on dice ; the Gigantic gained the play, and took from Diarmaid his wife (for she rather stay than be travelling any more with Diarmaid), and since he had nothing more to give.*

After this Diarmid wandered about like a beggar, and at last came back to Ciach' s cave, where he was recognised by Grainne, fell out with Ciach and killed him. In the fight Grainne took the giant's side and stabbed a knife in Diarmid' s thigh. Diarmid went away, leaving Grainne. She followed him, and having overtaken him at Sliabh Gaoil in South Knapdale begged to be forgiven and taken back.

The above is the story of the argument to the first baUad. In that to the second ballad, the giant is called Cithich mac Daol, and the cave is not located.

In August of 1913 my wife and I were taken by Dr. MacArthur, Aberfeldy, to see some forts on the family property of Barbreck on the north side of Loch Awe, near Taychreggan. Two of these are named Dun Mhungain Mor and Dun Mhungain Beag.^ The third is called Dun Chuthaich or Dun Chaoich (both heard). It is on an eminence right at the back of Taychreggan Hotel. The remains are slight, and neither it nor the other forts seem to have been places of importance. Somewhere near the foot of the hill there is a cave on the loch-side, which is reputed to issue at the Pass of Brander {Cumhang a' Bhrann- raidh). We heard no further tradition, however. An eminence to the north of Dun Chuthaich is called Barr na h-Uamha (Cave-ridge).

In Tales of the West Highlands (vol. iii. p. 49), Campbell

» Mungan mac Seirc (Gillies, p. 317), or mac Seireein {Bd. Cd., i. 284) was killed by Oscar.

CIUTHACH 201

gives a prose version of the tale. In this version the couple go to Carraig an Daimh near Cille Charmaig in Knapdale. The giant is ' bodach mor cragach ris an abradh iad Ciof ach mac a' Ghoill' (' a great thickset old fellow called Ciof ach, son of the stranger.') Ciof ach and Grainne agreed to kill Diarmad, but Diarmad overpowered Ciofach, whereupon Grainne stabbed him in the thigh. Diarmad left, came back after a time, was recognised by Grainne and killed Ciofach. He then left, and Grainne followed after him.

On p. 65, another version says ' a ciuthach came into the cave, and Diarmad killed him with a spear, for Grainne was unfaithful even to her lover. When Diarmad gave out the cry of death after his wounding by the poisoned bristle of the boar, Fionn said to Grainne, ' Is that the hardest shriek to thy mind that thou hast ever heard ? ' ' It is not,' she said, ' but the shriek of the ciuthach, when Diarmad killed him.' In a note Campbell adds, ' pronounced kewach, described in the Long Island as naked wild men living in caves.'

Independent versions got by the Rev. J. Gregorson Campbell give the same tale with some variation of locality and incident. In one the cave is in Kenavarra Hill in the west end of Tiree. The giant is Ciuthach mac an Doill (Ciuthach, son of the blind man). In the other, Ciuthach and Diarmad played tdileasg in the Uamh Mhor and Ciuthach won. As his prize he asked the woman. Diarmad took ofiE the Ciuthach' s head. On the death of Diarmad, Grainne is questioned by Fionn and answers as above, whereupon she is buried alive. ^

The New Statistical Account of Argyllshire mentions (p. 400) that ' Dun Chifie about the middle of Gigha appears to have been a strong fortification. Keefie, the king of Lochlan's son, who occupied this stronghold, was kiUed there by Diarmid, with whose wife he had run away.' This statement serves as a connecting link with the references that foUow to Ciofach, Ciothach, or Ciuthach mac righ Lochlann.

The earliest mention of this character that I have come

* The Fians, pp. 53 teqq.

202 THE CELTIC REVIEW

across is in the Irish tale entitled ' the Chase of Sid namBan Finn ' (written in 1419), edited by Professor Kuno Meyer in the Todd Lecture Series, where he is called Cedach Ciothach.^ He comes to avenge his brothers on Fionn and the Fian ; but on seeing the hounds and men of the Fian he fell in love with them and stayed with Fionn. He fought on Fionn' s side, and finally Emer Glunglas son of Aedh son of Garadh and he fell at each other's hands.

In Leahhar na Feinne are given four versions of Turns Fhinn do Lochlann, Fionn' s expedition to Lochlan. Manus, King of Lochlan, asks : —

An d'thug sibh am ionnsuigh Cithich nam buaidh ?

(Have you brought to me victorious Cithicli ?)

Is mise a mharbh Cithich nam buaidh

Thubhairt Mac Cumhail nan arm ruaidh

Air an traigh tha shiar mu thuath

Am Feinne far an do thuit mor shluagh (p. 84a).

('Twas I slew victorious Cithich, Said Mac Cumhail of red weapons, On the western strand in the north Among a warrior troop where many fell.)

In the second version (p. 84 b), the question of Manus is: — Co mharbh mo mhac-sa Ciothach nam buadh 1 (Who slew my son, victorious Ciothach 1)

And GoU replies that it was he who slew him. The third version (p. 85 b) gives Ceothach, slain by GoU. In the fourth version the name is given as Cithuch and Ciuthich, and he is slain by Diarmad, in a fray {an iorghuill).

Another version of Turns Fhinn is printed in Reliquice CelticcBy vol. i. p. 405, from Sir George Mackenzie's Collec- tion, from which I quote the following :

Sin 'n uair thuirt Eigh Lochlain ruinn, ' Fhinn, an d'thug thu leat mo chuid mhac 1 An d'thug thu leat Ciothach mo mhac, No an d'thug thu leat Beatoir buineach No Lann nam beud mo mhac eile. Am feidhnigh phropadh an iorghail 1 '

» Cf. Ceudach mac Righ nan Collach (Cedach, son of the king of the men of Coll), The Fians, pp. 12, 28, 229.

CIUTHACH 203

('Twas then said the king of Lochlan to us,

' Have you taken with you my sons 1

Have you taken Ciothach my son,

Or Beatoir buineach.

Or Lann of deeds, my other son,

Who in a warrior band would support the fray 1 ')

The king is told that Ciothach has been slain by Raoine, Beatoir by Diarmad, —

Air traigh Chliathan fuidh thuath

Am feidhnigh mu'n do thuit am m6r shluagh.

(On Clian strand in the north, Among a warrior band around whom fell the great host.)

Lann, who is now called an Lann, was slain by Oscar.

Yet another version appears in the ballad of An t-Athach lodhnai^ the argument prefixed to which states : ' 'S ann tamull beag an diaigh latha Blar na traghad a thachair an eachdrui so a leanas,' (The events in the following account took a little time after the day of the Battle on the Shore, i.e. traigh Chhathan). Here the name of the King of Loch- lann's sons are Ciochnais, Gormshuil, am Biugal-briagha, slain by Goll, Oscar and Diarmad respectively.

The tale or ballad of the Battle on the Shore, in which the King of Lochlann's sons were slain, is printed in Rel. Celt, i. 415-419, from Sir George Mackenzie's Collection, and also in the MacCallum Collection, p. 171. In the former it is entitled Dan Eihhin dh (sic). The argument prefixed states : ' Thachair an Fhein air la araid ri gaisgich ro-mhoir g'am b'ainm Eibhin agus Trostan is thug iad cath fiadhaich ri cheil air traigh Chhan,' ('The Feinn on a certain day happened on (two) exceeding great warriors called Eibhin [Eyvind] and Trostan, and they fought a fierce battle on the shore of Clian '). The ballad begins : —

Air bhas gus an deach' an Fhiann Cha d'thug i ceum teichidh riabh Ach nodag beag air an traigh Air an taobh siar do dhun Gallan.

» Bel. Celt., i. 256.

204 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Cha d'f huair sinn Ciuthach 's an duin Nam faigheadh bu mhiste dhuinn ; Fhuair sinn iomanadh agus gr^in Bho Eibhin agus bho Throstan.

(Till the Fiann-band died, it never took a step in flight, save only a little nodag on the shore westward of Dun Gallan. We did not find Ciuthach in the fort ; had we found him, it had been the worse for us. We got driving and horror at the hands of Eibhin and Trostan.)

The MacCallums' version is styled Dan Chiuihaich. It has no argument, beyond a comparison of the Fiann with Wellington and Buonaparte, to the disadvantage of the latter commanders. The two versions are similar, except for a slight difference in arrangement and that the MacCaUums' version ends in a ' Macphersonic ' style with reference to ' Seallama ' ' Ardbheinn ' and ' slige creachainn.' In brief the ballads run as follows : GoU engages Eibhin ; Oscar engages Trostan. Eibhin and Trostan get the better not only of GoU and Oscar, but of the rest of the Fiann — Clanna Moma, Clanna Sgainne, Clanna Ceardal, Ryn mac Fhinn, and the (three) Bailbh. The Fiann retreat. Oscar goes against Mac an Nuamharan (Mackenzie) or Mac Nuadh-rain (MacCaUum), and slays him. Goll bids Oscar take the head to Fionn. Oscar refuses, and buries head and body in a grave seven feet deep. The Fiann in general, including Ossian, threaten Oscar ; the general melee which is imminent is avoided through Oscar's self-restraint, aided by Fergus (Filidh). Ciuthach (returns, and fmding his comrades or brothers slain) sends a message to Fionn demanding the heads of Oscar, Goll, and Conan. This he demanded for seven days. (Meantime Oscar is absent elsewhere.) Ciuthach and Fionn fight (or are about to fight). Oscar returns on the seventh day at the critical moment, and addressing 'Ciuthach mac an Nuamf hir ' (or ' C. mac Nuarain ' in the MacCallums' version) declares that it is he (Oscar) who has slain his brothers and the clan of his grand- mother, and though Ciuthach were the name of each and every man who came across the sea eastward, none would escape him. Thereupon Oscar smites Ciuthach' s head off

CIUTHACH 205

in presence of the Fiann of Erin. Incidentally it appears that Ciuthach had carried off Emer, the wife of Ossian. When Emer saw the head of Ciuthach on the moor she wept tears of blood. The MacCallums' version has it that the Fiann sailed to the city of Nuaran, and Oscar had to wife the king's daughter. Sir George Mackenzie's version mentions Dun Chiuthaich, the other does not.

From the above resume it is, I think, evident that the Uig Fenian tales, as given above, in which Oscar comes to succour Fionn against the Ciuthach, are survivals of the heroic ballads recorded by Sir George Mackenzie and Hugh and John MacCallum, which latter, it should be stated, was communicated to the MacCallums by George Mackenzie in Gruineard, Lochbroom.

The spellings of the name are as follows : Cithach (Ciothach) {Sid na mBan Finn) ; Cithich, Ciach, Ciothach, Ceothach, Cithuch, Ciuthich {Leabhar na Feinne) ; Ciofach, Ciuthach {West Highland Tales); Ciuthach {The Fians) ; Ciochnais {Eel. Celt, i. 258) ; Ciothach (^6., i. 407) ; Ciuthach {ih., 1 415-419) ; Ciuthach (MacCallum) ; Keith {Macfarlane's Geog. Coll, i. 326) ; Keefie {N. Stat. Ace. of Argyll, p. 400) ; Ciuthach (present day).

At the present day, and once in the W. H. T. and once in the MacCallum Collection, Ciuthach is used as a generic term or common noun, with the article. Elsewhere it is a proper noun. In the expression Cetach Ciothach, the latter term is an adjective.

The name of Cormac Mac Art's chief druid was Ciothruadh or Cithruadh.^ Cioth Fiann is the name of a mythical king of Ireland, who is yet to reign. ^ In Gaelic, these are two words cith, one meaning ' a shower,' the other ' rage, ardour.' The names Cithruadh and Cioth Fiann both apparently mean ' red wrath.' If our hero's name is GaeUc, it may be from this latter, meaning * the wrathful or raging one.' But it may be suspected to lean rather on Welsh go-gof (g'o=sub, +cof, cave) ; ceu, a cave ; Breton keo, a cave, with the meaning ' cave-man,' ' troglodyte.' It

1 O'Curry. « lb.

206 THE CELTIC REVIEW

is possible that {f)ach of Ciuthach, Ciofach should be com- pared with the ending -veccas in the Ogham Luguwecca, Gauhsh — vic~es ; O. Ir., fichim, fight. ^

The Ciuthach is described as : Cetach Cithach mac rig Lochlann {Sid na mBan Finn) ; Cithich mac righ Lochlunn {L. na F., 84, 86) ; Cithich mac Daol {L. na F., p. 154) ; Ciofach mac a' Ghoill {W. H. T., iii. 51) ; Ciothach mac righ Lochlann {Rel. Celt., i. 407) ; Ciuthach mac an Nuamhfhir {ih., 418, 419) ; Ciuthach Mac Nuarain (MacCaUum, 175) ; Ciuthach mac an Doill {Fians, 53) ; Keith mac Indoill, a giant {Macf. Geog. Coll., i. 346) ; Keefie, the king of Loch- lann's son {N. Stat. Ace. of Argyll, 400) ; foghmhair mor, f. treun, a great giant, a mighty giant {L. na. F., 154, 155). ^ J. F. CampbeU records that in the Long Island the Ciuthaich were regarded as naked wild men dwelling in caves {W. H. T., iii. 65). The tradition of Eigg, as given by Mr. Kenneth Macleod, bears this out. In the Diarmad story the Ciuthach is a cave-dweller. On Loch Lomond side he is connected with a broch-like structure, possessing chambers, which are elsewhere called in Gaelic uamh.^ In Uig, Lewis, his name goes with a fort which Mr. David MacRitchie describes as being similar in plan and structure to the Loch Lomond fort.* The Gigha fort is not known as a broch. Diarmad when living with Grainne in the Ciuthach' s cave complains : —

Mar a bhios an uaimh thaisgte

Dhomhsa ni aobhar gMire,

Ag coimhead uamha bige :

Do mhilleas mis', a Ghrainne.

(The way in which I am stowed in a cave To me is no cause of laughter, Guarding a little cave : Thou hast undone me, 0 Grainne.^)

^ Cf. John MacNeill, Notes on Irish Ogham Inscriptions.

2 Ceothach, Gillies's Collection, p. 251 ; Ciothach Duanaire Finn, p. 26, both warriors of the Fiann, but without further designation.

^ JE.g. in Ach na h-uamhach, cave field, so called from the broch near the farm- house ; now Birchfield, Strathkyle, Ross-shire.

* The Antiquary, December 1906. ^ Dean of Lismore, Bel. Celt., L 89.

CIUTHACH 207

Here one recalls the incidents of the occupation of the broch of Mousa in Shetland by eloping couples, first by Bjom Brynulfson and Thora, Roald's daughter, before 900 A.D. ; second by Earl Erlend Ungi and Margaret, widow of Maddad, Earl of Athol, more than two hundred years sub- sequently. We may compare also the expression of Gildas. who writes : ' De artissimis foraminum cavernaculis fusci vermiculorum cunei, tetri Scottorum Pictorumque greges,' (swarthy columns of vermin from their little caves of very narrow outlet, loathsome hoards of Picts and Scots). ^ A somewhat later writer than Gildas speaks in the same strain of ' popuh bestiales Pictorum,' the beastly tribes of Picts, as issuing from the bags and sacks of the North, ^ expressions curiously similar to the Eigg man's description of a Ciuthach. Among the phrases descriptive of the Ciuthach, that of Mac an Nuaimhfhir may certainly mean ' the Giant's son.' ^ But the writers, and probably also the reciters, of the tales clearly had in their minds ' son of the Cave-man ' as the meaning.

In the ballads, Ciuthach of Dun Chiuthaich is associated with Eibhinn and Trostan. One of these heroes, apparently Trostan, is designated Mac an Nuamharan, which makes him Ciuthach' s brother. Trostan is a distinctively Pictish name. It occurs in at least two place names in Lewis. There was a Trostansfjord in Iceland. Eibhinn is Norse Eyvind. A chief of that name accompanied King Magnus Barelegs on his famous expedition to the Sudreyar in 1098, when he fought a battle in Lio'Shus (Lewis) and harried the country. This Eyvind, called Olnbogi, was the king's high steward.* A younger contemporary of his was

^ Gildas, ed. Mommsen, p. 35.

2 Eddi's Life, of St. Wilfred (c. a.d. 700) ; quoted by Skene, Celt. Scot., i. 261.

3 Compare Tigh 'n Fhuamhair, Giant's House, the Gaelic of Novar, in Koss- shire.

* In this expedition it is recorded that Magnus seized Logman Guthrodson, king of the Western Isles. It seems fairly certain that it is this Logman who is referred to in the ballads as Laomunn Mdr ^Big Lamond). He is designated Mac Coineal (Bel. Celt, i. 395) — {i.e. Mac Dhomnnaill) and Laomunn mdr mac an Nuamhfhir

208 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

Eyvind Melbrigdi's son, a chief evidently of Celtic descent on his father's side, who followed the banner of Earl Paul Hakonsson. The name Eyvind must have been well known in the west.

The geography of the Battle of the Shore, where Eibhinn and Trostan were engaged, is vague. It was fought on Traigh Chliathan {Ret. Celt, i. 407) or Traigh Chlian (^6., 415), on the west side of Dun Gallan, in the north. In one of the baUads of Leabhar na Feinne it is located.

Air traigh a' Chliabhain fa thuath Siar o rudha na mdrchuan.

(On the beach of Cliavan in the north,

Westwards from the point of the great seas (1 inlets)).

This sounds as if meant for Ardnamurchan.^ Traigh Chliathan recalls Tonn Cliodhna, Cleena's wave, but this celebrated wave was in the very south of Munster. Uig, in Lewis, possesses both Dun a' Chiuthaich and Gallon Head, westwards of it, also Uaigh a' Chiuthaich, but I have not heard of Dun Gallan or Traigh Chliathan there. The diffi- culty is not lessened by the expression put in Oscar's mouth in Dan Chiuthaich or Dan Eibhinn : —

6e bu Chiuthach ainm gach fhir 'S na thainig dhiubh air akile soir.

(Though Ciuthach were the name of each man,

For as many of them as have come on sea eastwards. )

Unless, indeed, we may translate * on the eastern sea.' It

{ibid., 420). In Gillies (p. 302) the title of the ballad is ' Laoidh Laomuinn Mhic an Uaimh-fhir.'

Laoch a chuir Alba fo chiin

Le neart a dha laimh 's a chleas.

(A hero who put Alba under tribute

By the strength of his two hands and his feats.)

In the Campbell collection {Rel. Celt., i. 214) he is styled 'mac Righ nuaidh.' In Gillies, p. 301, * Laomunn mac Roidh ' (? mac Goraidh). Laomunn, Ciuthach, and Trostan are the only heroes designated as Mac an Nuamh fhir. Laomunn M6r was killed by Oscar, according to the ballads.

* The popular, though erroneous, explanation of Ardnamurchan is * Point of the great seas.' The cape is called, pleonastically, Rudha Aird-na-murchan.

CIUTHACH 209

is remarkable that among the forts of Colonsay there are Dmi Eibhinn and Dun Gallan. On the north side of the latter is a beach, where, according to Colonsay tradition, a great battle was fought. The men of Colonsay used faggots of blackthorn in the fight, whence it is called ' Latha Chatha nan Sguab,' the day of the battle of the Sheaves. This beach must on no account be dug, for it contains quantities of human bones. There is Dun nan Gallan in Loch an Duin, Bornish, South Uist, also Dun a' Ghallain in N.W. of North Uist. The ultimate reference may be to the battle fought by King Magnus in Lewis. But perhaps it is useless to try to locate the site of this *dim battle in the West.'

Ciuthach's relations with the Fiann, of whom he is always made a contemporary, are hostile, except that in Sid nam Ban Finn, Cithach (if indeed he is to be equated with Ciuthach) becomes a friend. In the Diarmad tale he carries off Grainne. In Ddn Chiuthaich he carries off Emer, the wife of Ossian. Both ladies prefer him to their own lords.

In view of the fact that traces of Ciuthach are found, one may say, from Clyde to the Butt of Lewis, it is clear that at one time he played a great role in the traditions of the West. Among all the confusion of the traditions as they have come down to us, there may be, and probably is, an ultimate historical basis. It may not be unreasonable to surmise that the Ciuthach was a broch-dweller, who degenerated in the tales, and perhaps in fact, into a cave-dweller. His appearance as Mac righ Lochlann may be due to confusion with another personage altogether, or to the tendency on the part of the Gael to rank all their opponents on the west as Lochlannaich. Throughout the references to him there runs the feeling that Ciuthach was a hero, or the hero, of a race different from the Gael. This feeling comes out most clearly in the second of the two Uig tales given above, which seems to have originated among his admirers. The other accounts of him are rather from the standpoint of his enemies. The con- clusion suggested is that Ciuthach was a hero of the Picts.

VOL. IX. O

210 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE GAELIC VERSION OF THE THEBAID OF STATIUS

Professor Mackinnon

(Continued from page 127)

GAELIC TEXT

Acus o ra bai Ipsipile amlaid sin a comrad ris in rig n-uasal re h-Adraist acus ^ ni tuc d'a h-aire a daltan dath- alaind d'acbail is in choillegh da h-eis. Acus in tan do chuaid d'iarraid ui(s)ce ris na Grecaib, acus ro fhacaib-si imorro ^ in mac beci sin, ro thuit a suan rem-cotalta air ar lar ind (fh)eoir acus in airthind. Acus in am ro bai ann sin tanic nathair adhuathmar urbadach da indsaigid. ^Is amlaid ro bai i(n) nathair sin acus * ruisc dimora dub-glasa 'na c(a)end co n-uanfad neimi ba ^ glomar a crais,^ co tri tengthaib tendtidi ac taidligud im'' a carbad, acus co tri srethaib d'(f)iaclaib croma cruad-gera in a cind. Acus ua coissechartha ^ du loib in nathair sin. Acus ^ is and ro catlad^o ^^fecht and^^ i timchuU na tempall sin caeim- choiserca^^ j^o m-bidis i comfhoch-raib di. Acur ro gluais- eth si na railgi ro mora as an ait acus as an inad, acus na clacha com-thenda a tendtaib talman in tan ro comerged.^^ Acus tanic rompi d'iarraid usci co dian acus co dasachtach, acus a croes ^^urgranna osloicthi^* uirri ac sugad^^ gaithi aideoir ^^ in darna f echt, in f eacht aih imorro ac ithi in n-eoir acus in n-airthind, do chase a h-itad. Acus ru-s-bean bem d'a h-eirr gan airigut ^' di do'n maccaem sin co ru-s-facaidh cen anmain.

O t'chualaig tra Ipsifile scret in meic ac a marbad ro eirich d'a iarraid, acus ro bai 'ga gairm o na^^ fuair h-e.

' Eg. omits.	^ Eg. omits. 3 jjg prefixes acus.	* Eg. omits.
^ ua. * craes.	^ in. ^ cuserca. ' Eg. omits.	10 collad.
"-" Eg. omits.	12 cusracta. " regadh. "-" Eg. transposes	1° dugadh.
*^ acus aeoir.	" ariugud. 18 nach.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 211

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

As Hypsipyle was thus conversing with the noble King Adrastus, she forgot that she had left her beautiful little fosterling behind her in the wood. Now when she went with the Greeks in search of water and left the little boy behind, he suddenly fell asleep among the grass and herbage. While he was there a horrid destructive dragon approached him. Thus was that dragon, with very large dark-grey eyes in its head, with a foam of venom around its great, gaping mouth, with three fiery tongues gleaming in its jaws, and with three rows of curved, hard, and sharp teeth in its head. The dragon was sacred to Jove. It used to sleep betimes around the beautiful, consecrated temples that chanced to be in its neighbourhood. It could move very large oaks from their roots and overturn huge stones from their earth grip, when it rose up. It went for- ward furiously, madly in search of water, with its hideous gaping mouth open draining the air of heaven at one time, and eating up grass and herbage at another, to quench its thirst. And it heedlessly gave a lash of its tail to that boy and left him lifeless.

Now when Hypsipyle heard the death shriek of the boy she ran to search for him, and was calhng for him when she

212 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

Acus o t' chondairc in nathraig ro iacht acus ro eig co cualadar Greic uili golgairi na h-ingine. Is and sin ro gres- astar rig oc ^ na h-Arcaida .t. Partanapeus a eocho fo'n egem ar n-a radh d'Adhraist, do'n aird-rig ris. Acus o t' chualaich fochond in guba ro indis da chach. Acus o ra FoL 12b 1. indis ro gabh Ipomedon ^ airegda cairrig comthruim comnert a tenntaib talman, acus tuc ro-n-urchair d'indsaigid na nathrach. Acht chena ni derna acht scenm disi sin. Tanic imorro asaithli sin Capaneus ar cind conaire di acus gae suainmech so-dibraicthi in a laim acus is ed ro raid ria : ' ISIi ba h-inand,' ar se, ' in t-urchar o chianaib ; ni(f )uil ac * deib nime a thairmeasc imamsa* gan du marbad dam.' Acus ro dibraic in ^ f aga di 'na diaid sin, co ro ben in craisech,® co ro tregdastar a h-ucht acus a h-indi, co ro torchair marb cen anmain. Ba ferg imorro le h-Ioib '^ an ni sin .t. ^ nathair do marbad do Chapaneus, acus ro triall saegnen tened do lecud d'an indsaigid and sin. Acus geded ro thairmisc gus sin cath ar n-uair.

Imthusa Ipsifile: in tan ro bui ac iarraid in macaim,^ adchondairc an fer frasach forderg d'fhuil na naiden, acus tanic d'a indsaigid co dubach dian ^^ do-menmnach, acus ro boi ac pocad in meic. Acht chena ro saed ^^ a delb acus a dath is in uair sin cu nar fhurusa aichni a chuirp ar n-a cruad-ledrad o ruich ^^ nemi na nathrach. Acus is amlaid ro bai si 'na timchell and sin amal bis ethaid foluaimneach im 13 net ar n-a ^^ choU do nathraid impi. Acus ro gab in a h-ucht h-e. Ro chomglan crechta a chnis da fult fhata f hir-alaind. Acus tuc a f aig ^^ fir-guil os aird, acus is ed ro raid : * Truag sin, a Arsemaris inmain,' ar si ; ' is tu i* ba clann damsa tar eis mo mac, acus ua comdignad dar eis m' atharda. Acus a mic,' ar si, ' caidi in gnuis glan gruad- alaind, acus na briathra gota gairechtacha batar let na^'' tuictid 1^ daeini aile acht mad misi le sir-chlechtad ? Uch

^ ri 6g. 2 Eg, adds ard. ' Eg. adds na. * umamsa.

6 Eg. omits. « Eg. adds di. ' loib. ' Eg. adds a.

9 Eg. adds accus. i° Eg. omits. " soadh. ^^ driuch

13 um a. " Ed. repeats ar n-a. ** faidh.

1 Eg. adds ua tocha lium acus. " nach. " tuicdis.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 213

did not find him. And when she saw the dragon she yelled and shouted so that all the Greeks heard the wail of the girl. Parthenopeus the young king of Arcadia spurred his horses on hearing that cry in obedience to the high King Adrastus's order. When he heard the cause of grief he told the rest. And when he did so, the renowned Hippomedon pulled a very heavy, massive boulder from its earth fastenings, and made a terrible cast with it towards the dragon. But that merely caused it a start. Thereafter Capaneus went and crossed its path with an easily hurled, thong-fitted spear and addressed it thus : ' (My) cast will be different from the one you endured just now. The (very) gods of heaven cannot prevent me from slaying you.' Then he hurled the javelin at it, and the spear pierced its breast and entrails and it fell dead, lifeless. Jove was wroth at Capaneus for slaying the dragon, and he seized a thunderbolt to hurl at them there and then. Nevertheless he withheld it mean- while until the war (was in progress).

As to Hypsipyle, when she was seeking for the boy she saw the grass wet and red with the blood of the infant, and she approached him sadly, vehemently, dispiritedly, and was kissing the boy. But indeed his shape and colour had quickly altered, so that it was difficult to recognise his body after it had been so thoroughly smeared by the venom of the dragon. And thus Hypsipyle was hanging about him as a fluttering bird about its nest after it has been robbed by a serpent. She took him in her lap, and thoroughly cleaned the wounds of his skin with her long, lovely hair, and raised her piercing wail of lament, and spoke thus : * Woe is me, beloved Archemorus,' said she. ' You have been a child to me in place of my own boys, and a solace to me for the loss of my country. And, boy,' continued she, *. where now are the bright face, the beautiful cheek, and

214 THE CELTIC BE VIEW

tra, is truag in turus do chuadu-sa uait dar a ^ dermaitus tu. Acus a Grecu,' ar si, ' marbaid-si misi co na ^ faicuir athair in meic so .t. Ligur(g)us, acus co na ^ fa(i)ciur a mathair .t. Eruididse. Uair is am bandama ^ di deis a meic do milliud acum. Acus is taisci tra aidlecar * misi na daber a mac ba'n ^ samlaid-sea 'na h-ucht.'

Atclos imorro na scela sin bachetoir co tigib lethna lan- mora Ligurguis .t. athair in meic. Acus is amlaid ro bai * seic edon ar ® n-(d)enom edport i sleb Peris. Acus is ed ro raided ris and sin com(b)a d'a muntir ro murfithea in cet duine do Grecaib ar in cathugud Tiauanda. Is de sin tanic- seom CO toirrsech tindesnech do chum na sluag o t' chualaig na stucu coema comairic ac a senm. Ipsifile imorro o ra bui acus an mac marb ac a imarchor aici, is and dorala a mathair di na h-aigid acus airechta cend ''-coema corp- glana do mnaib 'na farrad acus dirmanda deg-sluaig a FoL 12b 2. caeiniud in meic sin. Ligurgus imorro, ar ferg acus ar f ualang da chuaid an scela sin do,^ tanic remi co dian dasachtach acus adbert : ' Caide,' ar se, ' an bean i * roibe mo mac-sa ^* laim ? Acus tabraid cucum, a fhiru,' ar se, ' in colaig confadaig co ro marbar h-i i cinta mo meic. Acus ^^ cuma ro raid sin, acus tanic d'a h-indsaigid acus claideb ^^ urnocht 'na laim.

Is and sin tuc in tren-fer n-atharda nem-lesc .t. Tid mac Oeniuis in sciath ar scath na h-ingine, acus adbert : ' A duni dasachtaich,' ar se, ' leic aenur ^^ in mi-gnim trialla.' Acus ^* do riachtadar as ahaithli sin Capaneus acus Ipamedon acus Partonopeus mac Eremandtu(i)s acus a claidbi ^^ nochta 'na lamaib, co ro iadsad im Ligurgus da marbad acus da mugugadh, da saraiged iad ma n-ingin. Is and sin ro comergedar munter Ligurguis do gliad re Grecaib. Acus ro bui in t-aird-rig Adraist ga n-astad^^ ga n-irrdedail. Atbert (d)no ^' Ampiaruss in sacart : ' Leicid as a fhiru,' ar se, ' uar fich acus uar n-gliad uair is facus uar coibnes acus

' Eg. omits.	^ nacL	' baa-mama-sa.	* adhlacar. ^ uan.
'"« sideg ir.	^ Eg. omits.	^ Eg. adds acus.	* ac a. '° Eg. adds na.
" Eg. adds is.	" claidmi.	" uait.	" Eg. omits. ^* claidme.
^' ga fastad.	^^ Eg. omita.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 215

the broken, smiling words which you learned and which no one, save myself from long experience, could understand. Alas ! pitiable is the errand for which I left you and neglected you. And, O Greeks,' added she, ' do ye slay me, that I may not see Lycurgus the father of this boy, nor Eurydice his mother. For I shall be an enemy in her eyes, when her child has been destroyed while under my charge. And as for me, sooner shall I be buried than place her son in her lap in this condition.'

These tidings were forthwith reported to the large spacious dwellings of Lycurgus, the boy's father. He was at the time in the hill of Perseus ^ after having offered sacrifice. He was told there that the first Greek killed in the Theban war would be one of his people. Wherefore he went sadly and hastily towards the hosts when he heard the kindly war trumpets sounded. Moreover as H3rpsipsyle was carrying the dead boy (home), the mother of the child, accompanied by numbers of fair and handsome women, with a multitude of her noblest attendants mourning for the boy, met her. Lycurgus again was wroth and angry when he heard the tale. He went forward vehe- mently, furiously, and said: 'Where is the woman who had charge of my child ? Bring to me, O men,' said he, * the wicked, unnatural woman that she may be slain for the death of my son.' As he spoke thus he approached her with an unsheathed sword in his hand.

Thereupon the powerful, patriotic, ever-ready Tydeus son of Oeneus raised his shield to protect the girl, and said : 'Madman,' said he, 'let the evil deed that you contem- plate pass.' Thereafter Capaneus and Hippomedon and Parthenopeus son of Erymanthus went forward with their unsheathed swords in their hands, and they closed round Lycurgus to slay and destroy him, if they were to be out- raged because of the girl. Then rose together Lycurgus's people to fight the Greeks. The high king Adrastus was restraining them and keeping them apart. Then the priest

1 Th., T. 640.

216 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

uar cairdeas.i Nir ^ua ail^ tra re Tid mac Oeniu(i)s in n-irgail do thairmesc, acus is ed ro raid : ' Is dana dit a Ligurgu(i)s,' ar se, *in ni triallai .t. in ben do marbad ar ar faesum acus ar ar comairci. Acht is lor dit bith ^i socra acus i ^ sadaili ac cainiud do meic dar n-eis-ne, * cein bem * ac tachar ris na Tiauandaib.' Ro fhrecair tra Ligurgus do-som, acus is ed ro raid : ' Ni fheadar ^ -sa am,' ar se, * comad buidni bidbad do thogail Tebi sib. Acus masead as ail lib tra, millig misi, uair ni fhuilim lin tachair daib.' Acus is amlaid ro ui-sium ac a rad sin, acus mi-run ^ acus aninni ^ mor aici. Acus ro bui a fegad ^ a cathrach uad, co cualadar comorad catha agus irgaili is in cathraig thaU. Is at ro h-indised do beth and sin marc-sluag gasraidi Greci ac inrud in tigi sin Ligurgu(i)s. Uair is ed ro h-indised is in dunad uilc acus ecora do denam do Ligurgus i muich ris na sluagaib. Acus ro eirgedar de sidi ^ na Greic ^^ ro uadar thall ^^ is in baili acus aithindeda ^^ luatha lasamna 'na lamaib do loscud tigi Ligurguis, acus da breth co n-an altoraib ailli adartha^^ leo in dairi acus in dochur.^* Ba buaidirthi tra tegdais in tren-fhir sin o gul acus o gair ban acus mac ac a milliud inti. Is ann sin imorro tanic in ri uasal Adraist, acus tuargaib Ipsifile i fiadnaisi in t-(s)luaig, acus adbert : ^^ ' Traetar uar ferga acus uar ficha, a firu,' ar se, ' acus na dentar lib olc Ligurgu(i)s, uair ac seo in bean tuc in t-uisci daib, acus si slan gan crecht(n)uchud. Foi. 13a 1. Ba h-e tra samail sluaig Grec ^^ in tan sin in muir acgarb

anbthenach acus na gaetha garba gatnimacha gatinn ^'^ 'ga cumasc acus 'ca combuadred gunud^^ cith anfad garb gemreta in lear longach lan-adbul as gach aird, cein ^^ co n-eirigi^ in ri uasal onorach .t. Nephtuin, co cuireand in a tast acus an a teigli ^^ h-i. Acus an tan ro badar Greic ^^ fa'n samla sin, is and sin tangadar da mac Ipsiphile acus 2^Iason meic Eson^^ o inis Leimin an diaid a mathar co

^ caradrus. ^~^ furail. 3~' a.

*~* gein bia. ^ fhitir, " Ed. omits, ^ ainmine. ^ fegain.

* slden. " Grecaidh. '^ Eg. omits. " aithenna. ^^ ordha.

" docraidi. '•'' Eg. omits. '^ in t-sluaig Greca. " gaidsnimacha gatme.

" conadh. i^"" curairig. ^o ^^q]^ 21 Grecidh. 22 -2j lasoin meic Esoin,

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 217

Amphiaraus said : ' Allay your fury, men,' said he, ' for you are closely related in friendship and alliance.' But Tydeus son of Oenius did not wish the contention to cease, and he spoke thus : ' You attempt a daring thing, Lycurgus,' said he, ' to slay the woman while under our safeguard and pro- tection. Surely it ought to suffice for you to remain behind us in leisure and at ease lamenting your son, while we are fight- ing the Thebans.' Lycurgus then replied to him in these words : ' In truth,' said he, ' I knew not that you were hostile troops on the road to invade Thebes ; and if you so desire it you can destroy me, for my friends are too few to fight you.' He spoke thus entertaining great hatred and ill-will, and was looking towards his city, where there was heard the tumult of battle and strife, over in the city. It was reported that these were the cavalry of the Grecian warriors sacking the house of Lycurgus. For it was told in the castle that Lycurgus had caused evil and harm to be done to the hosts outside. Because of this the Greeks who were in the town quickly took flaming torches in their hands to burn Lycurgus' s house, and to carry the inhabitants with the beautiful sacred altars away with them in slavery and bondage. Greatly perturbed indeed were the people of that mighty man by the wail and shout of women and boys as they were massacred in their dwellings. At this juncture the noble king Adrastus went and raised Hjrpsipyle in view of the host and said : ' Calm your wrath and rage, men,' said he, ' and do no harm to Lycurgus, for here is the woman who found water for you safe and unwounded ! '

A meet comparison to the Grecian host at that moment is the wild, tempestuous sea when the rough, withe-twisting winds are agitating and perturbing it as one sees from every direction the ship-sailing, hugely vast ocean in wild, winter weather, until the noble, honourable king, Neptune, reduces it to silence and stillness. It was while the Greeks were in this wise that the two sons of Hypsipyle and of Jason son of Aeson came from Lemnos in search of their mother to the house of Lycurgus. Lycurgus was told that the two sons

218 THE CELTIC REVIEW

tech Ligurgius. Acus ro h-indised do Ligurgus an dias (s)in do thorachtain d'a tig .t. da mac Ipsifile. Acus tangadar ua chetoir i fortacht ^ acus i forithin ^ Ligurgu(i)s gan fhis acus gan aichne doib.^ Acus o t' ^ chualadar imrad n-insin * Leimin acus Ipsifile ingine Toaint ra s(g)ailset na sluaga sar-echtacha cein co rangadar airm a roibe a mathair, acus co r' iadsad a lama luath-glasta ^ impi. O t' chondairc si imorro erred acus indtamail ^ a n-athar in a "^ sciathaib coema commora, acus a airm ^ urnochta in a lamaib, ro hoit ^ si ann sin co h-anband esirit ^° re ro-met na failti ^^ ro gob ac faicsin na mac sin.^^ Acus ru-s-^^ snigestar frasa diana der dar gruadib di. Na Greic^* imorro ro leigedar a ferga re ^^ lar. Acus ro labair in rig-sacart uasal Ampiarus, acus is ed ro raid : ' Eistet ^^ rim-sa, (a) gasrada Grec, acus (a) Ligurgu(i)s coroindisiur daib a n-ebairt^'' Dea^^ na faistine .t. Apaill rim co buigbed sibsi, a Grecu, na ^^ h-airrdi urbada-sa ^^ ar cae ^^ uar conairi ac techt ^^ in tir- sa,^^ conid airi sin is choir daib uar ferga do thairmesc, acus uar n-airm do chur uaib, acus idbarta uaisli imdai, acus cluicheda suarca subacha in onoir in meic mairb-sea .t. Arsemair meic Ligurig, co mairet^^ sin co forceand saegail acus CO dered in domuin. Uair is ^^ ferr dosum comshaegul re Neastur cunnail cian-aesta no re Laimedon lan-saeglach na h-aeidid ^* na samla-sa 2* fair. Uair airemthar dosum itir deib e da eis.' Tanic tra ind adaig fae sin, acus deisitar in a long-portaib is in n-aidchi sin.

Adclos imorro ua chathrachaib na Greci gart-gloin na Greic do com(mo)rad cluichi chaintig in onoir acus in n-airmitin meic Ligurgu(i)s.^^ Acus is les do rondad ar tus riam a mac-samlai in cluichi sin le h-Ercail mac Amprionis in n-onoir Peloip meic Thantail.

^"* Eg. omits. 2 Eg. omits. ' do. * innsi. ^ gasta.

• inntsamlachta, "^ is na. « ^n n-airm. ' toit. " eiseirt. " faillte.

*' h-i. " ro. " Grecidh. is ^r. is eistidh. " debairt.

^' Dei. 19-19 airdhena urbadach-sa. 20 jjg omits. 21-21 g^ turusa.

22 CO mairend acus co mairfed. 23 ^]^ 24-24 g, meic-samladh sin.

^ Thus were instituted the famous Nemaean Games, a description of which follows.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 219

of Hjrpsipyle had arrived at his house. They came forth- with without the knowledge or recognition on their part to his aid and assistance. When the story of the Isle of Lemnos and of Hjrpsipyle daughter of Thoas was heard the very vahant hosts made way, (and the youths went forward) until they came to the place where their mother was, and speedily locked her in their arms. Now when she saw the habit and likeness of their father on their fair, very large shields, and his naked weapons in their hands, she fell down there in weakness and debility from the great joy she felt at seeing these sons, and swift showers of tears coursed down her cheeks. As for the Greeks they laid their wrath aside. And the noble, royal priest Amphiaraus spoke and said thus : ' Listen to me, warriors of Greece, and you (too), Lycurgus, and I shall tell you what Apollo the god of pro- phesy said to me, — viz., that you Greeks would meet with these tokens of disaster on the path of your march in coming to this land. Therefore you ought to check your anger and lay aside your weapons and (offer up) many noble sacrifices and (celebrate) pleasant and cheerful games in honour of this dead boy Archemorus son of Lycurgus, the memory of which shall remain to the close of time and the end of the world. For his violent death in this manner is better for him than if he attained to the age of the wise and very old Nestor or the long-lived Laomedon. For he shall hereafter be numbered among the gods.' Night fell thereupon, and the hosts betook themselves to their camps that night.

It 1 was reported through the cities of fair-faced Greece that the Greeks were to celebrate funeral games in honour of and respect for the son of Lycurgus. And the first who ever held games to equal these was Hercules son of Amphi- tryon in honour of Pelops son of Tantalus.

1 Th., vL 1.

220 THE CELTIC REVIEW

O thanic tra solus trath eirgi do lo ar n-a marach acus ^ ro erig grian glan uaUach in a miU cro chomderg^ seach imeU-bord^ talman, co ro ruithnig a gathanna glana glan- shoiUsi uar tuaithebrachaib in talman ro chomergedar *na sluaig* itir thall acus a muich, comma fograch na^ fid-nemid ^ acus na f eda f oithremra coillted Neim re seastan FoL 13a 2. acus re seiselbi na sluag sin a comergi do chom(6)rad na cluiched cainthech sin. Ro bui imorro Ligurgus in a rig- suidi acus a ban-cheli Eurididse 'na farad acus bantrochta buaidirthi badb-chaintech maraen ria, a cainiud'' a meic. Ro chomnuaUsad leo is in n-uair curaid acus cath-milid^ acus latha gaili Grec i tigib rigda ro-mora Ligurgu(i)s. Acus ge ra chainsed Greic * in mac sin ro airigsetar a miscais CO mor ac lucht in baile. Is and sin ro gab Adraist ard-ri ^^ Grec a comdingnad Ligurgu(i)s do scur a cuma^^ acus a thoirrsi. Ni chualaig-sium sin^^ tra re confad na cumad acus re fiuchad na fergi.

Acus ^^ as ahaithli sin ro comecrad leo-som comrair do'n mac sin do'n fhid chuanna chuiprisc acus d' (f )ualascaib ali ^* uraidi, acus do luibib barr-glana bolathmara nach leictis lobud no lochrad^^ do na corpaib im a cuirtis .t. sinomum acus baUsam acus mirr acus tuis. Acus ro choraigid^^ etaigi caema corcor-glana thiri na Sithriu taris a muich anechtair, ar n-a inlecur do snath alaind orda, acus do gemaib cruindi carrmogail. Acus ro ordaig a athair and sin a airm chaema chosmaili in meic beic sin, acus f adb arm a sen-athar do thabairt do chum in chuirp sin, d' a n-idbairt acus d'a comloscud leis. Uair "is ed^'^ ua bes accu-sum and sin na cuirp onoracha do loscud, acus d'edbairt do na deib adartha.

Is and sin ro erig in fisid fir-eolach Ampiarus acus Greic ^^ ar cheana do'n leth ele. Acus ro comecrad leo teni taidlech taeb-lasamuin coma sonai(r)ti ^^ so-imthechta, acus coma

* Eg. omits.	« derg.	' bordaib in.	*-* sluaig Grec. ^ Eg. omits.
^ fid-nemedha.	" cainedh.	^ cath-miledha.	" Grecidhi. ^^ aird-rig.
" cumadh.	" Eg. omits.	" Eg. omits.	" aille. " luaithredh.
" choraigsit.	" Eg. omits.	18 Grecidh.	" sonairt.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 221

Now when the first light of day came on the morrow, and when the bright, glorious sun rose in a blood-red mass past the border of earth's circuit, and its pure, bright rays shone on the various tribes of the world, the hosts far and near rose as one man, so that the din and uproar of the multi- tudes as they set forth to celebrate these funeral games resounded through the sacred groves and rich woods of the forests of Nemaea. But Lycurgus sat on his throne with his wife Eurydice beside him. Around her were her lady attendants, distracted and loudly weeping, lamenting her son. The champions and battle warriors and heroes of Greece joined in the wail in the royal spacious halls of Lycurgus. Still though the Greeks lamented the boy they felt the great enmity with which the people of the place regarded them. Then Adrastus the high king of Greece took to comforting Lycurgus, asking him to cease his mourn- ing and sorrowing. But he heard him not — such was the violence of his grief and the seething of his wrath.

Thereafter they prepared a coffin for the boy of fine cypress and beautiful fresh woods, and with bright blossomed, fragrant herbs, which preserved from putrefaction and decay the bodies enveloped in them, such as cinnamon and balsam and m3rrrh and frankincense. Beautiful garments of pale purple from the land of S3n:ia, embroidered with lovely golden thread and adorned with round gems of carbuncle, formed his outer covering. Then his father ordered the beautiful toy weapons of that little boy, and the arms which his grandfather won in warfare, to be brought beside the body to be offered up and burnt along with him. For it was their practice at the time to burn their honoured dead in sacrifice to the adorable gods.

Then on the other side the sagacious seer Amphiaraus and all the Greeks went and built up a blazing, side- flaming fire (of such magnitude) that the thick, impassable

222 THE CELTIC REVIEW

caeiti comredi na feda dluithi do-imthechta da n-eis. Acus ^ o thairnic leo-sum in teini sin ro suidiget acu altoiri da deib nua-glana nime acus da deib aduathmara ifrind. Acus ro sendit fetana cuasmora ceol-bindi do gach leith acus da gach thaib dib. Acus ro chomergedar vii rig Grec im Ligurgus do commorad in ^ chainte sin.

Ro eirgedar buidne bithi banamla maroen re mathair in meic ^ .t. Eurididse, acus dirmanda doescur-(s)luaig impi-si .t. * a buimmi acus * ma buimi in meic sin ^ fa Ipsiphili acus da mac Iaso(i)n maie Eso(i)n ^maroen ria® a da chomalta. O da riacht imorro Eruididsi a. mathair in meic dar dorus in baili a mach ro lob air "^ o guth mor "^ acus is ed ro raid : ' A meic,' ar si, ' ni h-i seo aeided ^ ro faelin-sa ort, acus dursan dam aithne do t'oileamuin ^ acus do t'altrom do'n ^^ mnai ^^ meblaig mi-briathraig do lucht indsi Lemin. Acus a Grecu,' ar si, ' na cathig uar seoid na bar n-indmasa elaiscib na h-idbarta-sa ina sia. Acht loiscther lib in bean 'g ar ^^ miUead in mac .t. Ipsiphile, acus loiscther misi maroen ria.

Acus ^^ o thairnic di-si sin do rad, ro erig Ligurgus acus ro chuir a erred acus a etach uasal idbarta de, acus ro these Foi. 13b 1. a fholt, acus ro chuir is in tenid iat dib li ^* chomarthai in broin acus do-menman, acus is ed ro raid : ' A loib,' ar se, ' is mi-briathrach ro uadais rim a cetugud mo meic do marbad. Uair bam sacart uasaP^ idbarta dit mad gus a n-(d)iugh.'

Is and sin ro erig f athraid ^® acus fidren ruad-lasrach ro moire ^"^ do thenid inna h-idbarta, acus ba snimach do Grecaib astog^^ Ligurgu(i)s acus a ban-cheli gan dul daib da loscud is in tenid sin. Rop adbul tra in tan sin, ^^ acus ba fograch leca ^^ logmara ag a loscud ^° inti 'ca loscud, ^^ acus aircet aen-gel aithlegtha, acus or ac snidi ^^ dar etaigib rigda

* Eg. omits.

2 Eg. adds cluithi (t for c being the common spelling of the word in Eg.).

3 Eg. adds sin. *~* Eg. omits. ^ Eg. omits. ""^ Eg. omits. '''"' Eg. omits. ^ aighidh. ^ ofleanus. *** do. " MS. mnuL

12 agar.	'3 E^. omits.	1* diblinib mar.	15 Eg. omits.
1" fobrann.	1^ MS. moira.	1* asodh.	10-" lumut leac.
20-20 accu.	21 snighL

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 223

woods after (supplying the material) were levelled and cleared and became smooth paths. When the fire was built they placed altars to the bright gods of heaven and the horrid gods of hell, and they played on widely hollowed, sweetly sounding reeds all around. The seven kings of Greece all rose around Lycurgus to raise the wail.

Around Eurydice, the mother of the boy, were bands of gentle, sympathising women ; multitudes of the common people also accompanied the boy's nurse Hypsipyle as well as the two sons of Jason son of Aeson, (the boy's) two foster brothers. Now when Eurydice the boy's mother passed outside the gate of the palace she spoke in a loud voice and said : ' Son,' said she, ' this is not the end I anticipated for you ; and woe is me that I entrusted your nurture and rearing to the shameless, evil-spoken woman from the isle of Lemnos; and, ye Greeks,' added she, 'do not waste any more of your wealth and treasures on this sacrifice, but burn the woman, through whom the child was destroyed, viz., Hypsipyle, and burn me also along with her.'

When (the queen) had ceased speaking, Lycurgus arose and laid aside his armour and his rich, sacrificial robes. He then cut his hair and cast them together in the fire in token of his grief and sorrow and spoke thus : ' Jove,' said he, ' ill hast thou dealt with me in permitting the slay- ing of my son, for until this day I have been an honoured priest offering sacrifice to thee.'

Then leapt up with rushing, bursting sound a very great red flame from the sacrificial fire, and the Greeks had an anxious task in restraining Lycurgus and his consort from throwing themselves in that fire to be burned. Very great at that time was the crackling of precious stones as they burned in the fire, and of pure-white refined silver, and of

224 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ro ailli acus fin acus ^ full ac a fiuchud i tulchomaib cuanda comdaingne.

Is and sin ro ergedar vii n-dirmanda do marc-sluag Grec ma 2 vii rigaib ro beoda. Acus tucsad tri graifne i timchell na tendted sin.^ Ro buailfedar basa leo, acus ro thuairgid ochta acus ur-bruinndeda ann sin. Acus ro h-id braid alma* acus cethra d'iarraid fhesa acus eolais, ^ amal ba bes ^ accu-sum. Ra caithed tra in la sin leosum re comram in cluichi sin, no co ro luaithred lan-min ar lasad na tenti taeb-lasamna re h-irthosach ^ na h-aidchi.

Is in maitin ar n-a marach ro comergedar uili acus do rignead leo ^ tempoU suaichnich soineamail ma ^ luaithred chuirp in meic sin .t. Arsememarus, acus tairnic leo e co cend ix la acus ix n-aidchi. Ro rindad acus ro h-ecrad im slesaib in tempaill sin .t.^ delb Ipsifile ac irraid uisci do Grecaib in tan ro ^° bad ar ^^ in n-itaid remi sin, acus ^^ delb gae ^^ Capaneu(i)s ^^ da ro ^^ marb in nathair.

^ Eg. omits. 2 um na. ^ tinedh. * albha.

6-6 Eg. omits. ® h-urthosach. '' Eg. omits.

* im. ^ Eg. omits. lo-io uatar.

^* Eg. adds dealbh Arsimairfs agus na natrach ro marb e, acus. ^2 Eg. omits. ""^^ acus a gai dar.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 225

gold dropping from royal very beautiful raiments, and of wine and blood boiling in beautiful, strong caldrons.

Then sprang up seven large bands of the cavalry of Greece around the seven high-spirited kings, and they raced three times round these fires. They clapped their hands, and elevated their breasts and chests, and offered up flocks and herds, seeking signs and knowledge, as was their custom. That day was spent by them contending in that game, and the great flaming fires after burning down became finely ground ashes by nightfall.

On the morning of the morrow they all arose and built a conspicuous, magnificent temple around the ashes of the body of the boy Archemorus. They took nine days and nine nights in finishing this work. They carved and cut upon the sides of the temple the figure of Hypsipyle search- ing for water for the Greeks, when they were in great thirst some time before, and a picture of the spear of Capaneus which slew the dragon.

VOL. IX.

226 THE CELTIC REVIEW

TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF IRISH ART AND THOUGHT!

By T. W. Rolleston

The inauguration of the Irish Literary Society of London, whose twenty-first birthday was celebrated to-day, may be said to have taken place in the formal and official sense on 1 2th May 1892 when, at a meeting held under the presi- dency of Mr. W. M. Crook, its first committee and officers were elected. But the foundations were laid before that : — they were laid on a night of rain and storm when a faith- ful few attended an informal gathering at the house of the chairman of our present meeting, in Chiswick, and decided that an earlier body, which had done ten years of excellent work in London, the Southwark Irish Literary Society, should be asked to merge itself in a new body with a new name, more central premises, and larger aims. That was on the 28th December 1891. The infant society re- solved to make no public appeal until its resources and its programme were sufficiently developed to give a prospect of enduring success. Its first president, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, with whom I had the honour to work as first hon. secretary of the Society, had planned that this body, to- gether with its sister society in Dublin, should be powerful instruments in carrying out a large scheme of literary and educational work in Ireland — a scheme partially, but only partially, embodied in the enterprise known as the ' New Irish Library.' The taking of adequate premises, which should form a social as well as a fiterary centre for Irish residents in London, was also a part of our plan. The organisation and co-ordination of all our various interests

* This lecture was delivered in the Botanic Theatre, University College, Gower Street, on June 10, 1913, on the occasion of the celebration by the Irish Literary Society, London, of the twenty-first year of the life and work of the Society. Mr W. B. Yeats occupied the Chair.

/ IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 227

took time ; and it was not until March 1893 that the first public meeting was held, and the inaugural lecture de- livered to a large and enthusiastic audience by the Rev. Stopf ord Brooke.

Among the speakers on that occasion was Dr. Douglas Hyde. He was then President of the National Literary Society of Dublin. The Gaelic League was still in the future — though a very near future — but one of the an- nouncements which the Society was able to make at this inaugural meeting was the immediate formation of classes for the study of the Irish language, a feature of our pro- gramme which I need not say received the warm bene- diction of Dr. Hyde. When, however, Mr. Brooke's in- augural address came to be printed and submitted to pubHc criticism in Ireland, a note of dissent was speedily heard and a controversy opened, in which the last word has not yet been spoken. The subject of the address was the ' Need and Use of getting Irish Literature into the English Tongue.' It was a summons to Irish scholars to make the literature of ancient and mediaeval Ireland as familiar to English readers as Morris, Vigfusson, Dasent and others had made the great saga literature of Scandinavia. ' Poetry,' said Mr. Brooke,

* has always wanted, along with the present, an imaginative world in the past into which to dip for subjects ; and we have here in England pretty well exhausted the old realms of human story. The tale of Arthur will have to lie fallow for a time. We have had enough of the Greek stories of late ; enough of the Italian mediae valism, whether its tales be of saints or sinners. The Norse tales will also for a time be laid aside ; and though they have a powerful humanity, they have Uttle love of Nature. We have been even forced of late to go to India for our subjects. But the Irish stories are as yet untouched ; and they have imagination, colour, romance of war and love, terrible and graceful supernaturalism, a passionate humanity, and a vivid love of natural beauty and subUmity.'

That scholars should give us more and more of these tales

228 THE CELTIC REVIEW

and poems, translated with grace and vigour, and that poets should use them as a mine of new material, a well of new in- spiration, seemed to Mr. Brooke the great need of the moment. And when we recollect that at the time when he spoke SilvOr Gadelica had not been published, and that Mr. A. H. Leahy's Heroic Romances of Ir eland , Miss Hull's The Cuchullin Saga, the two well-known volumes of Lady Gregory, prac- tically all the best work of Kmio Meyer and of Alfred Nutt, Hyde's Literary History of Ireland, and the thirteen stately volumes of the Irish Texts Society — to name only a few of the outstanding works — were still to come, we can realise something of the richness of the inheritance which for modern Ireland, twenty-one years ago, still lay unexplored, unknown, and, except to a very few scholars, inaccessible. For the sake of all readers and writers of English the ' need and use ' of getting this literature into the English language was mideniable. StiU, as I have said, a note of dissent was heard — it was heard from those who had embraced in its extremest form the programme of the Gaelic League. It was urged that the great need of the moment was not to make Irish literature available to readers of English but to create readers and writers of Irish, who would form a new national literature in that tongue. If the ancient literature was to be translated at all, then modern Irish, not English, was the proper vehicle for it. Mr. Brooke had definitely named it as the object of his address to consider ' in what way we can best make the English language the instrument of Irish literature.' Naturally enough the declaration of this object provoked criticism from those who cherished the hope that the lan- guage of Irish literature was to be Irish. I shall recur to the subject again, for the present I merely wish to make clear the position of the Society. That position is one of cordial welcome to all sincere expression of thought on Irish problems. Two subjects indeed are barred to us — we may not discuss either party poHtics (as that word is usually understood in Ireland) or religion. On other

IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 229

matters, we know that the light of truth is often struck out in the clash of opposing convictions. ' Give me,' said Milton, ' the liberty to know, to utter, above all liberties.' The Society accords to its members that liberty in very full measure, but it takes no responsibility for their opinions; the responsibility belongs solely to those who utter them. I wish to emphasise this, for I am dealing to-day with a period which bristles with points of controversy, and if I am to treat it as I wish to treat it, and as I think you would wish, frankly, critically and definitely, I may have to say some things on which opinion in our Society and throughout Ireland is very sharply divided. I welcome keen discussion : I do not enjoy controversy, but I would rather stir contro- versy of the kind which compels people to face facts and to test the foundations of their beliefs than merely echo the popular opinions of the day ; only I wish to have it clearly understood that I speak for myself alone. The Society has done me the honour of putting me in the position of speak- ing to you to-day, but it has not given to me either my text or my sermon.

Now let me recall for a moment the state of affairs in Ireland at the opening of the period which we are to discuss. In 1891 the most tragic event within our memory had taken place. Parnell had gone down in the convulsion of a fierce political struggle. His death had no effect in reconciling the combatants. Nationalist Ireland had been an army moving like one man towards one end — an end to be ob- tained, and only to be obtained, by means of political action and through the agency of the Parliament at Westminster. Now it had become the scene of a civil war, the army had resolved itself into two hostile factions. At Westminster Ireland was helpless ; and such was the absorption of the Irish mind in politics that to be helpless there seemed equivalent to utter prostration. The famous phrase, coined by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, some thirty years before, was at this time often recalled to the memories of men — Ireland seemed to be ' a corpse on the dissecting table.' But while the politicians.

230 THE CELTIC REVIEW

according to their different camps, or their different personal temperaments, were busy either in lamenting the degrada- tion of their comitry, or in triumphing in it, or in adding to it, a group, or rather a number of groups, of Irish men and women, who were not poHticians, were making, and acting on, the startHng discovery that poUtics was only one branch, and perhaps not the most important branch, of patriotism, and that if Ireland could for the time being achieve nothing at Westminster, there was in Ireland itself an immense and almost virgin field for work of national significance, work for which Irishmen, whether under the present or any pos- sible form of government, would have to rely on voluntary, personal effort. I have said that these men and women were not politicians, but I do not by that mean to say that they were indifferent to politics. Their political opinions were often very strong ; they were also very divergent, for they were not people who were accustomed to ' thinking in platoons.' But with few exceptions they were persons who had never been heard of in the political arena, the only stage on which, up till then, it had been possible for an Irishman to attract the serious attention of his fellow- countrymen ; and one and all were agreed that for all Irishmen who understood and valued the moral, spiritual and industrial nationaHty of Ireland, there was a field in which they could work in cordial co-operation, whatever their differences might be as to the outward forms of nationality.

Out of this spirit were born the literary societies of Dubhn and of London : out of it came, almost at the same time, the most potent moral force of the epoch, the Gaelic League. These were followed a little later by the Irish Industries Association, which proved a most valuable agency for the preservation of certain important Irish handicrafts, such as lace-making and cottage weaving; by the Feis Ceoil, of whose magnificent work for the spread of musical culture in Ireland it would be hard to speak too warmly; by the Irish Folk Song Society, with which our own Society

lEISH ART AND THOUGHT 231

has been intimately associated, and which you will hear more adequately dealt with this evening ; by the Irish Texts Society, also an offshoot of this body, which has given us thirteen volumes of important Irish texts with translations, and the first scholarly dictionary of the Irish language ; and by the great dramatic movement originated by the genius of our present Chairman, and maintained largely by his resolution, his insight and his persistence on a level of aim and of achievement which has attracted the attention of the whole world of culture. I must mention also among the kindred forces which sprang into activity during this period for the building up of a new Ireland, the co-operative movement. Originally called forth by the imminent neces- sity of rescuing the Irish dairying industry from foreign exploitation, it has now, through a thousand societies with a turn-over of two or three millions a years, and working in practically every branch of rural industry and economics, rooted the co-operative idea firmly in the land — an idea which may yet prove to have very far-reaching effects in providing the true solution for the problems of industrial organisation which loom so threateningly ahead of the path of European progress. I cannot conclude this brief survey, which of course is merely suggestive and not exhaustive, without a reference to yet another institution which in point of time came earlier than all the rest, which cannot therefore be reckoned as a product of the period I am dealing with, but which does embody some characteristics of the spirit of that period. I refer to the Gaelic Athletic Association. The value of this institution in organising manly open-air games among the masses of the Irish people can hardly be set too high, but it forms an exception to the other movements of which I have been speaking in that it had from the outset a strong poUtical character. That, of course, is entirely its own affair, still looking at it as a national institution the results of its policy are open to criticism. Athletics might have been a most valuable unifying force in Ireland : it has, on the contrary, been

232 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

made a dividing force ; its management has on several points of detail been, I think, less wise and far-seeing than that of other organisations of the period.^

Strangely enough, the sphere of the arts and handi- crafts, in which Ireland might have been expected to excel, has shown itself perhaps less touched by the spirit of the new epoch than any other. There are certainly some Irish painters like Mr. William Orpen and Mr. Lavery who have risen to high distinction. Mr. Orpen at least had his early training in Ireland, and has done much distinguished work there. Then, and also on Irish soil, we have Mr. Nathaniel Hone, a painter of elemental power, one of the greatest we have ever produced, but he began, of course, long before our period opens, and traces his artistic ancestry to France. Mr. Jack B. Yeats is certainly racy of Irish soil, and has shown us our country and its types through the medium of a temperament keenly responsive to what is characteristic and vivid in the life of the Irish countryside. Mr. Francis Walker in his mezzotints has given us some fine renderings of Irish scenery. Mr. Dermod O'Brien and Mr. J. B. Yeats, father of our chairman, have done work both in portraiture and other departments which must always be valued. On the whole, however, I do not think it can be said that the past twenty-one years have been signalised by any notable advance in the fine arts. In the region of decorative art and handicraft we have had, as I already remarked, some really good work in the departments of lacemaking and home-weaving, though neither of these crafts originated during this period. The well-planned and successful under- taking of Captain Cuffe and Lady Desart, known as ' the Kilkenny Woodworkers,' has indeed created or recreated an industry of great importance, but it can hardly be said

^ Thus the adoption of special so-called ' Gaelic ' rules for football in addition to the two codes which already held the field had the effect of isolating Gaelic Ireland from the helpful stimulus of international competition and comparison, and the silly opposition to cricket, on the ground that it is an ' English ' pastime, has had the effect — besides missing the opportunity of bringing all classes to^^ether in the wholesome arena of open-air sport — of leaving Irish Ireland without a suitable summer game.

IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 233

to have broken as yet any fresh ground in the way of ex- pressing a new feeUng or ideal. The Dundrum group of industries, Dun Emer and the Cuala Press, must also be men- tioned as centres of sound and thoughtful work ; but only the fringe of the problem has been touched as yet. No great prolific centre of the decorative handicrafts can yet be said to exist. Pre-eminent in the decorative crafts, however, stands out the stained-glass industry founded by Miss Purser in Dublin. Here we have something of genuine originality and of masterly achievement, something which never asks us, as so much of modern Irish art work does, to forgive its want of thought, and its easy-going handling for the sake of its excellent intentions.

On the whole, however, looking back at the period under review, one must be filled with hope at the manner in which the Irish spirit rose to the occasion under the circumstances which I touched on at the beginning of this discourse. A mighty reverse had been experienced, a great tract of Irish life, and one on which practically the whole hope and effort of the nation had been concentrated, had been suddenly laid waste ; the energies of the nation in the fuU tide of advance had been rudely flung back on themselves, and there battled chaotically, disastrously, in a gulf from which there seemed to be no outlet. And it was just then that from many different quarters — different in point of religion, of class, of early training, of political opinion, but obeying one common impulse — thronged forces of whose existence none but a few visionaries had ever dreamed, to fill up the vacancy, and to begin the work of building up a national life in Ireland upon a far surer foundation than any which an Act of Parliament could either sanction or deny. Those who lived in the midst of the creative struggles of that epoch, and took part in them, had often, I think, little appreciation of their real significance. We see that significance best when we look at them as a whole, and from some distance of time. We see the wonderful proof which they gave of some vital, elastic force which had been slowly

234 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

accumulating in Ireland, slowly ripening against the hour of need. We see now that the darkest hour that Ireland has known in our recollection — and I say this in a sense in which I think it can be echoed by every Irishmen whatever view he may take of the objects of the Parnell movement — we see now that the darkest hour was the herald of a dawn in whose stormy Hght we still live, and which with the help of the young men and women of Ireland to-day, by their sincerity, constancy, courage, and toil, is to brighten into the perfect day.

I have spoken of the light of this dawn as a stormy light, and this is no mere phrase ; almost every movement in which the new spirit was incorporated has had to fight hard for its right to express and to realise itself. Even the ' New Irish Library,' one of the least aggressive of literary ventures, got into hot water with its second volume. This was Mr. Standish O' Grady's Bog of Stars, the best book, I venture to think, that Ireland has ever produced in the way of historical fiction. A dangerous newspaper controversy arose over this volume, when it came to light that, in some previous work with which the series had no- thing to do, Mr. O' Grady had criticised unfavourably certain episodes in the lives of St. Patrick and St. Columbkille. This was nothing, however, to the storm-centre which developed in connection with the dramatic movement on the production of Mr. Yeats' s Countess Cathleen. The triumphant success of the first performance in spite of the imposing array of hostile forces marshalled against it was felt by all who witnessed it to be a turning point in the history of the Irish mind. It was a bold claim for that freedom of sincere expression without which art cannot live, and the claim was made with success. Later on the same battle had to be fought over The Playboy of the Western World. It was fought with the same uncompromis- ing determination and with the same result. I need not dwell upon other instances of the struggle which the new spirit has had to make in order to assert itself — the struggle

IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 235

of the Gaelic League for essential Irish in the Universities, the struggle of the co-operative movement to realise the triple ideal which the farmer has to pursue in every European country where farming is a success — the ideal expressed in the words ' better farming, better business, better living.' We are in the thick of some of these struggles still — it will be long before the sword can sleep in our hands. But I say this not to lament it — very far from that. What- ever some distant and unimaginable future may bring about, for our day war in some form or other is the final touchstone of sincerity and strength. I need not go so far as Nietzsche, who, in opposition to the current morality on the subject expressed by saying that a good cause might justify war, put forward the maxim that a good war might justify any cause. But this, at any rate, one can say with perfect truth, that a cause which has never had to fight its way to victory has missed many of the best fruits of victory — those that one picks up on the way to it — the rich experi- ence, the training and hardening of character, the rude and wholesome contact with life. A people who are fighting on any side in any cause, are at any rate live people, and ^V/-* with life all things are possible.

I now come to deal in rather more detail with the two most prominent forces at work during the period I am dealing with. These forces are, first, the literary, in which I in- clude the dramatic movement ; secondly, the revival of Gaelic.

By the Irish literary movement I mean the impulse to seek for Irish themes, to treat the history, scenery, legen- dary literature and current life of our country with the en- nobling touch and the revealing insight of poetry ; in general, to express the Irish imagination in an Irish way. Of course this impulse did not begin within the period I am treating of. Clarence Mangan felt the first stirrings of it sixty years ago and more. The best work of Sir Samuel Ferguson, and the still better and ever-memorable work of Mr. Standish 0' Grady, were done before our period opens, and before it

236 THE CELTIC REVIEW

too came Mr. Yeats's Wanderings of Oisin. But it was not long before the literary impulse embodied itself in one special form which is the notable feature of the time. This was the dramatic form. Much as I should like to speak, and much as there is to say, of the lyrical work of Mr. Yeats, of A. E., of the prose and poetry of James Stephens, of the briUiant and thoughtful journalism of the Irish Homestead, of Miss Alice Milligan, of * Ethne Carbery,' and many more, I shall never bring this survey to an end unless I concen- trate myself on the biggest and most significant body of literary work which has been done during the past twenty- one years, and this has undoubtedly been done in drama. It is impossible, I think, to overrate the importance, poten- tial or actual, of this development. Ireland had never had a drama. Ancient Irish literature is full of drama in solution ; and Ireland had of course produced many play- wrights whose contributions to English literature and the English stage were of high distinction and importance. But a native Irish drama did not exist, nor a company of Irish actors, and it was imperative that both should be called into being. First, because the drama is a popular form of literature, a form which above all others visibly and effectually unites men in a common sentiment and can make itself equally at home in the cultured city and in the country village ; and, secondly, because the drama is a training in expression which it seems almost essential for a literature to pass through if it is to achieve real greatness and force of style. In the Western world at least one finds almost universally that every new epoch of literature is ushered in by a strong dramatic movement : one conspicuous exception of course is the English poetic renascence at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but then English litera- ture had had its dramatic training very thoroughly in days gone by. The fact that in the drama the author can never appear to explain, interpret, or justify the action ; that everything he wants to say has to be said through appro- priate speech and appropriate action of the characters

IRISH AKT AND THOUGHT 237

on the stage ; and that all must be said or done in such a way that on a single hearing its significance, or at least its main significance, shall go straight home to the hetero- geneous crowd on the other side of the footlights ; these conditions, if a playwright understands and abides by them, involve a kind of athletic discipline in expression and design. If a Hterature has never undergone that discipline it has missed something very hard to replace.

Well, Irish hterature, thanks to Mr. Yeats, to Lady Gregory, and the other protagonists of the dramatic move- ment, is getting that most valuable discipline. In doing so it has gradually evolved a school of acting which, by universal admission of competent critics, is, within its own range, the finest exponent of the art of acting to be found on the English-speaking stage of this day. The dramatic movement in Ireland is not comprehended entirely in the Abbey Theatre. It is the great merit of that undertaking, and the earlier and tentative project from which it sprang, that it gave an impulse which has started dramatic societies and representations all over Ireland, and has held up to them a high and severe standard of achievement. It is in a sense the parent and model of dramatic organisation for Ireland, and because it is that, because it, as it were, stands for Ireland in a sense in which no other similar body can be said to do so, that pubhc criticism of its aims and character has a special significance and justification. This criticism — I do not refer to hostile criticism, although there has been plenty of that — I refer only to the kind of criticism which is intended to be helpful — has directed itself prin- cipally to two points. In the first place it is said that the Abbey Theatre drama concentrates itself overmuch on one of the social classes of which Irish life is composed. It has produced a series of peasant dramas ; it has left almost wholly untouched the problems, tragedies, romances, foibles, of the ordinary educated men and women of modem Ireland. The people who fill the seats of the Abbey Theatre never see themselves on the stage. It might be said ' so much

238 THE CELTIC REVIEW

the better for their peace of mind.' But their peace of mind is not a concern of art. It is one of the functions of art — applying that word in its widest sense to all impassioned and sincere activity of the mind — to keep on breaking up the crust of prepossession and convention that gathers over the ideas of every class, every interest, every group or com- mimity, when left too long undisturbed. And these people, to whose nature the Abbey Theatre never holds up the mirror, are after all the people in Ireland who really matter. It is they who form the standard of thought and manners who make or break organisations, who represent whatever of pubUc opinion Ireland can be said to have. And I notice too that at the very beginning of the dramatic movement in the remarkable plays of Mr. Edward Martyn, it was precisely this class of people whose lives and thoughts were studied and portrayed. Why, after coming to the surface in this way, have they now sunk below it ? Is it because these people, the people who matter in Ireland, really matter too seriously, and that the presentation of them and their doings is too thorny and dangerous a subject for the young drama of Ireland to tackle ? I don't know. I have no explanation to offer. I only call attention to a gap which needs to be filled before the modern Irish drama can be said in any broad sense to stand before the world as the interpreter and revealer of Irish life as a whole.

And to come to my second point of criticism. We hear it urged from every Irish platform, in every article or essay in which the Irish drama is reviewed, that its portrayal of the province of Irish life which it does attempt is almost imiformly gloomy, bitter and dispiriting. Ireland appears here to reflect with added intensity the pessimism which with Ibsen, Strindberg, Hauptmann and Tolstoi has thrown its shadow over so much of Continental literature. Instead of the old, and undoubtedly vicious and insincere, glorification of everything that passes for t3rpically Irish, we have now a mordant criticism, sparing nothing in its passion of destructive analysis, and giving us picture after picture of

IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 239

disillusionment, frustration, and ignobility, of moral weak- ness collapsing with hardly a struggle under the burden of untoward circumstance. I am speaking very broadly, of course, but it is said, and I think with some justice, that this is the general effect of the more serious of the plays presented by the Abbey Theatre. Unlike most critics, however, I do not think this tendency is expressed in the plays of Mr. J. M. Synge. These stand apart. In his characters, in spite of aU the outward barbarism and C3niicism, I at least feel conscious of a certain lift, an luidulating force, like the swell from an invisible ocean of life, which marks these people out as the destined conquerors, not the victims of circumstances. They may shock us, they have shocked a great many worthy people, but they can never discourage and depress.

In general, however, I think it will be agreed that the Abbey Theatre plays, or at least the more serious ones, do not cover anything like the whole of Irish life either ex- tensively or intensively. They paint one class alone and that only in one aspect. Are these two deficiencies really one and the same ? Is it perhaps the case that the hardness and toughness of fibre, combined with the capacity for an ideal passion, which can alone yield the stuff for great drama, is not to be found in Ireland except in the class from which the Irish drama, so far, averts its gaze ? Again, I don't know, I don't profess to explain. One sees that plays of a certain kind turn up and that others as a rule do not. The mind of young Ireland, so far as it is sincerely and strongly inspired, appears to express itself mainly in one way, and of course it is idle to teU these writers that they ought to seek for different ways. They must write accord- ing to the vision they have received. If any one has a different vision, and can express it with equal passion and sincerity, I have no doubt the Abbey Theatre will welcome any work he may send in to it. In the meantime the great and indispensable work of liberation is being done. We have seen a new and astonishing thing: the critical in-

240 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

telligence of Ireland is coming to life, the crusts are being broken up, the current of Irish intellectual life is being set free to follow, whithersoever it may caU, the mysterious gravitation of national destiny. But I hope I am not touching on any forbidden topic when I say that there is one great sphere of Irish life still almost wholly untouched by the new spirit, and which needs to be conquered and taken possession of by it. I mean the political sphere. I am not speaking of any one party, of any one conception of Ireland's future ; what I say I hold to be true of the whole complex of current politics in Ireland, when I state that the application of intellect, of sincere thought, to Irish politics is one of the most urgent needs of our time — something for the want of which it may well be that we shall have to pay very dearly and very soon.

However, this is not the time or place to elaborate this suggestion. I pass on to what wiU form the concluding section of these remarks — a discussion of the Gaelic move- ment which took organised and effective form about twenty years ago. Nothing more remarkable has been witnessed in our time than the manner in which this movement has laid hold of the Irish mind. For, you wiU observe, it is a movement which had nothing to offer, except a purely ideal and spiritual aim, and which invited its adherents to hard work, hard fighting, and self-denial for an object incapable of being measured and valued by any material standard. Founded on this basis the Gaelic movement is now a vast organisation working through many hundreds of branches and administering a sum of about £7000 a year. It has also laid hold of the machinery of the State to an extent which, I think, is not generally realised. Irish is now a subject of instruction in 2800 schools, and the number of children under instruction appears from the latest returns which I have procured to be in round numbers no less than 170,000.1 A gujn of about £14,500 a year is supplied from

^ Since these words were written, later returns have appeared which show less favourable results. The extension of Irish teaching in the schools, it must be noted, depends mainly on the willingness of parents and of managers to adopt it.

IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 241

Imperial sources to the carrying out of this system of in- struction. This does not include the considerable sums which cannot be disentangled from the Board's accounts, and which are paid to Irish inspectors, or the capitation fees of £5 a head which are given for every qualified teacher turned out by the voluntary training colleges. This repre- sents a very notable degree of State encouragement ; and whatever may be said as to the past, it does not appear as if Gaelic interests in the present day had much to complain of on this score. As regards the number under instruction through voluntary agencies, such as Gaelic League Branches, I know no way of getting at exact figures, but we can arrive at some results in this way. In the province of Leinster there are practically no native speakers of Irish. But the Census of 1911 shows 40,000 in that province able to speak both English and Irish. Of course all children and others imder instruction, and aU who have even a very limited knowledge of Irish will put themselves down, quite rightly, as bilingual : there is nothing in the Census to define the degree of mastery of either language which is supposed to be conveyed by such an entry. Well then, there are 431 schools in Leinster teaching Irish. These account on an average for 60 pupils each, or 26,000 children, and the balance of the 40,000, i.e. 14,000, must be put down to the Gaelic propaganda carried on by voluntary efforts. That is for Leinster alone. Now we have seen that there are some 170,000 children under public instruction in all Ire- land. I think it wiU be a very low estimate if we take it that between public and private agencies at least 200,000 persons are at present more or less acquainted with Irish, who would be purely English speaking if twenty years ago the language had been left to take its chance without any special attention either from the State or from voluntary organisations. In reckoning up the achievements of the movement, we must not forget the invaluable School of Irish Learning in Dublin, whose primary purpose it is to give to Irishmen in their own land, and where possible to

VOL. IX. Q

242 THE CELTIC REVIEW

native Irish speakers, the training in dealing with ancient texts for which formeriy they would have had to have recourse to foreign and chiefly Continental miiversities. The Gaelic League has also, as we know, captured the National University, to the extent at least of securing that a know- ledge of Irish shall be an essential subject for matricula- tion— a provision which I heartily wish could be introduced into every Irish University. And here it would indeed be a great and ungrateful omission not to mention what is being done for Irish studies within these walls. The great Celtic library collected by Dr. Whitley Stokes, was presented to University College, London, by his daughters, and that noble gift initiated the establishment here of a school of Celtic studies, which is kept going by a small endowment fund raised by Mrs. Alice Green, Professor Kuno Meyer, and Professor W. P. Ker. The Provost, Dr. Gregory Foster, has kindly given me some information on the sub- ject. He writes : ' We were able, with the help of this fund, and with the help of additional subscriptions specially obtained, to arrange this year for a general course by Professor Kimo Meyer, and special classes both in Irish and Welsh. The class in Irish was so enthusiastically received that we have arranged for its continuance during the current term under the direction of Mr. R. Flower.'

He adds : ' It is the desire of the University, as speedily as possible, to establish a permanent Readership in Celtic subjects, and to convert that, as soon as funds are avail- able, into a professorship.'

But now let us turn to ask, ' What does all this effort really amoiuit to — what has actually been achieved by it, and what does it promise for the future ? Here I shall have to say some things which wiU, I doubt not, provoke dissent. But I do not care if I do that if, at the same time, I can pro- voke thought upon a question which I think we ought, and after twenty years of propaganda are now able, to look more squarely in the face than we are in the habit of doing.

The Gaelic movement, so far as it deals with the modem

miSH ART AND THOUGHT 243

language, really has before it two different goals, which we ought to keep sharply distinguished from each other. In the first place, there is the installation of Irish as an essential subject of study for all Irish youth, so that every one of us should have some acquaintance with the refined and beauti- ful structure of this language, should learn what Irish literature was hke in its original and native form, should understand the meaning of the place-names which so often embody a perception of natural scenery, or carry down through the ages some message of heroism or romance from the legendary or historical past of our race. Any Irish- man who has acquired sufficient Irish for these purposes, even though he goes no further, has a great, an inestimable gain. He will feel at home in his native land, intimate with her inmost soul, in a way impossible of attainment by any other means. In addition, it would be consonant with this conception of the goal of the Gaelic movement that the language should be used on certain solemn and cere- monial occasions, and for epigraphic purposes — very much as the Jews who had abandoned Hebrew as a spoken tongue long before the Christian era, still keep themselves mindful of the language in which the earliest ideals of the race were conceived and proclaimed. That, I say, is one goal which a Gaelic movement might consciously set before itself, and I hold it to be an altogether worthy and admirable, and also an attainable, goal.

But this goal, which I may call the national study of Irish, is a very different thing from the national adoption of Irish as the current language of literature, journalism, com- merce and social intercourse which is set before us by those who direct the policy of the Gaelic League. Is this desir- able, and if so is it attainable ? I think it is a question on which we should make up our minds, and surely the question, what is to be the language of Irish literature, is well worthy of being brought to the consideration of an Irish literary society. It, moreover, is a question of much practical and immediate importance. We see Ireland all round us

244 THE CELTIC EEYIEW

busy in creating a national literature in English, doing the very thing which Mr. Brooke twenty-one years ago described as ' adapting the English language ' to the purposes of expressing the Irish mind, the Irish imagination, in an Irish literature. The tj^ical Gaelic Leaguer has always looked upon this movement with mistrust, and even at times with hostility, and his attitude from his point of view is thoroughly justified — indeed it hardly goes far enough. For it is per- fectly clear that the better the Irish mind succeeds in ex- pressing itself, in English, and the more the ideals, imagina- tions, the higher thought and feeling of the nation come to be associated with this medium, the greater becomes the difficulty of changing it for another, especially when that other can only with much difficulty and reshaping be adapted to the needs of the modern world.

But if, on the other hand, the language of Irish literature is to be in the future what it is now, namely English, and the true goal of the Gaelic movement is to be what I described as the national study of Irish, then it is equally clear that many great abilities and much devoted energy are at present being expended in Ireland in following up a false track, and are being withdrawn from the real literary need of the day, that of developing for Irish purposes the medium of which alone the great mass of the Irish people are at present in possession.

After having seen the lapse of twenty years of zealous and active propaganda, I repeat that we are now in a position to face this question, and that it behoves us to make up our minds about it. And first, as to the abstract desirability of the adoption of Irish, for my own part I think it a deplor- able thing that the language ever was allowed to die, and if by the proverbial stroke of a pen it were possible at this moment to eradicate the knowledge of English from every Irish mind, and to place Irish there instead, I would at once place that pen in the hand of Dr. Douglas Hyde. But this thing cannot be done with a fairy wand, or with the stroke of any legislative pen ; it cannot be done by force of any kind. It can only be done with the goodwill of the

IRISH ART AND THOUGHT 245

people concerned, by the spread of the language, which may be helped no doubt by schools and other organisations, from the centres where it is still living. The language of a people's literature must be the familiar language of their business and bosoms — isolated from common life it is merely a waxen flower which will never strike root nor bear fruit. How, then, does Irish fare, after these twenty years of pro- paganda, in the districts where it is still at home ? For practical purposes these districts may be taken to lie within the Provinces of Munster and Connaught, for although native Irish may be foimd in Donegal and elsewhere, it forms so small a proportion of the speech of the people in Ulster and Leinster that it is in those provinces a negligible quantity for our present purposes. Now if we turn to the Census returns for 1891 we find that in Mimster and Con- naught 551,249 persons were returned as speaking both English and Irish — those who speak Irish alone are, of course, a rapidly vanishing remnant, and I disregard them in the inquiry. At the Census of 1911 this figure was reduced to 443,015, or a loss of more than 100,000 Irish speakers. These figures are much worse even than they seem on the surface, for you must recollect that 2800 schools over all Ireland, of which about 2000 fall within the provinces I have named, not to mention the numerous branches of the Gaelic League, are all busy in creating the material for bilingual entries in the Census returns ; and the entries thus accounted for, however valuable for certain purposes, have, in the vast majority of cases, little or no importance in relation to the adoption of Irish. It may be said, of course, that much of the gross diminution in Irish speakers revealed by the census returns is to be accounted for by emigration. I do not think that the most Irish districts are those that contribute most to swell the emigration returns, but however that may be, an examination of the figures shows that while the decline of population in the two provinces amounted in round figures to thirteen per cent., the decline of Irish speakers ran to twenty per cent.

The tale told by these figures, in the face of the heroic

246 THE CELTIC REVIEW

efforts, the lavish expenditure of money and energy which have been made to turn the ebbing tide into a flowing one, is to my mind unmistakable. The question of the future language of Irish literature seems to me, out of the mouth of Ireland herself, to be res judicata. There are plenty of people, no doubt, here and elsewhere, who will contest the conclusion. Still I put it to you that the Celtic revolt against the despotism of fact may be carried too far, that there are better things to do with facts than to revolt against them, namely, to make use of them ; and that the truest patriotism under present circumstances is to work for the cultivation of the Irish spirit with the instrument we have got, the only one that Ireland will give us, and one in the use of which we can all imite.

The task that lies before Irish literature, and Irish artistic expression generally, is very great and enormously difficult. That task I take to be the spiritual unification of Ireland. The source, it seems to me, of nine-tenths of our present troubles, and of our weakness even in the material world, is not that we have so many divisions in Ireland, but that aU the divisions run one way. In England the divisions cross each other in so many different directions that a very substantial measure of national imity and homogeneity is attainable. A man may be divided from another by social position, but united by religion — he may be divided in religion but united by politics — divided by politics but imited by social ties or by business interests. In Ireland, owing to unhappy historical circumstances, the divisions of creed, of class, of politics, of racial origin, of occupation, all in a great measure coincide, and the gulf they plough between two sections of the Irish people is both wide and deep. Until that gulf is bridged, the ideal of Irish nation- hood in the inward and spiritual sense can never be fully reaMsed. More than one force can be utilised to this end, but I know of none more likely to bridge the gulf effectively than the community of feeling produced by art, and above all by the art which makes the widest and most popular appeal,

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 247

the art of imaginative literature. That art knows nothing of class, party, or creed as divisive principles, it knows them only as the material for presenting what is eternally great and enthralling, the drama of human life. To set forth, to illuminate, to interpret this drama, especially as we see it played in our own day and land, to lift it into the region of high significance and beauty — to do all this not only with the magical allurement, but also with the keen unshrinking sincerity of art — this is one of the ways, and perhaps the most effective way, in which the Irish spirit may come to its own, and may ultimately take peaceful posesssion of every heart in Ireland.

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN

COINNEACH MacLeOID

Tha mi 'ga mheas 'na bhuannachd nach beag gu'n do dheonaich Ni Maith dhomh, a dh' aindeoin drip an t-saoghail, la is bliadhna de mo bheatha chur seachad comhla ris na h-eoin. Riamh o'n chaidh innseadh dhomh, an tus m'oige, gu robh mi ' cho gorach ris na h-eoin,' bha m'fhuil a' teoghadh ri m'fhine, agus mo chridhe ghnath an geaU air a'chairdeas agairt. Theagamh, na'm bithinn 'gam shloiri- neadh fein, gur h-ann do na h-eoin-mhara as ro-chairdiche mi ; ach cha'n 'eil mi idir a' gearan, is cha bu chomain domh, gur h-ann an luib nan eun-monaidh a dheonaich ni maith mo chur. Cha robh mi buileach gun eolas orra roimhe. Co-dhiu, bhiomaid a' beannachadh d'a cheile air an rathad mhor, is anns a' choille-chno ; agus a thuilleadh air sin, bu chaomh leam riamh a bhi leughadh eachdraidh na h-ealtainn a reir nan ollamh. Ach is eol domh nis nach ionnan idir an da ni, aithne gun chomaidh agus caidreabh taobh an nid. Bha mi uair anns a' bheachd gu robh na h-oUamhan na b'eolaiche air nos na h-ealtainne na bha na h-eoin fhein, ach cha'n 'eil mi buileach cho daingeann anns

248 THE CELTIC REVIEW

a' bheachd sin an diugh. Co-dhiu, chunnaic mi na h-eoin a' neadachadh am badaibh, agus ag itheadh troileis, a bha calg-dhireach an aghaidh gach riaghailt a leugh mise riamh anns na leabhraichean. Gun teagamh, tha cion na Beurla fagail nan eun deireasach an iomadh doigh ; is e sin as coireach nach do thuig iad fhathast, gur h-e an t-ollamh nach d'ith boiteag riamh, is nach do shuidh riamh air nead, as fhearr fios ciod tha maith do chreutairean beaga ta deanamh an da chuid. A mach uaithe sin, f aodar a radh le firinn nach 'eil clann-eunlaidh agus clann-daoine, maith ris a' mhaith agus olc ris an olc, na's eu-coltaiche ri cheile na tha bo mhaol odhar agus bo odhar mhaol — ach direach gu bheil na h-eoin beagan na's gUce anns a' ghoraiche, agus na daoine beagan na's goraiche anns a' ghUocas.

Is iomadh uair, is mi 'nam shuidhe air cHabh aig ceann an tighe, a smaointich mi nach robh an Calaman idir cho neo-chiontach ri choltas, is gu robh dealan beag de 'n chrochaire a' boillsgeadh air uairibh 'na shuil. Nis o'n bha mi thall is a chunnaic mi, tha mi ag iarraidh maith- eanais air a' Chalaman. Is fheudar domh aideachadh gu bheil e direach mar tha e, 'na mhoigein laghach neo-chion- tach, nach cumar gu brath oidhche 'na dhuisg le luasgan eanchainn. Mheall a' Chailleach-oidhche orm cuideachd. Bha mi an duil riamh gu'm bu bhoireannach maith i ; agus cha robh uair a bhlaomadh i a da ghlog-shuil nach robh i toirt 'nam chuimhne latha-traisg, no ni-eigin eile ceart cho crabhach. Tha fios agam a nis gu bheil ise cuideachd direach mar tha i — is cha'n ann mar a shaoil ! Chunnaic mi na h-eoin eile call an luiths leis a' ghaireachdainn, is a' chail- leach a' dol troimh 'n chomhradh ainmeil a bha eadar i fhein agus Domhnull Mac Ehionnlaigh bochd a bha'n Loch abar. ' Is ann mar so a bha,' theireadh ise, is i 'na seasamh air tobhta ceardaich a bh'ann. ' Thuirt Domh- null rium fhein, is mi cur seachad an fheasgair comhla ris :

•' Nis o'n a tha thu aosda."

Bha e leth-char dall, an duine bochd !

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 249

" Deansa t' fhaosaid ris an t-sagairt, Agus innis dha gun euradh Gach aon sgeula g'a bheil agad."

Chrom mi fhein mo cheann gu baintidh grimi, is rimi mi osnadh mor, is chuir mi caoin shliom bhoidheach air mo ghuth, is rinn mi osnadh eile nach bu mhiosa na chiad fhear, agus arsa mi fhein :

" Cha d' rinn mise braid no breugan, Cladh no tearmad a bhristeadh, Air m' fhear fhein cha d'rinn mi iomluas, Is cailleach bhochd ionraic mise." '

Ach thusa, Chailleach-oidhche ! Bha fior-shannt orm eolas na bu dluithe fhaotainn air an Fheannaig, ach gu tubais- teach thachair gu robh ise fo choill anns a'cheart am — co-dhiu, fad na ciad leth-bhliadhna. Bha sealgair ur air tighinn do'n duthaich, agus bha de chron air, comhla ris gach cron eile, gur h-e an t-eun air an cuimsicheadh e a leagadh e ; ni nach 'eil idir cumanta am measg luchd-seilge, oir cha'n fhaca mi riamh nach e an t-eun a bhiodh iad a' seachnadh, bu dluithe rachadh air a' bhas. Chuala mi an Dreathann Donn ag radh, gu'm bu mhisde an duthaich gu leir fogairt na Feannaige — agus gu'm b'fheairrde cuideachd ! Cha'n 'eil mi ag radh nach robh an Dreathann ceart. Cha toigh leam a bhi 'ga innseadh, ach cha robh am Fitheach ana- barrach aoigheil rium idir. Tha an t-ainm aige bhi glic ; agus ma's fior na theirear, is cliabh chlach air an druim an gliocas. Fhad's a bha mi anns an ealtainn, cha deachaidh fois air an duine thruagh o mhoch gu dubh, ach a sior- chanranaich gu robh deireadh an t-saoghail am fagus, agus gu robh na seachd deamhain cheana mu sgaoil. Theagamh gu bheil e miomhail dhomhsa an rud aithris, ach cha'n fhaca mi, a dh'aindeoin giorrad na h-uine ! gu robh cail an Fhithich gu roic dad na bu mhiosa na bha i roimhe. Cha bu toigh leam a' Chuthag riamh, is cha toigh leam fhathast i. Tha i olc, olc. Tha cuimhne agam aon mhaduinn, is mi fann le cion mo bhrochain, gu'n d'rinn i diol cho sgreadaidh

250 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

orm is nach robh mi gu maith fad na bliadhna as a dheidh. Is tha i cho breugach ris na fir-chlis. Chuala mi ghogaid uair is uair a' gugail gu ladurna gu robh an samhradh air tighinn, agus mi fhein 'gam dhubh-reothadh leis an fhuachd ri taobh braidseal mor teine. Is tha fios aig a' bhaile gu leir gu'm bi a' bhaobh ri leughadh nan cupannan, ged tha meomhair na faidheadaireachd g'a dith. Dh'innis i dhomh fhein o chionn corr is fichead bhadhna nach faicinn ach da noUaig eile ; dh'innis i dhomh an uiridh, is aodann oirre cho fada ris a' chlobha, gu faicinn a dha dheug eile. Ach nach diomhain domhsa bhi leudachadh air caithe-beatha na Cuthaige. Mar thuirt an Calaman bochd, is ceann-crom air leis an naire : ' Am faca tu fhein riamh eun laghach sam bith a' breith uighean an tighean chaich — ar learn nach 'eil e dacent ! ' Chuir na h-eoin eile mi fo gheasaibh, gu'n innsinn do chloinn-daoine gu bheil cairdeas na Cuthaige do'n ealtainn a mach air an fhicheadamh glun ; agus ceart cho luath 's a dh'fhosglas i a gob, gu'n aithnich neach sam bith gu bheil bias na Beurla air a cuid Gaidhlig. Tha an Dreathann Donn anns a' bheachd gur h-ann an Cali- fornia thaU a bhios i cur seachad a' gheamhraidh, is gur h-e sin as coireach i bhi cho suarach coma c'ait an tilg i smugaid. Bha amharus agam roimhe gu'm b'fhior-gheop a' Chathag, agus nach robh an Clacharan fad air deireadh oirre, is gu'm biodh iad le cheile bodhradh chaich o mhoch gu dubh le'n cuid boilich. Ciod tuiUeadh a th'annta a bharrachd air geop is air boilich, cluinnear 'na dheidh so. Cha'n 'eil agam ach teist mhaith ri thoirt air an Smeorach is air an Uiseig ; tha iad le cheile cho maith ri'n ceol, agus foghnaidh sin. Cha'n ann 'ga ailis air an Smeorach a tha mi, ach saoihdh mi nach 'eil e buileach cho neo-shaoghalta ris an Uiseig, agus gu bheil beagan a bharrachd de'n deamhan ann : da ni nach misde neach sam bith a ta f uireach an ath dhorus ri Sionnach no ri Cailleach-oidhche. Cha bhiodh ann ach ladumas dhomh am Bru-dearg a mholadh. O bharr a ghuib gu barr na h-earr-ite, cha'n fhaighear aon ghaineamh- an de'n fhoill ann ; agus cha'n 'eil eun eile anns an ealtainn

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 251

gu leir as urrainn a thilgeadh air, gu'n do dhiochuimlinich e riamh c' ar son ata bhroilleach dearg. Bidh e f hein is an Calaman, na truaghain, a' deanamh an dichill, a dh'aindeoin buirt is magaidh, gu tomhas de stoldachd is de chrabhachd a chur anns na h-eoin eile. Ach mar thuirt an Dreathann Donn riutha : ' Tha sibh tuilleadh is anmoch, a chairdean ionmhuinn. Na robh thusa, Chalamain, air an aire a chur fodha, bhiodh an saoghal cuibhiseach maith an diugh.' Tha so 'gam thoirt gus an dileas dheireannach — mo chaomh- charaid, an Dreathann. An da chuid an leirsinn is an duinealas, is e iochd ar n-achd righ na h-ealtainne ; an coimeas ris, cha'n 'eil anns an lolair ach cridhe na circe ann an gob na h-airee. A' chiad uair a bhruidhinn mi ris, bha e air an iteig dhachaidh, agus smuid aige air port :

' Tha mi 'n diiil gu'm bi mi nochd Ri taobh mo ghaoil, ge b'ann air sop, Tha mi 'n diiil gu'm bi mi nochd Air taobh a bhos na h-aibhne.'

Dh'innis mi dha, anns a' Ghaidhhg a b'fhearr a bh'agam, gu'm b'e mo run la is bhadhna chur seachad comhla ris na eairdean ; agus gu'm bithinn fada 'na chomain, na'n gabhadh e mi f o a sgeith fhad's a bhithinn anns an ealtainn, is gun annam ach leirist de choigreach. ' Mata, a choig- rich,' ars' esan, ' cha'n 'eil barail choir sam bith agam fhein air cloinn-daoine ; a' chuid nach 'eil straiceil dhiubh, tha iad olc, agus a' chuid nach 'eil olc, tha iad cho gorach ris na cruimheagan. Ach o'n thainig thu, charaid, is gur teotha fuil na uisge, fhad 's a bhios cosag no boiteag agamsa, bidh cosag is boiteag agadsa.' Mur do chum, is mur do sheachd-chum, esan ri ghealladh, cha'n 'eil solus anns a' ghrein no doimhneachd anns a'mhuir. Ged gheibhinn saogh- al na b'fhaide na tha diiil agam ris, cha leig mi as mo chuimhne gu brath an Dreathann is e 'na sheasamh air stob, sop feoir 'na bheul, goic 'na cheann, is e meomhrachadh air fir is air coin, is air nithean diomhair an domhain. Is an uair a chnuasaicheadh e nithean gu dheoin, chaireadh e an sop air an stob, is dheanadh e an t-suil bheag rium fhein.

252 THE CELTIC REVIEW

' Faodaidh gu bheil mi neonach,' theireadh esan, * ach is iomadh rud a chunnaic mi, a dhuine.' Agus gu cinnteach b'fhior dha, o'n a b'fhior uaithe. Ge mor am facal e, cha dana dhomh radh, gu'n cuireadh e h-uile mac mathar de na h-ollamhan Gearmailteach ^ amis na crannaibh seilich le feallsanachd is le diomhaireachd. A charaid bhig mhoir, cha'n ami a chionn gu robh thu coibhneil rium a tha mi 'ga radh, ach na faighinn triuir am dhuthaich, a thigeadh an gaoith do sgeithe an gUocas, an uaisle, an duinealas, cha bu nead cuthaige mo dhuthaich. Is cha'n iongantach leam, ged is iongantach uam ! t'fhacail rium anns an dealachadh : ' O'n chuir mi eolas ort, a charaid, cha'n abair mi gu bheil clann-daoine cho olc 's a bha mi an diiil — ach, O bhoiteag chridhe, tha iad pailt na's goraiche ! '

(R^a Leantainn.)

THE CLAIM OF CELTIC STUDIES UPON THE LOWLAND SCOT 2

Professor Mackinnon

Keeping in view the practice followed at this time-honoured function of our university life, it has occurred to me that I might invite your attention briefly to a phase of our educa- tional problem seldom if ever discussed, but which has not infrequently occupied my thoughts : The Claim of Celtic Studies upon the Lowland Scot. To my mind the claim is a very important one. During the last sixty years a large and increasing number of eminent scholars in Europe and America have been studying the Celtic languages, to the great benefit of linguistic science and the increase of know- ledge in several directions. But one confesses to a feeling of profound disappointment to find when the role of Celto- logues is made up that it hardly contains the name of a single non-Gaelic-speaking Scot. Surely this is not as it ought to

^ Ach feumaidh gu bheil mi cli am bheachd— gabhaidh bloighean de fheallsanachd an Dreathainn tuigsinn.

' Being the substance of an Address to the Arts Graduates in the University of Edinburgh, on July 4th, 1913.

THE CLAIM OF CELTIC STUDIES 253

be. For many long years now, we, the inhabitants of this kingdom. North and South, have been proud to bear the name of Scot.

How came we by the name ? Scientists teU us that a pre- Celtic race or races originally possessed these islands. They are not agreed as to the race-relationship of these tribes. But while it is allowed that their names, their dialects, their beliefs and customs may have disappeared beyond recall we are assured that their blood so far lives in the peoples that succeeded and conquered, but did not exterminate them. Within historic times we have had in Scotland as more or less clearly defined types the Pict, the Briton, the Scot, and the Saxon. Then came later the strenuous Norsemen who settled permanently on our northern and north- western shores. After the battle of Largs it would appear that a number of these settlers returned to Norway, while others remained and amalgamated in blood and language with the native population. Orkney and Shetland con- tinued, by treaty, under Norse rule for many years after- wards, and very probably a strip along the shore on the north and east of Caithness retained the Norse speech until it^ was replaced by the Scots tongue. Nor must the influx of Saxon and Norman knights during the eleventh and twelfth centuries be lost sight of. This movement pro- foundly affected the national policy, and introduced a large admixture of foreign blood, especially among the upper classes. None of these settlers were of pure stock when they came to these parts ; and they became still more mixed in our land. The Picts and Britons with their name, their language, and institutions were absorbed by Scot and Saxon centuries ago. The Scot came to us from Ireland and brought the home name along with him, as did also the monks of the mission of Columbanus to the Continent of Europe, where they with their books and writings were uni- versally known as Scotti. In Ireland they were more commonly known as Goedels, now Gaels. It is not known when the Gael first came to Scotland, probably very early. But a colony of them settled permanently in Argyll in the

254 THE CELTIC REVIEW

second century. There were no doubt additions from time to time, and there was a considerable immigration in the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century. The Scots or Gaels prospered in Argyll and founded the kingdom of Dalriada, this name being also imported from Ireland. Later, with the powerful aid of the monks of the Columban mission, they Gaelicised a large portion of Pictland. So far as known to me, it is to the Northmen we owe the formation of the hybrid name Scotland. The Norse pirates named the belt of sea now called The Minch Skotlandsfiord, the firth opening on the land of the Scots of Dalriada, as contrasted with Petlandsfiord, now the Pentland Firth, leading to the country of the Picts. Thereafter the name Scotland came to be applied to the territory ruled by Kenneth the Scot, when that enterprising prince captured the Pictish throne, and subsequently to the whole country when it became con- solidated into one kingdom. Thenceforward the terms Scot, Scotsman, and Scotland became the national designa- tions in the south, with their Gaelic equivalents Gaidheal, Alhannach, and Alba (or Alhainn) in the Gaelic-speaking area. But it has to be observed that while the Gaelic terms Abba and Albannach embrace the whole of Scotland, North and South, Scot and Scottish, on the other hand, are, in the usage of Southern writers, becoming exclusively confined to the lowland Scot, and especially to his language.

It will thus be seen that the Southern Scot is a person of very composite blood — Teutonic indeed, but with strains of varied strength from the mixed races who occupied the land before him, as well as from the adventurers who followed him from time to time. Nor is the Gael less of a mongrel, re- presenting as he does the Scot of Dalriada, largely mixed with Norse blood, the Pict with all which that race de- signation implies, and a dash of British. It is a comforting reflection that these composite breeds have both in North and South produced a race of men exceptionally fitted in body and mind to stand the strain and stress of fife all the world over. The struggle for supremacy in Scotland between Saxon and Gael was long and severe, and it would be idle to

THE CLAIM OF CELTIC STUDIES 255

attempt to apportion too nicely to either its share of blame for past misdeeds. More pleasant it is to recall that in our country's greatest straits, in her strenuous struggle for existence as an independent nation, the Celt bore his full share, while in recent times he has been equally to the front in extending and upholding the strength and fame of the Empire.

The Southern Scot has as a rule given credit to the Gael for being a good fighter, and of recent years he seems pre- pared to acclaim him as an eloquent preacher. But as it seems to me, with his good conceit of himself, as his many excellent and capable qualities entitle him to entertain, the Lowlander has always shown a singular indifference to the usages and beliefs of the peoples whom he has super- seded. In this respect he compares unfavourably with the Highlander. In especial he has always shown a feeling akin to contempt for the language, literature, and institutions of the Gael. This is much to be regretted. The Saxon has entered largely into the heritage of the Pict and of the Gael. It is in the Gaelic language and literature that we find our chief sources of information regarding these peoples. But the Lowland Scot writes his histories of them without con- sidering it worth while to examine these authorities at first hand. The late Dr. Skene is practically the only author who read a Gaelic MS., before he wrote of the early history of Scotland. The fact is not to the credit of the Lowland Scot. Knowledge of old Gaelic does not solve questions of race- relationship nor clear up obscure historical problems. Peoples change their language, but man cannot change the colour of his eyes nor the shape of his skull. Archaeology, and especially anthropology, are often of greater weight than language in dealing with race origins. StiU the evidence from language is not to be Hghtly set aside. The scientific student of the Celtic dialects will find them a branch of the Aryan family of languages, but with traits of their own which suggest that the Celt in his wanderings must have sojourned with non- Aryan tribes long enough to have his speech per- manently modified by them. One may refer, among other

256 THE CELTIC REVIEW

characteristics, to the initial changes in words, which per- plex the Celtic student ; to the welding of the preposition and pronominal object into one indissoluble word ; and to the position of the verb at the head of the sentence.

And if one turns to Gaelic literature, while much the greater part has been produced and preserved in Ireland, it is the case that Gaelic has been spoken and written con- tinuously in Scotland since the days of Saint Columba, if not earlier. One would have wished that the fragments which remain contained a greater amount of historical matter than they do, but enough has survived to show that no full and reliable account of Scottish history can be written with- out a knowledge of the contents of GaeUc literature. No one is obliged to write history ; but surely no one ought to attempt to do so without previously examining all the avail- able sources. What value would one put upon a history of Rome written by a person who did not know the Latin language and literature ? For my part I place much the same value upon a history of the Highlands by one who does not know Gaelic literature.

It is an easy matter to show how, through ignorance or prejudice or both combined, the Southern historian misre- presents the character, the literature and institutions of the peoples whom he regards as now represented by the Gaels. Take e.g. the account given by Lord Macaulay of the state of the Highlands at the time of the Revolution. As a literary effort the chapter is one of the most brilliant which the author ever wrote, and it is much to be feared that this was its chief merit in the great writer's own eyes. This is what he writes about it in his Diary : ' My account of the Highlands is getting into tolerable shape. To-morrow I shall begin to transcribe and to polish. What trouble these few pages will have cost me. The great object is that after all this trouble they may read as if they had been spoken off, and may seem to flow as easy as table talk. We shaU see.' Fine writing, not truth, is the ' great object ' of Lord Macaulay when writing about his Highland ancestors. As it happens, the extant Gaelic literature of the period

THE CLAIM OF CELTIC STUDIES 257

proves to demonstration that the picture of the Highlander which Macaulay paints in such lurid colours is so dis- torted as to make it historically worthless. And if one turns to the latest history of Scotland written on a large scale one meets on every page with the same ignorant and contemptuous treatment of everything Gaelic and Celtic. Mr. HiU Burton must needs discuss the famous Ossianic controversy. True, he knows only one of the two languages involved, but that to him is a small detail. He pronounces upon the merits more confidently than I would venture to do after laboriously wading through the texts in both languages. Had the man only known it, there lay to his hand an argument of infinitely greater force than all the learning and all the rhetoric expended on this foolish controversy. How stand the facts ? James Macpherson printed so-called translations of twenty-two poems purport- ing to be by Ossian the son of Fingal, a reputed Gaelic bard of the third century a.d. To this day only eleven of these twenty-two poems have appeared in Gaelic. Again, a favourite dictum of Mr. Hill Burton is that the Gael knew nought of the beauty of his own land until the lesson was taught him by a Saxon. The slightest knowledge of Gaelic literature is sufficient to prove that no statement could be more ridiculously untrue. The one subject which a Gaelic poet never loses sight of is the beauty of his own land. One wonders, indeed, whether the magician who revealed the charm of Highland scenery to the world was not himself inspired by a Gael.

Akin to this is the habit of belittling things merely Gaelic. It would be attaching too much importance to them to quote or write them correctly. One cannot believe that Sir Walter Scott did not know that the Gaelic patronymic of the Duke of Argyll was Mac-Cailein, and yet the great wizard wrote Mac-Calum. Smaller writers of this type by lapsing into definite assertions and giving illustra- tive examples, not infrequently expose themselves to ridicule. Some thirty or forty years ago a capable clergyman wrote a

VOL. IX. R

258 THE CELTIC REVIEW

very interesting volume descriptive of the county of Perth. The author goes to KiUin in search of material, and when there he hears a great deal about the Gaelic poet Duncan M'Intyre. To add a touch of colour to his page the writer gives sixteen lines from M'Intyre' s poem on Beinn Dorain in the original. And now recalling the fact that the mass of his readers like himself did not know Gaelic, he prints as translation two stanzas in English verse. The so-called translation is from a different poem !

As an example of what might have been, had our his- torians made themselves better acquainted with the life of the Gael in the past, I give in outhne a chapter from West Highland history which is not found in any Scottish history seen by me. It is known that in ruling his extensive domain the great Lord of the Isles was assisted by a Council which sat in Islay. The Records of this Council were regularly kept, and the total disappearance of them is an irreparable loss not only to the history of these parts, but to the history of Scotland. The administration of the Principality was, for the times, enUghtened and compre- hensive, and, so far as one can gather, efficient. From the position of political independence which the great chief assumed it was essential that his people should be not only numerous but healthy and strong. Accordingly we find among his many officials a Chief Physician of the Isles who was highly remunerated and highly honoured. In addition to fees and perquisites he held lands which are now valued somewhere about £600 per annum. The Chief Physician ranked next to the leading chiefs of the Hebrides. From the central home in Islay, physicians spread to the principal islands and to certain stations on the mainland. Traditions, which may in many cases be exaggerations, survive of the great knowledge and skill of these men. But there is an old and persistent one to the effect that upon one occasion, when the life of the prince of Scotland was despaired of, the Islay doctor was sent for, and that he effected a cure when the court physicians, who unworthily tried to baffle him, failed. Certain it is that grants of lands were made to Ferchard

BOOK REVIEWS 259

Leche ' the physician,' as is beheved in gratitude for the services rendered on this occasion. Be that as it may, the Gaelic physicians in Ireland and Scotland made translations of the principal medical treatises in use throughout Europe in the middle ages, and the number of such manuscripts now stored in the Advocates' Library and elsewhere in this city are an abiding proof of the learning and zeal of these men.

Perhaps enough has been said to show that if the Lowland Scot had studied his neighbour's language, literature and institutions he might have written his histories of Scotland in a different spirit, and have added an interesting chapter or two to his story.

BOOK REVIEWS

Zur Keliischen Wortkunde IV. KuNO Meyer.

In this continuation (No. 59 to No. 76) of his valuable notes contributed to the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, Professor Kuno Meyer deals with 0. Ir. agent-terms in -em ; Ir. accrlch ; accal ; Gaulish Coivbilium (It. corr-bile) ; Ir. cadla ; Gael long-phort in place-names ; Ir. faenic, ' Phcenix '; Ir. Benn-chor ; Cym. Ban-gor ; O. Ir. Alpe, Great Britain {Alba) ; traces of dialect in 0. Ir. ; Ir. -irne in personal names ; grammatical terminology in 0. Ir. ; Ir. credem, gnaw; Gaul. Conginna, a woman's name (Ir. Congenn) ; Gaul. Viro-cantus (Ir. Fer-chete) ; 0. Ir. nched {*ngo-$edon) ; ' ghost-names ' (Unnamen) of persons occurring in the first fasciculus of the new Irish Dictionary ; 0. Ir. retaire (reader ; A. S. rcedere).

Longphort is a compound of long, ship, and port, harbour, place, both of which Professor Meyer regards as loans from Latin. Ptolemy's river Ao'yyos, Norse Skipafjor^r (ship-firth), now Loch Long, suggests that the loan, if it is a loan, was taken into Celtic at a very early period. In Ireland longphort becomes Longford in English. In Scotland there is, as Professor Meyer states, no Longford. There is, however, Longformacus, c. 1340 Langeford Makhous (Johnston). Zimmer connects the Irish Longfords with Viking influence, and Professor Meyer refers to Luncarty, Perth, the scene of a defeat of the Danes in 990 A.D. Though longphort does not take the form Longford in Scotland, the term occurs frequently in other forms, as was pointed out in Place-Names of Boss and Cromarty and elsewhere. The list of them from Am Faslaghart (foslongphort), in Sutherland, southwards would be fairly long. The term, however, seems to occur very rarely, if at all, in the Western Isles, and on the mainland it is usually found well inland.

260 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

For the meaning attached to it in the seventeenth century, see Celtic Review, ix. 159. The second part of Benn-chor is equated with cor (from cuir, place), seen also in cleth-chor, ' a row of stakes ' (of. huachar). Thus Benn-chor would mean ' a row of points or peaks, hill-peaks or rock-peaks, spikes, battlements. It is common in Scottish topography (v. Celtic Review, v. 339). No. 75, on 'ghost-names,' i.e. names that are no names, will be read with special interest.

An Trebraiche, Leahhran Sgoil a chiimFeum na Cloinne le Calum Mac Pharlain.

Third Edition. Stirling : Eneas Mackay. 40 pp. 3d. Dhin Thaghte a chum Feum an Sgoilean na Gaidhealtachd : fo Ughdarras a'

Chomuinn Ghaidhealaich. Stirling : Eneas Mackay. 47 pp. 3d. An Comhrthr^oraiche, Leahhran Sgoil le Calum Mac Pharlain. Stirling :

Eneas Mackay. 64 pp. 6i. Companach na Cloinne, Leahhran Sgoil le Iain Mac Phaidein fo Laimh Chaluim

Mhic Pharlain. Stirling : Eneas Mackay. 86 pp. &d. Uilleam Uallas, Iain Knoz agus Rob Ruadh le Eachann Mac Gill-Eathain fo

Laimh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain. Stirling: Eneas Mackay. 116 pp. Is. "We have pleasure in drawing attention to the above series of books intended for use in schools. The two first mentioned, an Trebraiche and Dain Thaghte are well known, and, we believe, are used in most of the schools — regrettably few in number — where Gaelic is taught. The third and fourth on the list. An Comh-threbraiche and Companach na Cloinne are equally deserv- ing of recognition. They are beautifully printed, though not always perfectly machined, and misprints are few. Still better, the spelling is on sound principles, and, so far as we have noticed, it is consistent with itself. The editor generally observes the rule, which may be recommended to all who write Gaelic, of avoiding unnecessary contractions. This simple rule, if carried out in its fulness, has the eflFect at once of greatly reducing the number of apostrophes and also of adding to the clearness and intelligi- bility of the text. Thus, for instance, it is always better, in prose, to write an uair than 'n uair, anns a' bheinn than 's 'a bheinn, fhreagair e is thuirt e than fhreagair e 's thuirt e. Equally praiseworthy is the avoidance of the provincialisms and dialectic forms which disfigure the pages of too many Gaelic writers. The use of such, except of course, when the writer aims at reproducing dialect as dialect, is usually an indication rather of illiteracy than of independence. The aim of all who write Gaelic for ordinary literary purposes should be to adhere in all respects to the literary standard, as is done in these books.

The subject-matter of An Trebraiche, An Comh-threbraiche, and Companach na Cloinne is for the most part original. The books do not err on the side of ease in respect of language, nor indeed in respect of thought. It is difficult to appraise exactly the quality of a school book without having actually used it, but we incline to think that both An Trebraiche and An Comh- threbraiche attempt rather too much in vocabulary to be quite suitable for

BOOK REVIEWS 261

young children, and that their matter lacks sustained interest, being too discontinuous. This does not apply to the Companach, which consists mainly of stories of fair length. It would be found suitable as part of the reading for the first or second year of the Intermediate course. Some of the pieces in Dain TJmgkte, excellent in themselves, are of distinctly Higher Grade standard, both in thought and expression, e.(j. Evan MacColl's fine poem in praise of Loch Duich and Angus MacEchern's on Coire Bhreacain.

The accounts of William Wallace, John Knox, and Rob Eoy Macgregor are by that master of Gaelic style, Lachlan Maclean. They are most suitable for reading in the Intermediate course, or in supplementary classes. Their matter is excellent, and the same remark applies to their form, with one qualification. Lachlan Maclean, who was a native of Coll, was not properly acquainted with the Gaelic forms of names of places east of Drumalban, and in consequence made them into Gaelic out of the debased forms current in English. The present edition contains these heart-breaking errors passim and for the benefit of future editions we give a list of them : p. 8, Dun-d^ should be Dun-dhagh (Dun-de, we believe, is sometimes heard) ; p. 9, Cill-ma- Earnaig for Kilmarnock is more than dubious in view of the early spelling, Kilmaronnok, which strongly suggests Cill-mo-Iibnaig ; p. 14, ' coille Methven ; should be Coille Mheithinnigh ; p. 22, ' Forfhair,' should be Farfar ; p. 23 *Mont-r6s' should be Mon-ros. On the same page we have 'Abhainn Forchu' for the Forth, which is most interesting if it could be believed current in Maclean's time; p. 25, 'larla an Leamhanaich ' ; read 'Leamh- naich; the mas. gender is curious here; p. 41, ' Bannockburn ' is usually, rightly or wrongly, in Gaelic Allt nam Bonnach; p. 73, *Dun-eabhais,' Duneaves, should be Tigh Neimhidh; p. 74, 'Gleann Airtnidh ' for Glen Artney is not heard : the Gaelic varies between Gleann Artain and Gleann Artair; ' Aird-mhoirlich,' Ardvorlich, is called in the district Aird-mhurluig ; • Baile-chuidir,' Balquhidder, should be either Both-chuidir or Both-fuidir, the latter is the older attested form,, and is still in use in Glendochart and west- wards; the former is the one used in Balquhidder and district; p. 78, ' Comhair,' Comar, should be Comair; p. 80, ' Loch-Ceatharn,' Loch Katrine, should be Loch Ceiteirein. On p. 87, 'Abhainn F^rn' apparently means the R. Earn, of which the present day Gaelic is Abhainn Eir' ; ' Crion-laraich,' Crianlarich, should be Crithionnlaraich ; p. 102, 'Uachdar-tire,' should be Uachdar-thlre ; p. 114, 'Mac Neill Bharra,' better Barraigh. Apart from this, print, paper, and editing leave little to be desired.

Ara Briathrachan Beag — School Gaelic Dictionary. By MALCOLM Macfar- LANE. Stirling: Eneas Mackay. 192 pp. 2s. Qd. boards; 3s. Gd. cloth.

This Dictionary, which is stated to contain 5000 words, is meant primarily as a companion to the series of school-books noticed above, but it is stated also to contain many other words in common use. It is thoroughly

262 THE CELTIC REVIEW

suitable for its purpose, being accurate and well printed with the words explained standing in bold type. It is unfortunate, however, that the erroneous forms of place-names noted above should be here repeated. The last sixty pages of the book contain a variety of information. A capital list of the best forms of words liable to be erroneously spelled should prove useful, if only writers would take the trouble to consult it. To this list might be added ionnsuigh (not ionnsuidh), and inbhir, or inbhear (not ionbhar, which form is used by the editor himself against his better judgment). P. 142 gives a list of national names, in which 'Sgott, Sgottach,' 'Scot, Scottish,' look odd and unnecessary. 'Albannach ' suffices for all purposes. In the list of personal names ' Mac C6druim ' should be, so far as we have ever heard, Mac Codrum; Maclennan should be Mac Gill-Fhinnein, not 'Mac Gill-Fhionnain ' ; in ' Mac Liilaich ' the «, being short, should bear no accent mark ; ' Mac an Easgair ' (Fisher) should be Mac an lasgair. The notes on pp. 160, 161, on inflection of nouns and adjectives should be most useful to those who desire to write correctly. The supplement contains also a large number of Gaelic expressions for English technical terms con- nected with literature, counting, or numeration, punctuation marks, marks of reference, etc., all of which, if people choose to use them, seem to be quite suitable for their purpose. The book finishes with instructions for proof-reading, and an example of proof-correcting. There are very few who would not find it to their advantage to have this book at hand when writing Gaelic.

Uirsgeulan Gaidhealach, an dara clo-bhualadh, fo laimh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain. Stirling : Eneas Mackay. 64 pp. 6d.

Seanchaidh na Trhghad, le Iain Mac Cortnaic, fo laimh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain. Stirling: Eneas Mackay. 64 pp. Qd.net paper; Is. net, cloth.

Seanchaidh na h-Airigh, le Iain Mac Coi-maic, fo laimh Chaluim Mhic Pharlain. Stirling: Eneas Mackay. 61 pp. Qd. net paper ; \s. net, cloth.

The first of these three little books has reached a well-deserved second edition. It consists of tales which gained prizes at the M6d competitions ol An Comunn Gaidhealach, and it is an excellent specimen of the success attained by the efforts of the Comunn to encourage Gaelic writing. If one may single out one of the stories herein contained for special mention, where all are good, it would be Pbsadh an Dealain D6 (the Butterfly's Wed- ding), a delightful fairy fantasy by Hector MacFadyen, which so charmed the present writer that he translated it for the Celtic Review. The editing is done with Mr. Macfarlane's usual care. The booklet should be widely read, and should be used in schools for the Intermediate course in Gaelic.

The two books of tales written by Mr. John MacCormick, and edited by Mr. Macfarlane, contain much racy idiomatic Gaelic. The subject-matter varies. There are smuggling and poaching stories, a tale of the China seas, a pathetic tale of a tragedy of sea-fishing on the West Coast, and other

BOOK EEVIEWS 263

tales, all of which are exceedingly well told. Mr. MacCormick has made his mark as a writer of Gaelic prose. His style has the essential qualities of simplicity and naturalness. It might occasionally be improved by pruning, for he tends to overdo adjectives — an old weakness of Gaelic prose — and he might with advantage leave more to the imagination. 'The unelaborate magic of the Celt ' consists largely in this very thing — in suggesting more than it expresses, in preferring understatement to overstatement. The late Mr. Donald Mackechnie knew this, or at any rate acted on the principle. His Gaelic prose — it is a great thing to say — reminded one of Plato's Greek. Mr. MacCormick's vein differs from Mackechnie's : he has an individuality of his own. But he has this much in common with that fine writer of Gaelic prose, that he can make common things interesting, and that he rings true. It is an infinite pity that work like Mr. MacCormick's should not be read widely by the youth of the Highlands. The difficulty, alas, is that our Gaelic-speaking young people are not able to read their own language, and their parents are too apathetic to insist on teachers for them. There is yet time, not much time, but enough to remedy this. In the meantime all honour and encouragement are due to those who, like Mr. MacCormick, use the Gaelic language as a medium of literary expression. They, at any rate, are doing what they can.

Mr. Macfarlane is due his own meed of praise for the care and compe- tence with which these books and the others above-mentioned are edited.

Elementary Coarse of Gaelic. By Duncan Reid. Re-arranged and enlarged by Norman Macleod, Gaelic Master, Glasgow High School. Glasgow : Archibald Sinclair, ' Celtic Press.' 208 pp. Is. net.

This Elementary Course is published by An Comunn Gaidhealach. The first edition, by the late Mr. Duncan Reid, was found useful by many. The new edition is practically re-written. Mr. Norman Macleod has done his work with the precision that might be expected from a scholar whose native language is Gaelic, and who has studied Gaelic systematically, qualifications which are, both of them, essential for the man who would instruct students in the modern language.

In addition, Mr. Macleod's experience as a teacher of Gaelic is reflected in the selection and arrangement of the matter. He is to be congratulated on having produced a book that cannot fail to be most serviceable for begin- ners, whether they start with a colloquial knowledge of Gaelic or not. The book is meant to be worked on the Direct Method, and it is well suited for that purpose. The essential feature of the Direct Method is that the pupils shall from the beginning use the language as a medium of expression both in speaking and writing. It is therefore based on phonetics : ear, tongue, and brain must work in harmony. Mr. Macleod might with advantage have laid more stress on the importance of phonetics at the outset. From the beginning the ear should be trained to distinguish between broad and

264 THE CELTIC REVIEW

slender consonants, between single and double consonants, between the letters c and g, t and d, h and p. Attention should be drawn to the peculiar long sound of liquids before certain consonants, e.g. seilhh, m^anhh, dearg. The rg group should be contrasted with the re group, e.g. dearc, dearg; mairc, mairg. Similar attention must be given to the vowel sounds. Most of the above points may be introduced in the first year's course. The whole theory of Gaelic spelling depends on such points, and as they are mastered, it comes to be seen that Gaelic spelling is in a real sense phonetic, consistent, and adapted to represent the sounds of the language. Loose talk of its ' weirdness ' is mere ignorance. The proper use of the Direct Method demands on the part of teacher and pupil an acquaintance, exact so far as it goes, with Gaelic phonetics. This implies an approximation, as close as may be, to a literary standard of pronunciation, and the avoidance of provincialisms in set speech. A teacher who fails to keep these things constantly in view misapprehends the basic principle of the method. It is sometimes supposed that th'e Direct Method avoids or dispenses with grammar. This is an error which receives no countenance from Mr. Macleod's book. The facts of grammar have to be learned as rigorously on the Direct Method as on any other. The point is that these facts, whether learned by set paradigm or by induction, should be constantly exemplified in the spoken words of the learners, followed up by written composition. For this the book presents abundant openings and materials. There is a Avidespread delusion that the Direct Method is easy. It is, on the contrary, diflBcult, for it makes heavy demands on skill, resource, imagination, and preparation on the part of the teacher, and on intelligence and alertness on the part of pupils. It has, however, the advantage of being a living method. Some experience of the teaching of languages has shown the above remarks to be necessary. Mr. Macleod has wisely contented himself with a limited vocabulary. The essence of a language is idiom, not words, and the best results in the early stage are obtained by frequent turning over of a comparatively small vocabulary until the learner gets the ' feel ' of the language (Sprachgefiihl).

There are one or two statements that one would like to see expressed differently. On p. 4 'monosyllables ending in lb, Ibh, Ig [etc.] are sounded as two syllables; thnsfearg (fearug), dealbh (dealuv),' etc. Apart from the apparent contradiction in terms involved here, it is the fact that 'fearug' is not a good phonetic rendering of fearg, for what is heard is a rolled or long r plus a glide on to the g, which might be represented by fef^g. On p. 76 with regard to the plural of sruth, it is stated that sruthan is sometimes used in singular to mean 'a streamlet,' hence a more distinct plural would be sruthannan. But sruthan, streams, and sruthan, a streamlet, are identical only to the eye. To the ear no ambiguity is possible, for the a of the former has the dull, indeterminate sound, while the a of the latter is open. The difference would be expressed visually in Irish — sruthan, streamlet.

BOOK EEVIEWS 265

It is to be hoped that this excellent book, on which much care and thought have been bestowed, will receive the welcome it deserves and be widely used wherever Gaelic is taught. W. J. Watson.

Five Irish Homilies from the Bennes MS. Text and Translation, by Rev. James A. Geary. Reprinted from the Catholic University Bulletin, vol. xviii., nos. 2-5, 1912.

This is a further publication from the contents of the manuscript that contains the Irish Mandeville. The Homilies and Confession appear to date from the time of wTiting of the manuscript, about the end of the fifteenth century.

These Homilies are not very remarkable in subject or style. The editor traces in prefaces and notes most of the models and authorities used ; he gives also notes on the language of the Homilies, and an Index Verborum Rariorum, in which, however, most of the rarities are irregularities of spelling.

The subjects are The Resurrection, Poverty, The Conditions of Confession, a Model of Confession, and The Eucharist.

The Homily on Poverty is composed of a series of quotations from early writers and the Scriptures. The model confession purports to be made in accordance with the principles laid down by Thomas Aquinas. It follows the old safe-margin plan, more prudent than truthful, of con- fessing more faults than have been committed. A quaint note added later, that ' Scarcely a man in Ireland makes his confession as this book says,' was believed by J. H. Todd to be in the handwriting of Charles O'Connor.

A. 0. A.

Prince Charlie's Pilot : a Record of Loyalty and Devotion. By Evan MacLeod Barron. Inverness : Robert Carruthers and Sons. With map and frontispiece. Pp. 205. 5s.

Some of our historians affect a dull, heavy style, which they are pleased to call 'technical.' The result is a compilation with all the merits and defects of an oflScial Blue Book, which may satisfy the pedantic reviewer but must fail to make appeal to a wide circle of readers. Mr. Barron is not a historian of this order. His story of Prince Charlie's pilot is a good story, almost as entrancing as Kidnapped, and it is good history. It is written with refreshing enthusiasm and commendable frankness. The author is not ashamed of his Jacobite, or perhaps we should say his Highland, sympathies. He has not written as a Jacobite so much as a Highlander, who has good reason to be proud, as all true Highlanders are, of the part played by the folk of the glen and the isles in the disastrous but not inglorious ' 'Forty-five.' The ' Rising ' brought out into bold relief, in those ' unhappy far-off times,' the finest qualities of the Highland people as a whole. When success attended the Jacobites they displayed great chivalry and humane-

266 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

ness : there are no gloomy memories of their march to Derby : their gallantry inspired many sweet songs, which still echo amongst us. On the other hand the deeds of their opponents after Culloden are recorded on what Mr. Barron calls ' the blackest page in British history.' The Highlands were swept by fire and the sword ; the innocent perished with the guilty, women and children even were not spared, and prisoners were treated with a degree of callousness and cruelty that one associates rather with Turkey than with eighteenth century England. The atrocities committed by Cumberland were bad enough, but those of the Government which allowed the prisoners to be starved and tortured to death in the filthy hulks lying in the Thames were undoubtedly the most shocking and most degrading in the history of British warfare. *God forgive them,' said old Donald MacLeod, 'but, God, let them never die till we have them in the same condition they had us, and we are sure we would not treat them as they treated us. We would show them the difference between a good and a bad cause.' Donald was a better and truer man than any of his persecutors. He was one of the many Highlanders, including Jacobites and anti-Jacobites, to whom thirty shillings was a large sum of money, but who scorned to betraythe hunted Prince Charlie for the enormous reward of £30,000. This fact alone makes one proud to be a Highlander. After the time of persecution ended and re-action set in, it made most Scotsmen and English- men proud of men like Donald MacLeod and women like Flora MacDonald also. Heroism must triumph in the end, be the cause good or bad.

Like the late Queen Victoria, we are all Jacobites nowadays. Bonnie Prince Charlie is one of our national heroes, and in history there are no nobler figures than the good and true men who suffered and died for him. Among these Donald MacLeod takes a honoured place. We have not heard much of him from the Blue Book historians. Yet, but for him, the story of Charlie would have had as miserable an ending as that of poor Mary Queen of Scots. It was to Donald that the Prince owed his escape to the Hebrides. But for Donald he would never have been rescued by Flora MacDonald. Mr. Barron is to be commended for introducing this heroic figure to the general public. His book draws upon contemporary evidence, and especially the long-neglected manuscript of Bishop Forbes, which contains an interview with this old man of sixty-eight who was the Prince's friend and guardian for ten weeks after Culloden. Beside Donald stands his son, a boy of fifteen, who fought at Culloden and pulled an oar in the Prince's boat in tempest and darkness and before the swiftly pursuing warship. Here is a story at once thrilling and picturesque and inspiring, in which Robert Louis Stevenson would have revelled. It has been told by Mr. Barron once and for all with fine detail and from sound authorities. We are confident that his readers will at length understand why so many men and women were attracted by Prince Charlie who, in this fine volume, appears in a new light, that is, to modern readers, and yet in the light

BOOK REVIEWS 267

which inspired the unknown poets of his time to cover his name with a glory which no crown can ensure. To old and young Mr. Barron's book makes an equally strong appeal. Donald A. Mackenzie.

Egyptian Myth and Legend. By Donald A. Mackenzie. London : Gresham Publishing Company. 7s. Qd. nett.

Professor Frazer in the Scapegoat volume of the ' Golden Bough ' remarks that his analysis of certain festivals ' seems to point to a remark- able homogeneity of civilisation throughout Southern Europe and Western Asia in prehistoric times. 'How far,' he adds, 'such homogeneity of civilisation may be taken as evidence of homogeneity of race is a question for the ethnologist.' In his volume on ancient Egyptian mythology and civilisation, Mr. Mackenzie deals with this aspect of an engrossing and popular study. He shows that the views of the ethnologists regarding early races agree with the evidence afforded by well-developed folk beliefs and customs in areas of racial control. The old theories about the complete extermination of aboriginal peoples in these islands and elsewhere by energetic and conquering intruders have now been abandoned. Present day cranial evidence demonstrates to a remarkable degree the fact that even Late Stone Age man is still represented by numerous descendants thoughout Europe : indeed, the tendency towards reversion of type is quite pronounced in some districts. Mr. Mackenzie has accumulated much in- teresting data to show that the pre-Dynastic Egyptians were of the same racial type as the Pelasgians, Cretans, Italici and Iberians. The last named were the Neolithic people of these islands, the aborigines of the Late Stone Age. As even the most primitive folk in our own day have an intellectual life, Mr. Mackenzie looks for traces of the beliefs and conceptions and practices of the representatives of the Mediterranean Kace in Britain as well as in Egypt. He shows that the racial aspect of early beliefs, ' which was connected with fixed and definite ceremonies,

is illustrated in the Egyptian Stone-Set myth. The black pig was Set (the devil) ia Egypt ; pork was taboo, and the swineherd was regarded as an abomination, and not allowed to enter temples. The Gauls and Achaeans, on the other hand, honoured the swineherd and ate pork freely, while in the Teutonic Valhal and the Celtic (Irish) Paradise, swine's flesh was the reward of heroes. In Scotland, however, the ancient prejudice against pork exists in localities even at the present day, and the devil is the ' black pig.' Professor Sir John Rhys, in his Celtic Folklore, records that in Wales the black sow of All- Hallows was similarly regarded as the devil. Even in parts of Ireland the hatred of pork still prevails, especially among certain families.'

' This evidence,' Mr. Mackenzie adds, ' considered with that afforded by the study of skull forms, suggests that Mediterranean racial ideas may not yet be wholly extinct in our own country.' He suggests that the Gaulish treatment of the boar was Asiatic, and shows that Brahma, the supreme Hindu deity, had a boar form as ' lord of creatures ' at Creation when he

268 THE CELTIC REVIEW

* raised the earth with his tusks from the primordial deep.' Europe, according to the ethnologists, was invaded at the close of the Stone Age by Asiatic ' broad heads,' who formed a human wedge between the representa- tives of the Mediterranean peoples in Britain and those of Southern Europe and Egypt. This devil-pig myth is one of the several folk-lore links which, the author considers, connect the ' Iberians with the intellectual life of the early Egyptians.' Egypt received the 'Asiatic folk-stream' at the dawn of history and during the early Dynasties, as Professor Elliot Smith has found, and Mr. Mackenzie has compiled several interesting folk-lore parallels in this connection, which link Siegfried and Thor and Indra with certain Egyptian gods and heroes. He suggests that the changes in Egyptian religion were not uninfluenced by the intruding Asiatics, who in Europe also coloured the intellectual life of the Mediterranean peoples they subdued.

Mr. Mackenzie gives the Egyptian myths and legends an historical setting, and traces the rise of the Nilotic civilisation from pre-Dynastic times till the Graeco-Eoman Age. He deals with the various deities chiefly at the periods in which they came into prominence as a result of the political ascendency of the peoples who worshipped them. In this way the study of Egyptian religious beliefs and folk-tales is greatly simplified. The reader is also kept in touch with the civilisation of Babylon, Crete, Asia Minor and Palestine, and two chapters deal largely with Egypt's relations with the Hebrew kings : there are numerous quotations from the Bible. The folk- tales distributed through this volume make interesting reading; they are arranged so as to throw light on Egyptian manners and customs, and are compared with European and Asiatic tales of similar character. A feature jof the book is the metrical renderings by Mr. Mackenzie of Egyptian love- Bongs and philosophic poems, which were copied on papyri and laid in tombs so that the dead might sing them in Paradise. A representative lyric, which is a close rendering of the original, is sung by a girl who snares birds in the Delta jungle.

With snare in hand I hide me,

I wait and will not stir ; The beauteous birds of Araby

Are perfumed all with myrrh — Oh, all the birds of Araby,

That down to Egypt come, Have wings that waft the fragrance

Of sweetly smelling gum.

She calls on her lover to come to her, and sings,

I '11 take thee and I '11 keep thee Within the snare of love.

The old Pharaoh Amenem Set, whose ' Instruction ' is rendered in full, advises his heir to

BOOK REVIEWS 269

Live apart In stern seclusion, for the people heed The man who makes them tremble.

In the ' Lay of the Harper ' the living are advised to * eat, drink and be merry,' because ' no soul comes back to tell us how he fares,' and it is best to 'let our minds forget of this and dwell on better things,' The Egyptian poet proceeds —

Never weary grow

In eager quest of what your heart desires —

Do as it prompts you . , . until that sad day

Of lamentation comes, when hearts at rest

Hear not the cry of mourners at the tomb,

Which has no meaning to the silent dead.

Then celebrate this festal time, nor pause —

For no man takes his riches to the grave ;

Yea, none returns again when he goes hence.

As will be seen, this book makes appeal from a literary as well as an historical point of view. It unfolds the story of Egyptian life in its most human aspects; it deals with love-making, marriage and adventure, as well as Pyramid and Temple building, with temperance lectures as well as mytho- logical theories, and it is written by one who is an enthusiastic and close student of early civilisations and comparative religion. There are a number of beautiful coloured plates reproduced from pictures l)y Professor Greiffen- hagen, which illustrate the folk-tales, while Sir L. Alma-Tadema and others are also represented. Numerous photographs of Egyptian deities, monu- ments, royal mummies, etc., are distributed throughout the volume, which is handsomely bound and beautifully printed. We commend this book to our readers, and we observe that it is being followed by one dealing with Indian myths and legends from the same pen. D. M'C.

270 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR AND READER

By Julius Pokorny, Ph.D., LL.D. (Vienna) {Continued from page 192)

§ 150. -jo- and -jd- stems.

uile ' all ' ; masc. fr. *poljos ; fern. fr. *poljd ; neut. fr. *poljom.

The inflexion is the same as in the noun. (On aile, alaiU, see § 171).

Only in the nom. ace. voc. plur. of all genders the ending is -i (taken from -i-stems; the neuter has this ending also in substantival use).

But in the ace. plur. masc. when the adjective is used substan- tivally, the ending is -(i)^i as in the noun.

§ 151. -i- stems.

7)iaith ' good ' ; masc. fr. *mdt-is, fern. fr. ^ifridt-l, neut. fr. *m9t-i.

a. In the gen. sg. the endings are those of the -o- and -d- stems; these forms are also used substantivally.

b. In the gen. pi. there appears, beside the regular forms in -e (maithe), a short form without any ending (maith) ; it seems that only the longer forms could be used substantivally.

c. In the nom. ace. pi. neut. the ending -i is regular; but when the adjective is used substantivally the ending -e may occasionally be employed.

§ 152. -u- stems.

duh ' black ' ; masc. fr. *dhuhh-us ; fem. fr. *dhtLbh-u ; neut, fr. *dhubh-u.

In the gen. sg. of all genders and the dat. sg. fem. the endings are those of the -o-, -d- stems, while all plural-forms are inflected like -i- stems.

§ 153. Consonantal stems.

There are very few examples, e.g. U'hot' (Hepents), nom. pi. Uit {*tepent-es).

§ 154. Comparison of adjectives. There are two comparisons :

ACCIDENCE

271

1. The comparison of equality (old suffix *-tria), which is followed by the ace. of the noun).

e.g. dian 'hasty ' : denithir ' as hasty.' il ' much,' mdr, mdr ' great ' and lethan ' broad ' have irregular comparatives : lir, m^d'ir, lethidir.

2. The comparison of superiority, which has three degrees : the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.

The comparative is formed by an old suffix *-jos

e.g. sen ' old ' : siniu ' older ' (fr. *8en-jos)

ard ' high ' : ardu ' higher ' (fr. *fdhv-jos ; cf. § 105). The superlative is formed by an old suffix *-is-mo-

e.g. sinem (fr. O. C. *sen-i8amo-, I.E. *sen-is-mo-), ardam.

Note. — Some adjectives form their comparative and superlative from the mere root, losing the suffix of the positive, e.g. sir 'long' (fr. *se-ro-), comparative sia fr. *se-is, superlative sidm. Such adjectives have also a different suffix in the comparative. In some instances the comparative and superlative are formed from another root.

Examples of irregular comparison : —

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
accus, ociis ' near '	nessa		nessam
becc ' small ' il ' much '	l(a)ugu lia		lugam, Haigem (cf. § 65, 3)
lethan * broad '	letha		1
maith ' good ' mdr (mdr) ' great ' ddc ' young ' ok ' bad '	ferr mdo, md, 6iX messa	mda	deck (deg) mdam, mdam 6dm messam
trdn ' strong '	tressa		tressam

§ 155. Adverbs from adjectives.

Every adjective may become an adverb by putting the article before the dat. sg. n. of the required adjective, e.g. in raaith ' well,' in hiucc ' little.' The adjectives and participles in -de, -the take the ending -id, -ith, e.g. ind aicnetid ' naturally ' (fr. aicnet(a)e). In later O. Ir. adverbs are occasionally formed with the help of the preposition co ' to,' e.g. commaith ' well.' Only leir ' diligent ' may also take the preposition di before it.

272 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

The comparative and superlative degrees are formed by putting the dat. sg, of the article before the comparative or superlative form of the respective adjective, e.g. int serhu ' more bitterly.' (fr. Serb) ; in messam ' most badly ' (fr. olc).

Numerals

§ 156. Cardinals.

den ' one ' is uninflected and enters into composition with a following noun. (On den ' same,' see | 169, 2.)

da (eld, p. 29, footnote), ' two.' (When unaccompanied by a noun, ddu, do.)

masc. fem. neut.

N. A. da di' da"

G. da' da' da"

D.		dib", deib'\
tri {tri, p. 29,	footnote), '	three.' (When	unaccompanied by a
noun tri.)
	masc.	fem.		neut.
N.	tri	teoir, teora		tri'
G.	tri"	teora"		tri""
D.	trih	tSor(a)ib		trib
A.	tri	teora		tri'
cethir ' four.'
	masc.	fem.		neut.
N.	ceth(a)ir	cetheoir, cetheora	ceth(a)ir
G.	?	cetheora"		?
D.	? '	cetMor{a)ib		?
A.	ce(i)thri	cetheora		ceth(a)ir'

coic ' five,' se ' six,' secht"- ' seven,' ocht" ' eight,' noi" ' nine,' deicTv" ' ten,' are uninflected. For the genitive of deich" the form deec, (later deac fr. *dvei-penk''dm) is used.

The numerals 2-10 when unaccompanied by a noun or the article take the particle a before them.

The numerals ficJie ' 20,' tricho (tricha, p. 15, footnote) ' 30,' *cethorcho ' 40,' *coico ' 50,' *8esco ' 60,' sechtmogo ' 70,' *ochtmogo

ACCIDENCE 273

' 80,' *n6cho ' 90/ cet ' 100,' mile ' 1000/ are substantives govern- ing a following noun in the genitive, mile is fern., c^t is neut., while the tens are masculine.

The other numbers above ten are expressed in different ways. e.g. a secht fichet ' 27/ s^ Jlr trichat ' 36 men/ sesco ar chet * 160/ a ddu nochat ar dib cdtaih ' 292.'

§ 157. Ordinals.

cetn{a)e ' 1st ' (before tens oenmad), tdn(a)ise (aile) ' 2nd/ trisa, tress ' 3d/ cethraTnad ' 4th/ coiced ' 5th/ se{i)ssed ' 6th/ sechtmad ' 7th/ ochtmad ' 8th/ ndmad ' 9th/ dechmad ' 10th/ fichet-mad ' 20th/ trichat-mad ' 30th/ etc., cetmad ' 100th.'

In expressing other ordinal numbers above ten the unit digit only is an ordinal number, the tens being added in the genitive case, the hundreds by means of the preposition ar.

e.g. in sechtmad cethorchat ' the 47th/ ind ochtmad rann Jichet ' the 28th part.'

Pronouns and Adjectives connected therewith

§ 158. Personal pronouns. Sing. 1st per. ')ne ' I,' emphaticform me{i)8se

2nd pers.iu 'thou,' „ „ tussu

3rd pers. {h)4 ' he,' „ „ {h)e-som (-sium), {h)e-side

si ' she,' „ „ sissi, si-ede

(h)ed' it' „ „ (h)ed on, (h)e{d)-se

Plur. 1st pers. sni ' we,' „ ,, snisni, snini, sisni, sinni

2nd pers. si ' you/ „ „ sissi, sib

3rd pers. (i^y they' „ „ {h)e-sidi, {hy-se

§ 159. Infixed personal pronouns.

I. 11. III.

Sg. 1st pers. m(my tom\ tum\ tam(my, dom\ dum\ dam{m,y doni, dum, dam(my 2nd pers. f tot\ tat\ f dit\ daf

3rdpers.masc.a", -" t" (ta") (i)d'', {did"), d'\ -\ {da")

fem. s", s ta, da da

neut.a ,-' f (i)d^, {did^), -

VOL. IX. S

274 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Plur. 1st pers. n{n) ton, tan{n), don din, don, dun, dan(n) 2nd pers, h (/) tob, tab, dob, dub dib, dob, dub, dab 3rd pers s", s to, da da

a. After tlie negative particle na (nad) the infixed pronouns appear in the following forms : sing. 1. nachim- (nacliarrC -), 2. nachit- (nachat-), 3. m. nacli"-, f. nacha-, n. nach'- (nachid'-, nadid'-); plur. 1. nachin- (nachan-), 2. nachib- (nachab-), 3. nacha-.

But in the 3rd pers. sg. and pi. of relative verbal forms which are capable of eclipsis (§ 28), when eclipsis (which is not obliga- tory) takes place, the infixed pronouns which follow the eclipsing n appear in the sg. m. as d", f. as da, n. as d', in the pi. as da.

b. Class I. is used after prepositions and particles ending originally in a vowel (ro-, no-, do-, ar-, imm-, etc.) which is elided before a and a". But ni-\-a gives ni. Old dis- syllabic prepositions, as ar-, imm- {*pre, *mbhi), keep their final vowel before infixed pronouns beginning with a consonant. The quality of this vowel (which appears as a, e, i, or ^^,) depends on that of the surrounding consonants, but is often changed by analogy. (Of. § 81.)

Class II. is used after the preverbal prepositions ad-, aith-, com-, ess-, etar-, for-, frith-, in-, ad-, ess-, in- become with the dental of the pronoun at-, while coin- and frith- become cot-, frit(t)-, and aith- becomes at(t)-.

Class III. is regularly used after i" ' in which,' after prep.+rel,, after the conjunctions ara"; dia", con"", co" and after the interrogative in- (§ 165).

It is further very often used when the verb is relative (that is to say, when the subject or object of the verb is emphatically brought forward with the copula — e.g. is Crist pridches ' it is Christ who preaches' — or in the cases mentioned in § 28), though in the first and second persons the forms of Class I. and II, prevail.

c. After the conjunctions da (ce, ci), ceni, ma, mani, followed by an

ACCIDENCE 275

indicative, (i)d^ is regularly infixed unless there be an infixed pronoun. Simple verbs take no- before them which serves to infix the d'. The infixed pronoun of the 3rd sg. masc. and neut. appears after the mentioned particles as {i)d.

d. The infixed pronouns are regularly inserted immediately before the stressed syllable (§ 53). When simple verbs are not preceded by (unstressed) no-, ro-, or one of the particles men- tioned in § 53, 2 b-e, the particle no- is prefixed in order to infix a personal pronoun. See further § 29. But the infixed pronouns follow the forms of the copula ; in this case Class III. is used for the third person.

Examples : —

ad a. con-nachn-ing6uin ' so that he knew him not,' ar-nacha-iisa * lest they should come to them,' na-n-da-tiberad ' that he would not give it ' (le. the flesh ; /Ml is fem. in 0. Ir.). Cf. § 28 g.

ad b, I. ni-m-charai-sa 'they do not love me,' ni-cheil 'he does not hide it ' (but ni-ceil ' he does not hide '), r-a-lUic ' he left him ' (cf. § 34 note), aro-h-roinasc, 'I have betrothed you,' immu-s-duinetar (with eclipsed c, i e, (7) ' they hear one another.'

II. atam-grennat (fr. ad-greinn or in-greinn), ' they pursue me,' cotn- erha, 'he entrusts himself ,' for-dob-moinetar, 'they envy you.'

III. in-dii-moide 'in which thou shouldst boast,' amail imm-i-n-d-rditset (see § 29) ' as they were thinking of him,' con'{d)id-molathar ' so that he praises Aim,' in fer do-da-aidlea (fr. -ad-ella) 'the man who visits her,' in gnim ar-id-gair 'the deed which he forbids.'

ad c. mani-d-chreiid 'if you do not believe,' ce no-d-chara 'though he loves,' ci as-id-beir ' though he says it'

ad d. amal for-n-da-cbn-gair, 'as he orders them,' ni-ru-m-chhrn-ar- Uicis ' thou hast not permitted me,' d-a-gnhi-sa ' I do it,' issa-t-icen ' it is necessary for thee' {issa-t in proclitic position fr. *esti-\-tu ; cf. § 81), iss-idn-aithrech 'it is repentant for him, i.e. he repents.'

§ 160. Suffixed personal pronouns. I. After verbs.

Sg. 1. -um, 2. -ut (-at), 3. masc. neut. -i (after the 1 and 2 pi. -it), fem. -us.

PI. 1. -unn, 3. -us.

276 A CONCISE OLD lEISH GRAMMAR

e.g. beirthi ' he carries him ' (fr. older *beretM= I.E. *bhereti+ im), guidmit ' we pray for it,' beirthius ' he carries them ' (fr. older *berethisu = I.E. *bhereti + sons).

These suffixed pronouns are used only after the simple verbal forms.

II. After prepositions.

Most of the simple prepositions combine with the disjunctive forms of the personal pronouns. The primitive order of things has been much disturbed by the working of analogy. All the combinations may take an emphatic suffix.

A. Prepositions governing the dative : —

	a ' out of '	di 'from'	do ' to '	flad ' in pre- sence of
Sg. 1.		dim	dom, dam	fiadam
2.	essiut	dit	duit, dait, d(e)it
3. m. n.	ast	de	ddu, d6 (dossom)
f.	e(i)ssi, e(i)88e	di {dissi)	di {dissi)
PI. 1.		din(n)	diln(n)
2.		dib	diiib	fiadib
3.	e{i)s8ib	diib, dib	do(a)ib, duaib, d6ib	fiad(a)ib

	iar ' after ' \ is ' below ' 1	oc ' at '	re" ' before '
Sg. 1. 3. m. n. f. PI. 1. 2. 3.	iarmut iarum	is(8)um	*ocum *ocut oc(c)o, oc{c)a occ(a)i, occae ocunn *ocaib occaib	*remum, rium remut, *riut riam remi *remunn, riunn remib

	i(« (6) ' from '	■ixxs (ds) 'above
Sg. 1. 2. 3. m. □. f. PI. 1. 2. 3.	(h)iiaim{m) (h)iiait {h)iiad, (h)iiaid {hi'&adi, {h)iiade {h)iiain{n), h'dan(n) (dn-ni) lh)ilaib ih)tia{i)dib (ddib)	tiaaum {*iia80, *«icwa.') 68ib(Wh.)

ACCIDENCE

B. Prepositions governing the accusative : —

277

	amal 'like'	cen ' without '	CO 'to'	eter 'between'
Sg. 1.	samlum			ciiccum		etrum, etrom
2.	*8amlut	cenut		cuc(c)ut
3. m. n.	saml(a)id	cen{a)e		cuc(c]i		etir, itir
f.				cucae, cutcce
PL 1.				cucunn		etrun{n), etron(n)
2.		cenuib		cuc{c)7iib		etruib
3.	aamlaih	cenaib		cuccu		etarru, etarro
	fri ' towards '	imvi ' about '	la ' with '
Sg. 1.	frim(m),frium{m)	immum	lem{m), lim(m),lium{m)
2.	frit(t),friut(t)	immut	lat{t)
3. m. n.	friss	imbi	leiss, less, laiss
f.	frie	wipe	lee (laee, Id)
PI. 1.	frinn	tmmunn	linn
2.	frib	immib	lib
3.	friu	impu, impo	Uu, Uo

	seek ' past '	tar (dar) ' over '	tri (tre) ' through
Sg. 1.	*seckui7i	*torum	trium
2.	*sechut	torut	triut
3. m. n.	sechix	tarais	triit, trtt
f.	*secce	*tair8e	tree
PL 1.		*torunn	triun{n)
2.			triib
3.	seccu	tairsiu	tr4u, tr6o

C. Prepositions governing the dative and accusative : —

	ar (*pre) ' for '	ar (*perd) ' for'	fo ' under '	for ' on '
Sgr.l.	airium	erum		form, forum
2. 3. dat. m. n. dat. f.	1 1	emit 1 1	f6uj6	fort fuiri
3. ace. m. n.	atrt		foi	fair, foir
ace. f.			*f0(B	forrae
PL 1.		erunn, eronn		fomn, fm-un{n)
2. 3. dat.	airib, airiu(i)b 1	eruib 1	foih	fuirih, fo{i)rib for(a)ib
3. ace.	airriu	emi, emu		forru

* The accusative forms of ar are also used for the dative.

278 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAK

i" 'in.'

Sg. 1. indmm(m), 2. *indiut, 3. dat. m. n. and f. indi, 3. ace. m. ii. ind, f. inte.

PI. 1. indiunn, 2. indib, 3. dat. indib, 3. ace. intiu.

§ 161. Possessive pronouns.

Sg. 1. mui ' mine,' 2. *^ui (?) ' thine,' 3. ai (de) ' his,' ' hers.' PL 1. athar, dr (cf. § 79) ' ours,' 2. sethar, sdr 'yours,' 3. ai {de) ' theirs.'

§ 162. Possessive adjectives ( = unstressed forms of the pronouns).

Sg. 1. vnd (mu'), ' my,' 2. do' (du), ' thy,' 3. m. n. a\ ' his, its,' 3. f. a, ' her.'

PI. 1. ar", ' our,' 2. for^, far"", ' your,' 3. a^ ' their.'

The vowels of mo and do are elided whenever they follow for or a pre- position ending originally in a vowel (after tar, dar, the usage varies), or when they are followed by a word beginning with a vowel (or — from the ninth century onwards — •/ ). But in the latter case the vowel may be preserved as well. When the vowel is elided, d becomes t, which is liable to aspiration ; wi' is never aspirated. After preposi- tions ending in -r, or in a vowel, far" may appear as &ar" (^^var").

e.g. form chiunn ' upon my head,' t'airde or do airde ' thy token,' ar bar n-imniud ' on account of your trouble.'

§ 163. Interrogative pronouns.

Sg. m. f. cia ' who ? ' n. cid ' what ? ' gen. coich ' whose.' PI. cit n-e ' who are they ? ' ' what are they ? ' (cit = cia -f 3 pi. of the copula ; cf. § 31).

The interrogative pronoun always comes first in a sentence, while the following verb must be relative (§ 158 b).

I 164. Interrogative adjectives.

Sg. m. cia (ee, ci), f. ce-si ci-si' ' which ? ' n. ced' {cid') ' what ? '

PI. cit 7i-e ' what are . . . ? '

In some instances cesi, ced are replaced by cia, e.g. c{ia) indas, ' how ? ' {indas ' state, kind ' is n.).

ACCIDENCE 279

cote, cate ' what is ? ' coteet, cateet, cateat ' what are ? ' secM ' whosoever,' ' whatsoever,' pi. sechit{at)n-e. ( = sechi+ 3 pi. of the copula; cf. § 31).

On the interrogative adjectives before the copula, see § 193.

§ 165. Interrogative particles.

m" (before h:im), 'whether,' -in" — m'^ ■in" — ha( = va), fa ' whether — or.'

cani (before proclitic ro- : cain) is used where an aflSrmative answer is expected.

§ 166. Relative pronouns.

In 0. Ir. there is only one proper relative particle -C6" or -sa'' which is used after prepositions

e.g. lassa" ' with whom, with which,' fora" (or foraa"") ' on whom, on which.' The prepositions do and di with the relative become dia"*, fo becomes foa", fua" or /o", while i" is used for the simple preposi- tion as well as for prep. + rel.

a" ' what,' ol-suide m. f. ' which,' ol-sodain n. ' what ' serve only as the subject or the object of the verb.

On relative inti (ani, etc.), nech, ni, nani, each, see §§ 168, 170. On relative construction, see §§ 159 b, 28, 26, 17.

§ 167. Emphatic particles.

The emphatic particles may be used with the possessive adjec- tives, the personal pronouns and verbal forms. They are not attached immediately to the possessive adjectives or to the forms of the copula, but come next to the following fully-stressed word. Mofit of them have broad and slender forms according to the quality of the final sound of the words to which they are attached,

broad slender

Sg. 1. -sa -se (sea)

-Slum

2.	-su,'^ -so ^	-siu
3. m.	-som ^ (-suTYi ^ -sam ^)	-sem.
f.	-si	-si

280 A CONCISE OLD IBISH GEAMMAR

n.	-8om ^ {stum ^ -sam ^) s6n, on	-sem,	-sium
PL 1.	-ni, -nai	-ni
2.	-si	-si
3.	-som^ ,	-sem,	-sium

^ These broaxl spellings are also used after slender final sounds ; in the third persons the broad spellings prevail even after slender sounds.

Examples: am rise '1 am a king,' as-blr-so (or -su, -siu) ' thou sayst/ a flaith-som (or -sem, -sium) ' his sovereignty,' do- ssom ' to him ' (§ 160 II. a).

In the 3 sg. n. with forms of the copula only son, on can be used.

sdn, 6n may also be used in explanations in the sense of * that is to say.' e.g. intan imme-romastar sdn nach nuib 'that is, when any saint sins.'

See further § 168, 5.

§ 168. Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives.

1. The article, when combined with a following affixed -{h)i e.g. m. int-i (f. ind-i, n. aii-i, g. sg. m. n. ind-i, f. inna-hi,

etc.) has the meaning ' he, the aforementioned,' before a relative verb ' he who.' e.g. inti Dia * God,' ani as maith ' that which is good.'

2. The pronouns so, sa (after words ending in a palatal sound mostly se, seo, sea) 'this,' sin 'that,' tall, ucut 'yonder, there' are used after a noun preceded by the article

e.g. in fer sin ' that man,' ind eich se {seo, sea) ' of this horse.'

Note. — i-siu (not i-se, i-seo), i-sin, i-thall serve as the emphatic forms of the aforementioned pronouns. They may also be used substan- tivally without an accompanying noun, preceded only by the article, e.g. in fer i-siu 'this man,' inti thall 'that yonder,' innahi-siu do-mmeil * those things which he eats.'

3. inso (inse), so (se) ' this,' insin, sin ' that ' are used as

ACCIDENCE 281

subject or object of a verb, after prep. + sufF. pron., and after the comparative of equality. When forming predicate nouns they must be preceded by a personal pronoun of the third person, e.g. do-gni {in)sin ' he does that,' airi (in)sin ' on account

of that,' is lerithir {in)so ' it is so diligently,' is si rn^it

(in)sin ' that is the extent.'

4. In prepositional phrases se ' this ' is used as accusative neuter, siu (or sund) as dative, while sin ' that ' is used for both cases.

e.g. co-sse ' up to this,' de-Hu or di-sund ' from this,' iar-sin ' afterwards.'

Note. — siu, sund, sin may also be used adverbially, meaning 'here.' sin may be used after the comparative e.g. mdo sin 'greater than this.'

5. The dat. and ace. of suide ' he, she, this ' are fully stressed and regularly inflected, though the dat. pi. may be sometimes used for the accusative. For the accus. sg. neut. the form 8od{a)in is used. The dat. and ace. are used with prepositions and after the comparative,

e.g. la 8od{a)in ' therewith,' do suidiu ' to him,' moo suidiu ' greater than this.' The nom. and gen. are enclitic and may serve as emphatic particles.

(a.) nom. sg. m. side (sede), f. side, ede, ade (ide), de n. side ; pi. sidi, side, adi, di, ade (ide), de.

These forms are used as the subject of a verb or they are attached to the third persons of the personal pronoun ; they may be further attached to a verb, going with an infixed pronoun.

e.g. do-heir side ' he gives ' ; nirbu litir ade ' it was not a letter ' ; is d-side as-heir * he says ' (i.e. it is he who says) ; ni-sn-dirmim sidi ' I reckon them not.' (b.) gen. sg. m. n. sidi, adi (idi), di, (ade, de) f. ade (ide), de pi. m. f. n. ade (ide), de (adi, di).

These forms are attached to a noun preceded by a possessive

282 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

pronoun e.g. a iress sidi * his faith ' ; a dilde ade ' her beauty,' a thorh{d)e de ' his profit.'

§ 169. Definitive pronouns and adjectives.

1. ' Self is expressed by diiferent forms in different persons. Sg. 1. f4in,fad6in, cHn, caddin;

2. fMn, fadiin ;

3. m.n. /e(i)ssi7i, fd{i)sin, fdin, fesine, fade{is)sw, fad6ne, cesin,

cadesin ; f . fe{i)sine, fiisne, feissin, Jissin, fadisin. PL 1. fesine, fanisin, canisin;

2. fiisne, fi(i)sin, fadiisne, fadisin ;

3. fisine, fiisne, fe{is)sin, fade{i)sine, fad4{i)sne, fadesin, fedesin,

cadesne, cadisin. The quantity of the internal e seems uncertain, except in the 1. and 2. pers. sg.

2. 'The same' is expressed by the undeclinable innonn, innunn {sinnonn, sinnunn) or by the declinable din (den) which precede the respective nouns or by cetn{a)e (§ 156) which follows its noun.

The substantive ' the same ' is expressed by the neuter case of din (oen) preceded by (s)innonn, {s)innunn.

§ 170. Indefinite pronouns.

1. necli 'any one, anything,' nom. ace. n. ni or na-ni, gen. neich, dat. neuch, neoch. For the plural the forms of alaile (araile) ^ are used, nech is often used before a relative verb e.g. do neuch as maith ' concerning whatever is good.'

2. nechtar de or nechtar n-ai ' either of them ' (uninflected).

3. each (nom. dat. ace.) ' every one,' gen. cdich ; n. each (cech) ni. When used before a relative verb it takes the article before it.

4. cechtar de or cechtar n-di 'each of them' (later also cechtardae diih).

5. alaile {araile) ^ m. f. ' another,' n. alaill (araill)} ace. pi. m. alailiu (arailiu),^ gen. sg. f. ala-aile, gen. pi. ala n-aile, nom. pi. ala-aili or alaili.

Note. — Instead of alaile : aile (n. aill) may be used preceded by the article or by nach (n. na) 'any.'

' The r arose by disBimilation, due to the foUowbig I.

ACCIDENCE 283

6. indala n-ai ' one of the two ' (uninflected).

7. ' a chele ' ' the other,' is likewise uninflected.

§ 171. Indefinite adjectives.

1. nacfi 'any/ nom. ace. n. na; dat. gen. sg, ra. and n. nach; gen. sg. f., pi. nom. ace. f. n. and ace. m. nucha ; pi. dat. nach.

2. each, cech 'every'; dat. m. n. cech, each; gen. m. n. cech, each (caich); gen. f. cecha, caclia {cache); plur. in all persons cacha, cecha or each, cech.

each {cech) Sen ' every one ' ; each n-de, each de, each {h)de, each he (or cech n-de and) ' each of them/ later also each de diib.

3. aile ' another/ n. aill, follows its noun.

alaile, n. aXaill {araile, araill) ^ ' a certain ' stands before its noun. (Very seldom it has the meaning ' another).

indala — aile, alaile 'the one — the other, plural alaili — alaili ; with distributive meaning, each-la . . . aile ' the one — the other.'

e.g. indala fer — in fer aile, or indala fer — alaile ' the one man — the other ' ; eaeh-la cein — in cein n-aili ' at one time — at another time.'

§ 172. Adverbs of place.

	Rest	Motion towards the speaker	Motion from the speaker
east, in front	t-air	8-air	an-air
west, behind	t-iar	s-iar	an-lar
north, left	iuaid	fa-thtiailh {sa-thilaid)	an-hiaid
south, right	dess {less)	fa-des8 (sa-dess)	an-des8
here	sund	i-lle(i)	de-alu
over there, yonder	t-all	mn-onn, iim-unn	an-all
above	t-icas	s-i'ias	an-iias
below	t-is	s-is	an-is
outside	di-an-echtau'	s-echtar, s-echtair	an-echiar, {di-)an- echfair

Examples : it hi sin inna ranna as-ruhart Mas ' those are the parts which he has mentioned above ' ; Uii stlas * he goes upwards ' ; doW an'ua.s 'he comes from above.'

In prepositional use : fri Emuin andess ' south of Emain//r/M antijuid 'to the north of them//n tech am'ias 'above the house.'

284 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GKAMMAR

THE VERB § 173. General Remarks.

1. According to the formation of the stem, we can distinguish between weak verbs (formed mostly from nouns or adjectives) and strong (or radical) verbs.

The former show after their root a vocalic suffix -a- or -%- of various origin (-a- and -I- verbs). This suffix can clearly be seen in the compositional form of the 3. sg. pres., e.g. ni-marba * he does not kill ' (fr. O. C. *-marv-d-t), or ad-rimi ' he reckons ' (fr. O. C. *-rim-l-t), ad-suidi ' he keeps ' (fr. O. C. *-sod-l-t), while the compositional 3. sg. pres. of radical verbs has lost its ending in O. Ir. e.g. ni-ben{d)id ' you do not strike ' (fr. I.E. *-hhi-nd-te), as-beir 'he says' (fr. I.E. *-bher-e-t).

On the hiatus-verbs, whose root ended in a vowel in 0. Ir., see § 181.

2. Every verb has short (compositional) and long (non- compositional) endings. ^

The short endings are found in compositional verbal forms, i.e.

(a) in compound verbs, whether they are stressed on their first element (genuine compounds) or not (non-genuine compounds) cf. § 53.

(b) in simple verbs, when these are preceded by a preverb, i.e. the verbal particles ro-, no-, or any of the particles and conjunctions (mentioned in § 53, 2 and § 211) with which they enter into so-called non-genuine composition.

Special relative endings are only found in the non-composi- tional active 3. sg., 1. and 2. pi. of indicative and subjunctive present, future and preterite of single verbs, while in the third persons of non- compositional passive and deponent forms of single verbs, as well as in the 1. pi. of deponent verbs, the relative endings are identical with the endings of the corre- sponding compositional forms.

In the non-compositional passive preterite of simple verbs, only the non-compositional forms are also used in a relative sense. In the non-compositional active 1. and 2. sing, and 2. pi.

ACCIDENCE 285

of the pres. ind., pres. subj. and fut. of simple verbs, when they are used relatively, the particle no- is prefixed.

3. The passive has special forms only for the third persons singular and plural. The other persons are expressed by means of the 3. sg. with infixed pronouns, e.g. no-m-berar * I am carried/ no-n-berar * we are carried/ etc.

4. In later O. Ir. the deponential inflexion gradually gives way to the active; in the imperfect indicative, past subjunc- tive, and secondary future, as well as in the 2. pi. of all moods and tenses, and in the 3. sg. imperative active inflection only is found.

§ 174. Preverbal Particles.

1. The particle no- {nu-, § 116, 3) is used

(a) regularly with the imperfect indicative, past subjunctive and secondary future of simple verbs, when they are not preceded by any of the particles and conjunctions (so-called ' proverbs,' § 53, 2 and § 211) which enter into so-called non-genuine composition with the following verbal form.

(b) under similar conditions, in other parts of the simple verb, in order to infix a personal pronoun or relative -n- (cf. the note below).

(c) in some parts of the verb in a relative function, see § 173,2b.

2. The particle ro- (ru-, ra-, § 116, 3, 4) is used as follows: —

(a) It converts a preterite (ind. or subj.) or narrative tense into a perfect, while an imperfect is turned into a consuetudinal perfect, e.g. as-bert ' he said ' ; as-ru-bart ' he has said.'

(b) In a dependent clause of a general sentence it gives a present (ind. or subj.) the force of a perfect, e.g. in in nuall do-n-gniat ho ru-maith fora ndimtea remib ' the cry that they make when their enemies are routed by them.'

(c) It gives a pres. subj., which is used in a future sense, the force of a future perfect, while a past subjunctive is turned into a pluperfect, e.g. dia n-erbalam ni, ni-bia nech 'if we shall have died, there will be no one.'

286 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

(d) It expresses possibility (except in the ind. pret. and impf.) e.g. cia ru-bd cen ni diih, ni ru-bai cenaib huili ' though it can be without some of them, it cannot be without all of them ' ; ni d-a-r-genat ' they will not be able to do it.'

(e) With the subjunctive it is regular (a) in wishes ;

(^) after acht ' provided that/ re-siu ' before ' ;

(7) after co'\ cotV^ ' until ' when following a negative sentence.

(f) It is also occasionally found with other subjunctives where the usage is less defined and the force of the particle ro- is less obvious.

(a) in negative commands, e.g. ni to-r-gaitha ' he should not defraud him.'

(^) in indefinite relative clauses and relative clauses ranging from possibility to purpose, e.g. na maith ro-be ' whatever good there is'; boi ni ro-glante and 'there was something to be purified there.'

(7) in final clauses; also after adjectival expressions, like 'it is necessary, meet, fitting,' etc., e.g. arna ro- chretea ' that he may not believe ' ; is huisse ce ru-samaltar fri Crist ' it is right that he be compared to Christ.'

3. In some verbs other particles are employed instead of ro-, such as ad- (frequent in compounds beginning with com-), e.g. con-scar ' destroys ' : con-ascar ; cotyi-, e.g. as-oirg ' smites ' : as-com-ort ' has smitten ' ; ess-, e.g. ibid ' drinks ' : as-ib ' has drunk.' A double preposition appears in do-essid {*de-eks-sesod-e), perf. of saidid ' sits,' which has for its preterite siasair.

Sometimes a different root is employed, e.g. do-rat ' has given,' do-bert 'gave,' to do-heir 'gives'; ro-ld 'has thrown,' fo-caird ' threw,' to fo-ceird ' throws.'

In some verbs there is no distinction between ro- forms and ro-less forms, e.g. in all compounds of -ice (do-ice ' comes,' con-ice ' is able,' ro-icc ' reaches,' etc.), ro-fitir ' knows,' ad-bath ' died,' etc.

Note. — In the future and secondary future of the substantive verb (under the conditions given in § 174, 1. a) ro- serves to infix a personal pronoun.

ACCIDENCE 287

On the preverbal prepositions see § 211. On the other preverbs see § 53, 2.

4. In ad-ci ' sees ' and ro-cluinethar ' hears ' the narrative tenses are expressed with the aid of co", e.g. co-cualcie ' he heard ' ; but CO" is dropped after the particles and conjunctions men- tioned in § 53, 2 be.

On the Formation of the Moods and Tenses § 175. The Present Stem.

From the present stem are formed the present indicative, the imperfect indicative, and the imperative.

While the present stem of the weak verbs (§ 173, 1) is identical with the common verbal stem, the present stem of radical verbs is formed from the common verbal stem in four different ways :

1. By adding the thematic vowels e (in the 2. and 3. sg. and 2. pi.) and 0, in the 1. sg. o.

e.g. as-heir ' he says ' fr. I.E. *eJcs-bher-e-t, as-beram ' we say ' fr. I.E. *eKs-bher-o-7nos.

2. By infixing an n before the final <^ or g of the stem and adding the thematic vowel e/o.

e.g. bongid 'breaks' fr. I.E. *bho-n-g-e-ti, root *bhog.

3. By adding palatal suffixes.

e.g. gaibid ' takes ' fr. I.E. *ghabh-i-ti, gaibit ' they take ' fr. I.E. *ghabh-i-nti, midithir 'judges ' fr. 0. C. *med-je-trai.

4. By adding a suffix -na- (fr. *7ia) or -nu-,

e.g. -ren(a)id 'you sell' fr. I.E. *pr-n9-te; do-lin ' flows 'fr. O. C. Ho-li-nu-t, 3. pi. do-linat fr. 0. C. Ho-li-nu-nt (0. C. li- fr. I.E. >^, § 132).

§ 176. Present and Past Subjunctive.

In O. Ir. there are two types of subjunctive :

1. The s- subjunctive, formed from radical verbs, whose root ends in a dental, a guttural or nn (fr. *ndn, nkn, etc. ).

Its stem is formed by adding an s- which becomes assimilated to the final consonant of the root ; with the exception of the 3. sg.

288 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

active and deponent and 2. sg. deponent a thematic vowel e/o appears before the ending just as in § 175, i.

e.g. saidid ' sits,' 3. sg. pres. subj. seiss, fr. *sed-8-ti, composi- tional form : -s4 fr. *sed-s-t.

Note. — The subjunctive stem shows occasionally a different vowel- gradation from the present stem ; as a rule the normal vowel-grade is found ; the verbs beginning with /- show an analogical e

e.g. dingid ' crushes ' f r. *dhi-n-§h-e-ti ; 3. sg. subj. d4is fr. *dheigh-s- ti ; ad-fiadat ' they tell ' fr. I.E. *ad-veid-o-nt, 3. pi. subj. ad-fessat fr. O. C. *ad-ved-S'0-nt. (As the full root is veid, the reduced form would be vid as in fiss f r. *vid-tus ; the e is due to the influence of e- verbs, like fedid ' leads.')

2. All the other verbs have the a- subjunctive.

Its stem is formed by adding the suffix -a- to the common verbal stems; of course the thematic vowel, the nasal and palatal suffixes, and the infixed -n-, which are used in forming the present stem of radical verbs, do not appear in the subjunc- tive-, future-, and preterite- stem.

e.g. be{i)rid ' carries,' 3. sg. pres. subj. her(a)id fr. *bher-d-ti, compositional form -bera fr. *bher-d-t ; -ben{a)id ' you strike,' fr. *bhi-nd-te, compositional 3. sg. pres. subj. -b'ia, fr. %hi-d-t; gaibid 'takes' fr. *ghabh-i-ti, 3. sg. pres. subj. gab(a)id fr. *ghabh-d-ti.

Note 1. — The final -a in the compositional 3. sg. pres. subj. of the weak i- verbs is due to the influence of the other verbal classes, e.g. *ad-nm-i-a4 (3. sg. pres. subj. of ad-rimi 'reckons') would have regularly given *ad-rime (cf. § 46) and not ad-rimea, as we- have it in O. Ir.

Note 2. — In Mid. Ir. mairnid 'betrays' and at-haill 'dies* the subjunctive stem has the normal vowel grade mer, g'el, while in the present the reduced vowel grade mf, gH appears, mairnid and at-haill are analogical transformations of older *marnaid (I.E. *mf-na-ti) and *ad-ball (0. C. ad-halnat, *ad-gH-nd-t). Similarly those radical verbs, which form their present stem by means of a palatal suffix (§ 175, 3) and show a reduced vowel grade in the present, as gainithir (fr. *gn-je-trai) * is born ' or the compounds of -moinethar (fr. *-inn-je4ro), show the normal vowel grade {^en, men) in the subjunctive.

THE CELTIC REVIEW

APRIL 191 4

THE F^ILEADH-BEAG IN THE SEVENTEENTH

CENTURY

J. Reoch

In the Journal of John Aston ^ which relates his experience as ' a privy chamber-man extraordinary ' to Charles I., when the king was with the English army during the cam- paign of 1639, known as the First Bishops' War, there occurs a graphic description of the Highlanders attached to the opposing Scots army. Aston, whose journal shows him to have been a cultured and intelligent gentleman, of an observant disposition, visited in person the encamp- ment of the Scots on Dunse Law, so that his testimony is that of an eye-witness. The following is the passage referred to (I quote it in full, as it is of great interest and not at all well known) : —

'Most guessed them [the Scots army] to bee about 10 or 12,000 at the most, accounting the highlanders, whose fantastique habitt caused much gazing by such as have not scene them heertofore. They were all or most part of them well timbred [well-made] men, tall and active, apparrelled in blew woollen wascotts and blew bonnetts. A paire of bases of plad, and stockings of the same, and a paire of pumpes on their feete : a mantle of plad cast over the left shoulder, and under the right arm, a pocquett before for their knapsack, and a pair of durgs [dirks : or possibly intended for dags, i.e. pistols] on either side the

VOL. IX. T

290 THE CELTIC REVIEW

pocquet. They are left to their owne election for their weapons ; some carry onely a sword and targe, others musquetts, and the greater part bow and arrowes, with a quiver to hould about 6 shafts, made of the maine of a goat or colt, with the haire hanging on, and f astned by some belt or such like, soe as it appeares allmost a taile to them. Theise were about 1000, and had bagg-pipes (for the most part) for their warlick instruments. The Laird Buchannan was theire leader. Theire ensignes had strange devices and strange words, in a language unknowne to mee, whether their owne or not I know not.'

This passage is especially interesting in that it contains, so far as I know, the earliest distinct reference to the wear- ing of the kilt and shoulder plaid as separate garments, as distinguished from the belted plaid. The words, ' a paire of bases of plad and stockings of the same ... a mantle of plad cast over the left shoulder and under the right arm,' clearly point to this. The word bases signified a plaited skirt, reaching from the waist to the knee, appended to the doublet or secured to the girdle. It was sometimes worn over armour, and the expression, * a pair of bases,' occurs in this sense in Shakespeare's Pericles , ii. 1. It is evident that Aston here uses the term to describe the feileadh-heag, and there could scarcely be clearer evidence of the incorrectness of the story that the kilt as a separate garment was the invention of two Englishmen, viz. Raw- linson, the manager of an ironfoundry at Invergarry, and Parkinson, an army tailor, about the year 1728. This story, which did not appear in print until 1785, has obtained wide currency — even such well-informed writers as the brothers Stuart (so-called), authors of The Costume of the Clans, accepted it as correct; and, in spite of its inherent improbabihty, it reappears time after time, although the mere fact that it never saw the light of day until half a century after the supposed inventors were said to have manifested their ' stroke of genius,' as it has been described, is surely sufficient to bring it imder suspicion. And no

FEILEADH-BEAG IN SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY 291

contemporary, nor indeed any independent, evidence has ever, so far as I am aware, been produced in its support.

In confirmation of Aston's description, we have the testimony of Thomas Kirk in 1677, in his account of his tour in Scotland in that year, in a passage also pointing to the kilt and plaid as separate garments. He describes them as follows : ' A sort of breeches, not unlike a petticoat, that reaches not so low, by far, as their knees, and their stockings are rolled up about the calves of the legs, and tied with a garter, their knee and thigh being naked . . . a plaid over the left shoulder and under the right arm,' etc.

The frequently quoted passage from Taylor, the ' Water Poet,' descriptive of the Highland dress in 1618, is scarcely clear enough to justify one in assuming that he refers to the use of the feileadh-heag at that time ; although, if his description is intended to apply to the belted plaid, it seems strange that he does not mention its most characteristic feature, the belting of the plaid in folds round the waist, seeing, more especially, that he actually wore the costume himself.

There is also, in Sir William Brereton's account of his visit to Scotland in 1635, a passage which, though vague in its terms, might be read as referring to the feileadh-beag. He says : ' Many Highlanders we observed in this town [Edinburgh] in their plaids, many without doublets, and those who have doublets have a kind of loose flap garment hanging loose about their breech, their knees bare,' etc. From this one might infer that it was only those who had doublets who wore the ' loose flap garment,' as distin- guished from the plaid, and it would almost appear that it was by the well-to-do (' those who have doublets ') that the kilt as a separate garment was first worn, while the poorer had to content themselves with the plaid, which served them for upper clothing during the day and a blanket at night.

292 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE GAELIC VERSION OF THE THEBAID OF STATIUS

Professor Mackinnon

{Continued from page 225)

GAELIC TEXT

^ 0 THAiRNic tra in saethar sin do denam tangadar senoraig croma cian-aesta, acus macaim ro ^-bega rebacha, acus daes- car(s)luaig denmech ^ deaith * do chomorad aenaich in n-onoir in meic sin aroen re gasradaib Grac. Acus ro be inad in n-aenaich .t. glend glas fherach ^ comred, acus feda foithremla ® fir-glana 'na thimchell itir da sliab cruindi chomarda. Acus ra suidetar buidni croda cathacha nan Grec i mucha do lo acus do laithi and sin. Acus ro h-airim ' each a shochraidi and.* Acus o ro h-airmed ^ tuc ^° chucu cet do buaib data deig-remra acus a comlin da tharbaib comaesta comdatha daib-si.^^ Acus tucad chuca as ahaithli sin delba rindta ro-ailli a n-athar acus a senathar d'urgaird- igud aicenta orru ^* is in n-oenach.

Acus ro leigit leosum and sin ar tus greda ^^ diana deg- retha srian-ailli socra sluagda so-ermaig dar moigib min- reidi in n^*-aenig sin.

As i tra cet n-ech ^'^ tucad and sin .t. Arion, ech aibind allmarda ^^ Adraist ind n-airdrig. Ba suaichnich am egcosc in n^'-eich sin .t. gabair^* gorm-glasa gasta gualand-tiug badba bir-cluasach socair saemind so-ermach, co moing Fol. 13b 2. cairn corcar-glain, co n-erball comtroma comdatha, do bunad cenel eich Neptuin, Dea in mara. Uair is cuma con- riadad-si muir 7 tir. Acus ni b'anndsa ^^ le nech aili do lecud 2^ on f urri, achd mad Adraist in t-ardri a oenur. Acus

* The Nemaean Games continued — The Chariot Races.

' Eg. omits. ' denmacha. * dedh-gnimacha. ^ ferach. • foithremra,

'' h-airimedha ic. ^ Eg. adds sin. ® airmedha. ^'^ tucad.

" Eg. omits. ^2 Eg. omits. *' greadha. " Eg. omits. ^^ cetna ech.

" allbarrda. " Eg. omits. ^^ gauar. " ba miadh. ^o lecan.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 293

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

When this task was completed, there came forward old men bent and very aged, and boys very small and playful, and common people industrious and skiKul, to celebrate the games in honour of that boy, along with the Grecian troops. The site of the fair was a green, grassy, level glen, surrounded by bosky, bright woods, between two round hills of equal height. The brave, fighting troops of Greece used to take their seats there day by day early. Each counted his following, and when this was done they took a hundred beautiful fat cows and a like number of bulls of the same age and colour. Thereafter were brought thither very beautifully carved likenesses of their fathers and grandfathers, to gladden their spirits at the fair.

And, to begin with, they ran there over the smooth, level plains of that course, swift, speedy, richly-bridled, steady, numerous, easily ridden steeds. ^ Now the first horse that was brought there was Arion, the spirited, over-sea horse of the high king Adrastus. Conspicuous indeed was the appearance of that horse, — a steed blue-grey, gallant, thick-shouldered, wild, with pointed ears, quiet, gentle, easily-ridden, with a fair pale-purple mane, and a bushy tail of like colour. Of the stock of Neptune the sea-god's horses was she. She rode indifferently over sea and land. She disdained to carry any one save only the high king. Nevertheless Adrastus gave her to his son-in-law Polinices

1 Th., ri. 301.

294 THE CELTIC REVIEW

gided tuc-som da cliamain in la sin h-i do chum in n-oenaig .t. do Polinices, 7 is ed ro raid sin : ' Na buail co menic t'ech, a gilla,' ar se, ' 7 coimgsic^ each, 7 is lor do gresacht si,^ 7 reithfid in mag amal ro reithset eich grinni Faoaetan ^ mic Apaill.

Acus ro erig Ampiarus and sin .1. sacart mor na Greci' do chum na comlingi cetna 7 da ech ail(l)i * oengela foe con-niach ^ a chomdatha ® immi i comartha a sacherdoiti.' Acus ba do shil eich Chastoir .t. Sillarais do na h-eachaib sin.

Acus ro comerig 'na diaid sin Ademetais ^ (tais)ech * na Tesailli 7 lairthecha ^° dana diana deig-retha f ae, 7 siad aiUi alad-breca.

Acus is iad ba comnesa do sin da mac lasoin meic Eson 7^^ Ipsifile .1.^2 Toas 7 Eumos,^^ 7 ua cosmail tra delba na desi,^* itir armaib 7 echaib 7 etaigib.

Tangadar 'nan diaid sin and Coromis 7 Ipodomus. i^Cromis imorro ba do shiP^ h-Ercoil mic Amphitrionis ^' do, 7 Ipodomus ba do sil Onamaus rig Pissa do, 7 ni gre- sised ^8 nech dib sin a eocho sech aroili.

Acus eich Diomit rig nan Greittecda ^^ ua Cromis. Acua is e in Diemidi 2° sin do beread a aigeda da echaib co marb- dais 7 CO n-ithidis ^^ iad, cein no ^^ riacht Ercoil ar aigedacht da thig, 7 CO tard ^s Ercail eisum fen daib, 7 co ru-s-marbsad.

Ipomonus imorro eich a athar .t. Inomaus ro badar foe seic. Acus is e in t-Enomaus ro focrad comrith n-echda ^ ar gach fer ticed d'iarraid a ingine fair, 7 o teigtis a eich- sum dib ro marbdais ^^ aici in lucht sin fochetoir. Acus is amlaid ro badar na h-eich sin 7 broen fola na fer ro marbaid dib ar a carput i comartha coscair.

Cid tra acht ro suidiged^^ leosum and sin crich 7 co- martha cu sa leicfitis an n-eocho, 7 dair barr barr-lom bun^Methan ro* bai i cind in muigi, 7 carrach tren-mor

'* furrisi sin. ^ Faidetan. ' nan Greca. * aillidh. ^ co n-edach.

• comdalta. '' scacerdoiti. ^ Admet. ' taisech. *" larthacha,

" Eg. adds d'. »2 Both MSS. have 7. » Euenfos. " Eg. adds sin.

»6 Eg. adds 7. 1* MS. thil. " Amprionis. " gressidh. " Eighetagha.

w {endidh. 21 ethadhdis. 22 gg. add co. 28 condart. 24 n-echa.

^ romarbtha. ** suidhedh. 27 buinn.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 295

that day for the race, and charged him thus. ' Do not strike your horse often, lad,' said he, ' but keep abreast of the others. Your urging will suffice, and she will scour the plain with speed equal to the choice steeds of Phaethon son of Apollo.'

Then Amphiaraus, the great priest of Greece, entered for the same race, driving two pure white steeds, their colour matching that of his official robes as priest. These horses were of the blood of Cyllarus, Castor's horse.

After him came Admetus king of Thessaly, with bold, spirited, swift mares ; beautiful and dappled these.

Next to him came the two sons of Jason son of Aeson and of H3rpsipyle, Thoas and Euneos. These two were aUke in appearance and arms and horses and dress.

Chromis and Hippodamus followed these. Now Chromis was of the blood of Hercules, son of Amphitryon, and Hippodamus was of the race of Oenomaus king of Pisa. Neither of these urged his steeds past the other.

Chromis drove the horses of Diomede king of the Getae. It was this Diomede who used to give his guests to his horses, who killed and devoured them, until Hercules went there as guest, and gave himself to the horses, and was thus slain.

Hippodamus, on the other hand, drove his father Oenomaus' s horses. It was this Oenomaus who used to challenge every one who came to seek his daughter (in marriage) to an equestrian race, and when his horses won he killed the defeated suitors forthwith. And thus were these horses with a drop of the blood of the men who were slain on their chariot in token of victory.

And now they fixed the goal and mark to which the horses were to run — a bare-topped, thick-trunked oak which was at the end of the plain, and a very great, firmly-

296 THE CELTIC REVIEW

thuindi^ in n-aird aili and, 7 ed cheithri n-urchur saigdi sith-guirmi eatorra sin.

Is i tra amser i raibi Apaill mac loib ac sir-senm a 2 chruiti 7 i muUach slebi Barnaps ac admolad nan Dei. Acus atchondairc uad na Grecu ^ for in moig mor reid ar a rabadar, 7 robai ac tobairt aichne ar each *oen ba* leth dib. Acus adchondairc and sin Admeit, ri na Tesailli, 7 Ampiarus uasal-sacart. Acus bad caraid coemtha ^ am dosum in dia(s) sin, uair ro bui 'na h-aegairi thret ^ do fhir ® dib ,L. do Emit' in tan ro h-athuired as a deacht e, 7 ua sacart uasal idbarta do Ampiarus. Acus o ra bui ag fegad amlaid sin is ed ro raid : ' Cia itir,' ar se, ' in dea ro ^ gres na caraid-sea (f)uil acam-sa do chum chathraigi na Tebi ? Acus ra^ fuil som^^ n-grada acum uar in dis sin, uair is tigerna 7 is cara bunaid Adiemit, ri na TesaiUi ; Ampiarus imorro ro fitir fein ga(ch) ni asfas do cur ind.' Acus is cuma ro raid sin, 7 romuidsed frasa ^^ der dar gruaidib do, 7 tainic mar saegnen tened no mar saigid a sreing no co rainic i coillid Nem.

Is in uair sin ro bai Porteus ^^ a cur crandchair a chathbarr ma n-indaib comlenga, 7 ro coraiged iad-sum ban samla sin. Ro bui tra ailgius 7 tindinis mor ac na feraib 7 ac na h-echaib uan comrith. Ua h-adbul imorro re h-eistecht sitrech 7 setfedach na n-ech sin 7 a lemenda re glomraib na srian ac a n-imastad.

Acus *^ asahaithli sin ro leicit in en fhecht 7 an en uair do chum a retha. Ua dluith deinmech ^* am ^^ do cuas and sin. Acus nir ba suaichnich so-aichnid neach dib seach aroile re daithi 7 re denmidi dochuadar uaithib. Acus ua dicheltai uiU na dirmanna sin do na ^^ h-aichthib comdorcha cumascda^' ro chomerig dib re snuad-allus na h-erma, re dendgail na roth, re h-analaib n-each 7 na curad ic im- chosnam thosaich is in chomhng. Acus ua h-ilbrecca ildathach na moigi min-reidi ris na cethaib coimgela cubair

' tuinighthi.	^ Eg. omits.	^ Grecidh.	*~* Eg. omits.
* cumtha.	«-^ Eg. omits.	^ Adhmet.	8 MS. re.
• ni. ^^ soine.	" Eg. adds diana.	'* Partanopeus.	'' Eg. omits.
" denmnedach.	^^ Eg. omits.	'<' Eg. omits.	^^ comuscha.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 297

fixed pillar the other mark, the distance between which was four casts of a long blue arrow.

Now at that moment Apollo son of Jove was on the top of the hill Parnassus, playing his harp, entertaining the gods. He saw in the distance the Greeks on the great level plain on which they were, and he was recognising each individual of them. He saw there Admetus king of Thessaly and the noble priest Amphiaraus, both of whom were dear friends of his. For he served Admetus as shepherd when he was expelled from the godhead, and Amphiaraus served as a high priest at his altar. And as he was viewing them thus, he spoke as follows. 'Which god,' said he, ' I wonder, who urged these friends of mine to the city of Thebes ? Nevertheless they are both dear friends of mine, for Admetus king of Thessaly is my lord and my constant friend, while as to Amphiaraus, he him- self (already) knows what the result will be to him.' As he spoke thus, showers of tears broke down his cheeks, and he went like a thunderbolt or an arrow from string until he reached the woods of Nemaea.

At the time Prothous was casting the lot in his helmet for the respective positions (of the combatants) in the race, and they were placed according as the lot assigned. Horses and men were intensely eager about the race. Terrible indeed it was to listen to the panting and snorting of the horses, and to see them spring as they were held in check by the bits of the bridles.

At length at the same moment they were started for the race. Close together and vehement in sooth they ran. It was difficult to distinguish or recognise one of them from the other, because of the speed and ardour with which they passed. The whole crowd of them was quite covered, and their faces became obscured and confused, by the sweat of the riding, the grinding of the wheels, and the breaths of the horses and champions as they struggled for the foremost place in the race. Variegated, and of divers colours, were the smooth, level plains by the showers of very white froth

298 THE CELTIC REVIEW

consnigtis re h-6ilib^ na h-eachraidi ac fo senm na srian mireno ^ is in uair sin, 7 ua fogradach ^ firmamint and sin re gresacht na curad comrumach uar na h-echaib ailli all- marda.*

Is and sin tra ro arig Ai6en^ .t. ech Adraist, marcach coem comuithech* do bith furri .t. Polinices. Acus ro gab dremni 7 dasacht 7 daebili ' 7 ro bui ac iegad ^ a tigema fen 7 aca iarraid ar fud in muigi mor adbail. Acus ge * ra bui ^ do chuaid sin 1° urcur saigti sithguirmi and sin do Gregaib glan ailli Grec.^^ A(m)piarus imorro ba nessu d'Aroen, 7 ba fada etorru. Acus in marcach Tesalta .t. Ademet ina diaid sec.^^ Acus iad ua nesa do siden ^^ dan da mac lason .t. Enunios 7 Tous; 7 nir greis nech dib side a eochu sech araili do chomuU a charadraid. Cr6mus acgarb imorro 7 Ipodamus ana ^* cheil f odeoid, 7 a meit na railed sin da n-eachaib 'g a n-imarcur is ed ua dera sin.

Ampiarus ro gob seic ^^ ar athgairid na conairi da tairecht- ain tosaich, 7 is ed an^® a cetna dorone Admeit, ri na Teasailli. Acus ba denmech in marcach i i' sin, uair is cuma no lenad do thaeib 7 do ^^ druim a eich. Aroen imorro, in FoLi4a2. t-ech ro bui fa Polinices, ro bui co siblach sechranda, uair ni cumaing a certugadh cein no cu rue Ampiarus tosach de. Acus ua h-e Admeid ua comnesa do side, cein no cor impa ^' Aroen ech Adraist 20 a ris ar^o set na sliged. Acht chena ni gresed Polinices 7 ni astadus,^^ acht ro bui ina tham 7 ina thaisi in n-ichtar in carbaid in n-uair sin.

Is and sin ro acsad a ris na h-ech diana denmecha sin ^^ caethi ^^ a comretha. Acus do chuadar ia dol conairi co ro gabsad a carpaid caema cumaidi^* i cend aroili 7 a cheli. Acus gided nir ba lor les na curadaib gresacht na n-ech o sporaib athgera ianiaide no co n-dernsad o gothaib moraib 7 o n-anmandaib dilsi uadein. Ro gres tra Admeit and sin Polinices [sic] 7 Siris [sic] a da each. Ro greis

* h-oih\ibh.	^ mirenn.	^ focrach.	* allbarda. •'' Arion.
* comuidech.	'' debeile.	8 fegain.	9-" do uai. ^'' son.
*i Eg. omits.	^2 sideig.	" sideig.	" an ai. *^ sideg.
w in.	^^ Eg. omits.	'8 Eg. omits.	" impo. *<>"**' ar sar.
«i faado i.	22 Eg. adds na.	2' Eg. adds sin.	2^ cumaiachta cumdaidh.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 299

falling from the jaws of the horses through the chafing of the bridle bits ; and resonant was the air with the voices of the competing champions as they urged on the shapely foreign steeds.

Then Arion, Adrastus's steed, felt that she carried a gentle, strange rider, to wit, Polinices. Ardour and fury and impatience took possession of her. She was looking for her own master, and scanning the whole great vast plain in search of him. Though this was so, she out- distanced the (other) bright, sleek steeds of the Greeks by a cast of a long blue arrow. Now, Amphiaraus was nighest to Arion, although far in rear. Next to him, but behind, came the Thessalian rider Admetus. The two sons of Jason, Euneos and Thoas, were next in order. Neither of these pressed his horses past the other — (such was their desire) to maintain their friendship. In the rear the furious Chromis and Hippodamus went together — the reason lay in the weight of the warriors whom their steeds carried.

As to Amphiaraus, he took a short cut in order to get the foremost place ; and so also did Admetus king of Thessaly. A very expert rider was he, for he could cling to the side of his horse with the same ease as he could ride on his back. But Arion, which Polinices drove, was careering swiftly and aimlessly, for he could not be guided until Amphiaraus passed him. Admetus was now the nearest to Amphiaraus until Arion, the steed of Adrastus, swerved once again to the direct course. Still during this time Pohnices neither urged nor restrained his steed, but sat quietly and silently in the bottom of the chariot.

Then the ardent, vehement horses again left the race- track, and they ran right headlong until their fair, shapely chariots got locked in each other. Nevertheless the champions were not satisfied with urging their horses by very sharp, iron spurs; with loud voice they called upon each by his individual name. Thus Admetus pressed on Pholoe and Iris, his two steeds ; and Amphiaraus the beautiful, swift Aschetos, and the pure-white, thick-

300 THE CELTIC REVIEW

(d)no ^ Ampiarus Asceton datha deig-retha et Sicnus ^ gle- gel gualand-tiug. Ro gres^ imorro Cromis Strimon. Ro bui Echion ua Uneos mac lason. Ro gres (d)no ^ Ipodomus Cidona. Ro gres Tohas mac lason Podarsen.* Nir labair Polinices ris in n-ech bui fai .t. re •* h-Areon, uair nir lam a guth do cloistecht di. Et* ba cimtabartach coscar co fada and sin itir na h-echaib.

Is and sin tra ro ast' Toas mac lason Admeit, ri na Tesailli, in tan ro ui ac dul secha. Acus ni thuc a brathair Eunios fortacht fair, uair ro gresestar Ipodomus gasta gruad-solus a eochu etorru. Tuc dno Cromis mac Ercail astod ^ f oreigni ar Ipodomus dar eis caich, comtis sinti • a srian mirenda a ech, 7 co ra bris a charput. Acus 1° o ra brisead amlaid sin carput Ipodomus ro impaised^^ a eich ris fochetoir da ithi ^^ o ra bui ^^ 'na loigi, amail ba bes leo remi sin daine do ithi. Et o do chondairc in tren fer calma Cromis sin ro treic a buaid comretha, 7 ro impo d'indsaigid Ipodomus, 7 ro anaich ^^ e.

Tanic tra Apaill and sin d'(f)ortacht 7 d'(f)oirithin do Ampiarus do thobairt buad^* comlenga do. Acus is e ni do r(o)ni ^^ torathar fir-gran(n)a feosach ^^ do deilb ^' 7 do denam^' and sin ar lar in n-aenaig, congebtais amaiti^^ aduathmara ifirn grain 7 ecla reimi. O t' chonnairc tra^* Areon an ni sin ro gob aduath 7 urecla h-i 2° remi, co-s-erig a mong co sesmach sir-garb os a gualaind, 7 co ro thairring a carbad le 7 in n-ech ^^ aili bai fai, 7 co ro thoit Polinices as in charpad, co roibi bristi buaidirthi 22 ar lar in n-aenaich dar eis. Acus ro bui-sium isin ^3 loigi sin cein co n-dechaid carpat Impiarus in t-sacairt, 7 carpad Admeit ri na Teasailli secha, 7 lucht na comlenga ar chena. Ro thocaib-sium a chend co h-anband eneirt 2* asahaithli sin, 7 ^5 ro erig do dechain ^^ na comlenga.

* MS. h ' Eg. adds gle-glan. ^ Ro ghabh. * Ipasen.

6 Eg. omits. 8 7. 7 fhost. 8 fasto.

8 sinnta snfthi, 'o Eg. omits, ^* impo. ""'^ 7 odconnairc.

" anaig. ^* buada. ^^ do roine. ^* feosagach. i^"" Eg. omits.

" aifiminti 7. '» Eg. omits. 20 jjg. omits. ^i Jq t-ecb. 22 buaidirtha.

23 ann sa. 24 eisirt. 26 j;g. omits. ^e dfechain.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 301

shouldered Cygnus. Moreover, Chromis urged on Strymon. Aethion carried Euneos son of Jason. Hippodamus, besides, pressed on Cydon, and Thoas son of Jason Podarces. But Polinices did not address Arion the steed that carried him ; he would not venture to let his voice be heard by her. And the victory among the steeds was for a long time doubtful.

Then it was that Thoas son of Jason gave check to Admetus king of Thessaly, as the latter was passing him. His brother Euneos was unable to aid him, for the handsome, bright-cheeked Hippodamus drove his steeds between the two. But Chromis son of Hercules, coming behind the others, violently pulled up Hippodamus so that the reins and bits of his horses were wrenched, and his chariot was broken. When Hippodamus's chariot was broken in this fashion, his horses forthwith turned upon him to devour him where he lay, as was their custom heretofore to devour men. When the mighty and brave Chromis observed this, he gave up the contest and turned towards Hippodamus, and saved him (from the horses).

Apollo now comes to help and aid Amphiaraus and to win for him the victory in the race. What he did was to fashion and make a hideous, bearded monster in the centre of the course, at sight of which the horrid hags of hell would take loathing and fear. Now when Arion saw that thing horror and great fear took hold of her. Her mane rose rigid and very rough above her shoulder. She dragged the chariot and the companion horse along with her. Polinices fell out of the chariot, and lay thereafter bruised and stunned in the middle of the course. He lay thus until the chariot of Amphiaraus the priest and the chariot of Admetus king of Thessaly and all the competitors in the race passed him. He raised his head weakly and faintly thereafter, and then rose to view the race.

302 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Foi.i4bi. Is and sin ro opair Ampiarus imchosnum tosaich re Ar6on f uascrach ^ fir-luath ce ^ ra bi cen marcach furri. Acus^ ro chomgres a eocho 'na diaid, coma luaithigter ri sidi n-glas-fuar n-gaithi in n-amsir gairb* geimrid a deini 7 a dedgairi ^ ro comlai'nan diaid cona ^ roibi nech roime. Acus ' ro bo ' taisci ^ and sin d'echaib Ampiarus ina d' Arieon, mani gressed ^ Nephtuin dea in mara in n-ech ^o sin, cor ba le tosach na comlenga. Acus ger ua taisci ^ Arieon ' .t. ech Adraist, and sin, ba coscrach Ampiarus.

Tuc tra in t-ard ri Adraist tairbert^^ set 7 maine da^^ Ampiarus .t. don t-sacart mor,^^ ar buaid ^* na comlenga sin da breith .t. copan alaind orda as a n-ibead Ercail mac Ampitrionis fleada fina. Acus ro batar and sin ar na rindad delba na Ceanntuiri cosnomoch, 7 na Lafitecda,^^ 7 delb Marsibiea,^* rigan na cich-loisce,^' o tuc Ercail na h-airm ingantacha, .t. each ri do chid ^^ h-i cind chatha fuil ro churead tar a bel 7 dar a sroin ; tam 7 taisi, teiched ^* 7 timi ticed do na sluagaib echtrand do-s-cid a cur chatha eturru fen, 7 delb na coscar comrumach do rigne Ercail ar chena sechnon in domuin. Acus tucad d'Admeit ^^dno, (do) thaisech naTesailli,leandchaem corcor-glan, con-delbaib imda ar na inlecur do snath ^^ inti. Acus o thuc Adraist na h-aisceda sin i comartha a choscair do ^^ lucht sin, ro bui a comdi(n)gnad a cleamna, 7 tuc banchumail ^^n-aeir do seic.^s

* Et 24 as ahaithli sin ro nert ^^ Adraist drem do na sluagaib coisigib do choimling chomretha 'na fiadnaisi. Ro frecrad esium im ^^ an n-gnim sin. Acus ^^ ro erig Idas re chach. Acus is amlaid ro bui 7 coroin ^s coscair comlenga rue i sleb Olimp im a chenn. Acus as iad ba sloig doson lucht ^^ Pisa 7 EUus^^ .t. na cathrach sin. Ro erig imorro 'na diaid sin Alchon croda coscrach a Sitsion. Ro erig 'na diaid sin

' fuaisgrech. ^ ge. ^ jjg, omits. * Eg. omits. ^ doighaire.

* connach. ''~^ rop. ^ taesca. • gr«issedh. *'^ t-ech.

^' toirberta. ^^ mained do. '' Eg. adds nan Grecaidh. ** m-buaid.

'" Laipetagadha. *^ Mairsibisibea. ^' loiscedha. " adcidh.

w Eg. omits. 20 i^js_ jna^ n gnaithi. 22 (Joq, J3-23 n-doir do sidheic. ♦ The Foot Races,

2* Eg. omits. *» nertaigh. 26 yj^ v gg ©mits. ^ cosolin. M-29 Pissa 7 Elis.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 303

Then Amphiaraus made great effort to get in front of the frightened very swift Arion, who was now without a driver. He urged his steeds after her with the speed of a tempestuous, grey-cold wind in rough winter weather, and such was the vehemence and fury with which he pursued them, that there was now no one in front of him. The horses of Amphiaraus would have been at the goal before Arion, were it not that Neptune the god of the sea urged forward that steed. The first place in the race was hers ; still although Adrastus's steed Arion was foremost, Amphi- araus was the victor.

Thereupon the high king Adrastus gave to the great priest Amphiaraus who won the victory in that race a gift of jewels and wealth, i.e. a beautiful golden bowl from which Hercules son of Amphitryon used to drink at wine feasts. On it were carved pictures of the contentious Centaurs, and of the valorous Lapithae, and the figure of Marsepia queen of the Amazons, from whom Hercules took the wonderful weapons, which represented every king whom they saw engaged in battle as emitting blood from mouth and nose; quiet and stillness, flight and panic seizing all foreign hosts who saw them fighting against each other ; and pictures of the other triumphs which Hercules won throughout the world. There was given moreover to Admetus, chief of Thessaly, a beautiful mantle of bright purple, with many figures interwoven with thread therein. After Adrastus gave their prizes in reward of victory to these, he took to comforting his son-in- law, and gave to him an Achaean female slave.

^ Thereafter Adrastus urged some of the foot soldiers to run a race in their presence. The proposal was responded to. First Idas stood forward ; and thus was he with a chaplet round his head which he won for racing on Moimt Olympus. His people were from the cities Pisa and Elis(?). After him came forward the brave and victorious Alcon from Sicyonia. Then came Phaedimus who won the race

» Th., vi. 550.

304 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Pedemus. Ba coscrach comretha fado in fer sin i traig Ismis. Ro erich Dimas ar na ^ cintis ech ^ i comreathaib in tan ba h-oc, acht chena ^ fa for-aesta ^ and sin h-e.

Ro erig dno ^ Parthanapeus * no Parthanap * rig na h-Arcaidi. Acus ua subach sluaig in aenaig ris in gilla sin. Acus ua dual am deig rith don fir sin o mathair .t. o Athal- annta. Acus ba do ^ luth anw ^ f hir sin brith ar na h-alltaib diana deig retha ar luas 7 ar lan-rith. Acus in t-urchur focherded riam remi conclised ar a chind ria siu ro shoichead talmain, Et ® is ann sin ro thaithmig in t-(s)iblaind n-alaind n-orda ro bui is in bruth ' caem chorrtharach, 7 ro cur de h-e. Acus ro foruamnad corp daith-gel deig-denmach in deg laich a h-ola. Acus ro foruamnad dno ^ Idas 7 Dimas FoLi4b2, ban rimla^ cetna. Acus ba h-e Idas ba derrscaithi delb is in chomlingi sin acht Partanapeus ^^ aenur. Acus ba sine Idas ina Parthanapeus.

Rouadar tra na fir sin ac fromad ^^ a luith resiu donetis a comling. Acus ro coraiged ^* comartha in chomretha accu.i3 Ro reithset ua chomaird chomluith no cor scuch each secha araili dib. Acus ro chosain Parthanapeus tosach dib uiH sin n-uair sin. Acus ba luaithitir re sidi ^* n-gaithi n-gemreta in tethad ^^ 7 in tenad rue o chach. Acus is e ua nesu do Idas athlom, aduathmar ; Pedimus 7 Dimas 'na n-diaid seic, 7 ua gairit etorru. Ua athlom imorro ^^ Alcon an ^' diaid na fer sin. Is amlaid tra ro bui Parthanapeus and sin 7 a fholt dualach dearrscaigthech scailti dar a formna siar sechtair. Acus o rainig ^^ Idas cend na comlenga i comfacus do 7 Parthanapeus ac doul uad chuici is e ni do roinni, ro sin in laim 7 ro gab ar bun in n^^-fhoilt fhada find-buidi sin h^O-e, 7 ro trascair chuici ^idar ais. ^^ O t' chondcadar imorro na h-Arcaidi sin ^^ ro f reagratar d' innsaidi Idas da airlech.22 Ro ergedar sluag Pisa 7 Elis dia frithaileam sideic.^^ Acus is de sin fa mesc^* buaidirthi

*~^ cinndis eich. '"' ua h-aesta in fer. * MS. 1. *~* Eg. omits.

*-^ luas in. ^ Eg. omits. ^ brot. ^ MS. t. ^ samla.

^° Eg. adds a. " fromhadh. ^^ coraigsit. ^^ jjg. omits. ^* sithe.

15 teehudh. ^^ Eg. omits. " MS. nan.! '» airigh. '^ Eg. omits.

** Eg. omits. '^"^^ data ais e. ^2-22 jjjj omits. " san. 2* mescadha.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 305

long previously on the strand of Isthmia. Thereafter Dymas stood up, whom in his youth a horse could not out- run, but at this time he was very aged.

Parthenopaeus king of Arcadia also came forward, and the hosts on the plain cheered that youth. He indeed had racing blood in him from his mother Atalanta. Such was the agility of the man that he could catch the vehement, swift deer by pure speed and running ; and the arrow which he used to shoot straight in front of him, he could catch up by the point before it reached the ground. Then he re- moved the beautiful, golden clasp which fastened the fair, fringed mantle, and laid it aside. Then the white-skinned, well-shaped body of the goodly hero was stained with oil ; and Idas and Dymas were treated in the same fashion. Idas was the most distinguished figure in that race, save Partheno- paeus alone ; Idas was also older than Parthenopaeus.

The men were now testing their agility before beginning the race. The goal was then fixed for them, and they ran with equal pace and agility, until each of them began to separate from and pass the other. Parthenopaeus then took the lead of them all, and as swift as a blast of winter wind was the flight and rush with which he passed them. The nimble, terrible Idas was next him. Phaedimus and Dymas followed these, with short space between them. The active Alcon was besides in the rear of these. Thus was Parthenopaeus with his glorious wavy hair spreading out wide from behind over his shoulders. When Idas reached up towards the mark with Parthenopaeus gaining upon him, what he did was to stretch forth his hand and grasp the long, pale-yellow hair (of Parthenopaeus) by the root and pull him backwards towards him to the ground. Now when the Arcadians saw this they promptly made for Idas to attack ^him. The hosts of Pisa and Elis rose to

VOL. IX. u

306 THE CELTIC REVIEW

in t-aenach, 7 ro-triallsad ^in t-aenach uili^ do buaidred CO mor.

Et o t' 2 chualaig Adraist in t-ard ri sin ^ ro erig ^ do thairmesc in tachair, 7 is ed ro raid : ' Traethar bar ferga, a fhiru,' ar se, ' 7 caiscid bar comruc. Acus dentar in comrith a ris, 7 na lecar i comfhacus sib, (7) na tuca nech uaib celc ma cheli.' Do ronnud tra leosin sin 7 tuc Parthanapeus buaid na comlenga les in darna fecht, 7 ba samulta na taidled in taiimain ar a luas do rethad.

O ra scuirsed * sin ro tidnaiced seoid ^ 7 maine doib log am buada, .t. ech aibind do Parthanapeus, 7^ sciath alaind ael-gel do Idas, saeigti 7 saiged to chach ar cheana.

* Et as ahaithli sin ro comtriallad ' leo cluichi disci do denum .t. cluichi meisi.^ Acus is amlaid do nithea in cluichi sin, mias adbul mor iaraind no umaidi ar uaitnedaib iaraind 'na lamaib, 7 a h-impod ^ ima ^^ cuairt, 7 a dibrucad i clethi aeoir 7 firmaminti. Acus mina f rithailtea ^^ a ris uar (r)ind (i)nd n-uaitni cetna ro marbad 7 ro mugaiged each aen ro bid fuithi.

Is and sin ro gab Adraist lama^^ ar Perelass im^^ ergi do chum in cluichi sin. Ro erich tra 7 ro chuir in mes ^* co fersecha fir-ard uada. Acus robadar Grec ^^ sel fada 'c a fegad. Acus is iad so do erig da frithaileam ar sin, .t. dias a h-Aichis, 7 triur a h-Efir, 7 oen fer a Pisa, 7 ua h-e in .vii. mad ^^ fer Acharnan.^^ Ro erig imorro as ahaithli sin Fo].i5ai. Ipomedon gruad-solus 7 mias adbul mor aile ina laim, 7 is ed ro raid : ' A ocu,' ^^ ar se, ' gebig in meis moir-sea in bar lamaib, uair is mo is feidm nert ^^ a tocbail 7 a tuimem inna ni triallaid, 7 bid rethi togla ar tohocht ^^ don chath- raid co saigthi .t. don Teib. Acus ro dibraig^i ^s ahaithli

^~' ui(le) don aenach. * do. ^~^ Eg. omits. * scuirsit.

* seid. c Eg. omits. ^ comtriallsat.

* The Quoit Game.

*• mesi. The Gaelic translator rendered discus by mias, a loan from the Latin mensa, and originally as in Latin applied to 'table,' 'altar,' etc. In the modern language the word means 'plate,' 'platter,' 'a shallow dish.'

" impo. i» ma. » frithailted/i. ^'^ lam. ""^ um.

" meis. '^ Grecidh. '" Eg. omits. ''' MS. Achannam ; Eg. AcharnamuB.

18 occa. '" nertmar. 20 toighecht. ^i diubratc.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 307

meet them. Because of this the assembly became a tumultuous crowd, and in the whole gathering there was great commotion.

When Adrastus the high king heard this he proceeded to check the quarrel, and spoke thus : ' Calm your wrath, men,' said he, ' and restrain your wrangling. Let the race be run again ; keep not too near each other ; and let no one practise treachery upon his fellow.' They did so ; and Parthenopaeus won the race the second time ; and such was the speed of his running that he seemed not to touch the ground.

When the contest ceased jewels and treasures were gifted to them in guerdon of their victory, — a gallant steed to Parthenopaeus, a beautiful, lime-white shield to Idas, arrows and an arrow to the others as well.

^ Thereafter they engaged to play the game of the discus, i.e. the quoit game. Now that game was played thus : they held a great, huge quoit of iron or copper fixed on iron pedestals in their hands, and after whirling it round they shot it straight up in the air and sky, and if it was not caught in its descent on the point of the pedestal it would kill and destroy every one that happened to be under it.

Adrastus then ordered Pterelas to commence that game. He stood forth and hurled the quoit with great force very high above them. The Greeks were for a long time watch- ing it, and these are they who stepped out to receive it, viz. two from Achaea, three from Ephyre, one from Pisa, and the seventh was Acarnan.^ Thereafter bright-faced Hippomedon stood forth with another large, huge quoit in his hand, and spoke thus. ' Warriors,' said he, ' take this great quoit in your hands, for the lifting and letting it down again is a greater test of strength than any that has been

1 Th., vi. 646.

2 On the top margin of Fol. 15a 1-2 is the following note : Is mor in magadh do Gregaib ar millset da maithus 7 da maoinibh ar son leiniph big. ' What great fools the Greeks must have been to have wasted so much of their means and substance on account of a little child.'

308 THE CELTIC REVIEW

sin, 7 nir an 'g a h-urnaigi ^ aroen ris na Grecaib acht mad ilegias 7 Menestius a h-Achain, uair ba h-ecail leo tuind- seom 2 7 truma na mesi sin ar a met. Acus ar ae ^ ro frithail Flegias calma comrumach 'na diaid sin in mes. Ra roith * 7 ro chuir an aird i co nar ba ler itir ^ nellaib frasacha firmor ^ firmaminti i ^ ar a h-ardi ro chuir, co ro seol a nuas iar sin do chum thalman co domuin inti. Acus robadar Grec 8 ac molad in giUi ^ co mor is in n-uair sin. Acus ro triaU a ris in fer sin a dibrucad 7 ni riacht les uair ro thoit uad^° h-i cen cumus gan cetugad do. Ro erig Menestius ar sin 7 ro dibraic co h-athlom 7 co h-ard h-i. Ipomedon imorro ro gab ar sin h-i, 7 ba h-airdi ro athchuir ^^ uad ina gach duini riam romi.

Acus o thaimic in cluichi sin tucad crocend taidlech tigri ^2 7 cimas do derg or fair 'na timchell do Ipomedon. Acus tucad boga garb-chuar Gnoisecda^^ do Menestius. Tucad dan^* claideb lethan lan-ger ac Pilasceius, ac sen- athair Adraist, do Plieigias, luag a cluichi mesi.

1 furnaigi. ^ tuindsim. ^ ai. * Eg. adds in meis.

^ Eg. adds na. ^ firmora na. ^ Eg. omits. ^ Grecidh.

^ Eg. adds sin. ^'^ uada. " achuir. ^^ tigre.

^^ Gnoisegada. " din.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 309

tried, and there will be a race for plunder on reaching the city of Thebes to which ye are bound.' Thereafter he hurled it (aloft), and no one of the Greeks remained with him to re- ceive it except Phlegyas and Menestheus from Achan, for the mass and weight of that quoit made them afraid because of its size. The valorous, contentious Phlegyas then caught the quoit. He whirled and hurled it aloft with such force that it was invisible among the very great showery clouds of the sky. It shot down thereafter and sank deep in the earth. The Greeks greatly lauded that youth on that occasion. He again attempted to hurl it, but in vain, for it fell from his hand without power or capacity on his part to hold it. Menestheus then stood forth and hurled it quickly aloft to a great height. But Hippomedon there- after took it, and threw it a second time to a greater height than any man ever did before.

When this game ended, a glossy tiger skin, fringed all round with red gold, was given to Hippomedon, and a rough, curved Gnossian {i.e. Cretan) bow to Menestheus. There was given besides a broad, very sharp sword, which belonged to Pelasgus the grandfather of Adrastus, to Phlegyas in guerdon of his quoit play.

310 THE CELTIC REVIEW

DAN CUIMHNE G. P. T. MacRae

Where the gurgling burnie softly

Croons of old, forgotten years, And the wistful branches murmur

Faint and low of hidden fears ; All amid the Silent Watchers

Of the husht entranced glen. Fairies dance their old-world measures

Till the dawn creeps o'er the ben ; Then they vanish to their hillocks

Hid in yonder cave-deep glade. And the fresh'ning winds of morning

Reimbue each trampled blade. Then again the secret voices

Of the noonday's wistful hour Tell of long-forgotten stories

Of the harper's mighty power ; Tell how in a distant castle

Fell his notes in dulcet strains, How he sang of Eilidh's wooing,

Eilidh, Spirit of the Plains ; Tell how war-marked clansmen trembled

At the throbbing notes that fell From the singer as he chanted

Of the death of Iseabal ; Iseabal, the Queen of Summer,

She who journeyed far away. When the snow-chilled winds of winter

Crushed too soon the autumn day ; How in foreign climes she wandered

Seeking for a home to rest, Never finding what she longed for,

Never more by love caressed ; There she pined for yonder castle

On the glenside far away, But the bonnie, tender spirit

Died ere came the new-born day.

Once again the Harper's music Fierce and loud resounded clear,

For he sang of war and conflict Surging, pressing ever near ;

DAN CUIMHNE 311

Told of ancient feuds revived,

Told of clansmen bold and brave Who were marching, proud, exultant,

To a hero's war-girt grave ; Told how Colla marched to meet him,

Eachann Mor from far Glendale, Told of mighty feats accomplished,

Told of forays doomed to fail. For when Eachann, proud, compelling,

Launched his kinsmen to the charge They were beaten back defeated.

Claymores fell on waiting targe. Noble Colla ! he of poems,

Watched his enemies track the plain. As they marched in ordered measure

To the confines of the glen ; And the valiant Eachann waited,

Ready armed ; his eyes were cold, Waited he with proud demeanour.

With his wariors brave and bold. There was ne'er such battle royal

As was witnessed in the glen When the fighting sons of Colla

Scattered far all Eachann 's men. Now the music changed to sadness,

Wailing in its every beat, For the gallant kerns who perished.

Scorning refuge in retreat ! Harper ! Harper ! how thy chanting

Rends the heart with sorrow's moan ! Bonnie maidens, sweet and comely.

Mourning, keening, left alone.

When the Harper's song had ended

Rose a man of fair renown. Telling by the oak-leaf circlet

That he bore a royal crown ; And the clansmen, tense, impatient.

Gathered round in martial might, Knowing that their chieftain's honour

Always held him to the right : — ' A Chlann mo Ghraidh ! ' and silence falleth,

' Children all of gallant men, When we hear the fateful challenge

We will up and march again ;

312 THE CELTIC REVIEW

We shall leave our dear loved mountains,

Leave our bonnie, sheltered glens, Leave our darlings when the summons

Calls us o'er the distant plains ; Far across the raging billows

"We shall sail in proud array ; Eachann's clans shall never conquer,

Never triumph in the fray. Yes, my sons ! 'mid Skye's wild comes,

Where the wind is sweeping free, Some will sleep their last long slumber,

Some will die for Gleannachridhe. We shall triumph ; we shall conquer

And our glens with joy shall ring. When the pibroch's thrilling echo

Reaches forth on hast'ning wing.' Thus he spake, this hero Colla,

He whose story poets told At the ' ceilidh ' fires o' winter,

When the snows lay deep and cold Colla, loved of women dearly,

Colla, Prince of Gleannachridhe, f He who ever fought in battle

For the cause of liberty.

Once again the echo brought me

To the fairy burnie's flow, And I gazed in mystic wonder

At the Green Fire in its glow ; — All around me naught but silence.

Portent sure of spirit-charms. Nodding branches waving sadly

Heavy, weary, burdened arms ; But around, above, upon me.

Fairy-whispers strangely sweet Told me of the happy region

Where they held their lost retreat ; Where their king on milk-white charger

Roamed the forest's midnight peace Calling lonely travellers follow

Where life's joy would never cease : To a realm of sparkling splendour

Where the Wee Folk hold their sway, Radiant in their green, green mantles.

Crimson-capped in bright array ! —

DAN OUIMHNE 313

0 Finvarra, King of Faerie ! Call me to thy mystic ring,

Lead me where the merrie dancers

Sweetest melodies do sing. So the echoes, clear, insistent,

Still compel me to the stream Where the fairies after sundown

Circle in their mystic dream. Echoes ! Echoes ! I can hear them

Call me in the midnight's rest Where the ' clachan's ' brooding silence

Weighs upon a heart distressed, For I hear my kinsmen's voices

Beckon from a far-off shore, Where the old, old dreams are cherished

Of a day that comes no more ;

1 can hear their voices calling,

I can list their wistful sigh, 'Tis the dawning morn that bringeth Absent ages ever nigh.

But there 's no one now to wander

Through the bonnie, flowery glens ; No one now to leave their footprints

On the slopes of grassy bens ; Mayhap in the mountain's silence

Where the lonely shieling stands ; Mayhap in the hill-wrapt valley

Where there lie no favoured lands ; Mayhap there an old-world dreamer

Rests upon a distant past, Calling gently to the shadows

As the night-clouds overcast. But the Highland glens are empty,

And their children scattered far By the cruel hand of exile.

Sterner, fiercer yet than war. 0 my people ! ye who linger

By the ' lochan ' in the glen, Let the throbbing breath of ages

Tell of happy days again ; Let the soothing, wistful echo

Break upon your list'ning ear, — Then the glory of tradition

Like a star shall burn most clear.

314 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE 'PICTI' AND SSCOTTI' IN THE EXCIDIUM

BRITTANI^^

Rev. a. W. Wade-Evans

The Excidium Brittanice brings its story down in chapter xiii. to the death of Maximus the usurper at Aquileia, which event is known to have taken place in the summer of a.d. 388. In the following chapter it is stated that as a result of this rebellion Britain, i.e. Scotland as well as England and Wales, was drained of all its armed soldiery, its military supplies, its cruel rectores, rulers (or praepositi, overseers, as they were called before) and its able-bodied youth, so that there was literally no human material left in the island capable of defending and ruling it, whether officer, soldier, or civilian ; or even a single weapon. The Excidium Brittanice would have us believe that Maximus, in this supreme effort of his hfe, exhausted the island of Britain of every available source of defence and authority, and that what he took away with him never returned. This incredible statement is actually emphasised as the narrative continues. The citizens, having no able-bodied men, were in need of soldiers ; having no soldiers, had to send for them ; having no rectores, rulers or overseers, failed to hold the Wall of turf ; having no weapons, had to have patterns left them for their manufacture. Britain, thus helpless, became exposed for the first time to the attacks of two savage nations from across the sea, the Scotti from the north-west, and the Picti from the north, and remained prostrate under these attacks for many years.

We are told that the Picti and Scotti differed partly in

^ The above article is to be read in conjunction with that entitled ' The Romani in the Excidium Brittanics,' which appeared in the Celtic Review for August 1913 (pp. 35-41). In these two articles the facts are submitted to a fresh examination, so that everything previously written by me on this subject should be checked by reference to this new series of essays. Also every prior essay should be checked by reference to a later.

'PICTI'-'SCOTTI' IN EXCIBIUM BRITTANIM 315

their customs, but were alike in their thirst for blood, and also in a preference for covering their hang-dog countenances with hair rather than the least decent portions of their bodies with decent clothing.

The Scotti were natives of Ireland,^ and that they are regarded as such in the Excidium Brittanice is shown in chapter xxi., in which they are distinguished from the Picti as grassatores Hiberni, Irish freebooters. Where, however, the author of the Excidium Brittanice supposed the habitat of the Picti to be is uncertain. All he says is that they were a transmarine race, who came to Britain over the sea from the north, shared with the Scotti in the capture of ' Scotland ' as far as the Wall in and after a.d. 407, and began to settle for the first time ' in the extreme part of the island ' subsequent to their defeat by the Brittani after A.D. 446. He may have supposed them to have come from the Orkney Islands or Scandinavia ; ^ in any case Britain was not exposed to their attacks until the revolt of Maximus late in the fourth century, nor was the island ever occupied by them until the fifth.

Both Picti and Scotti are described as transmarine, attacking an island which was wholly Romano-British, nomen Romanum tenens, retaining the Roman name, from John o' Groat's to Land's End. ' Borne by wings of oars, by arms of rowers, and by sails bulging with wind, they break across the bounds.' When defeated by the Romani, it is trans maria, beyond the seas, that they are put to flight,

* The Scotti appear for the first time in history under this name in the account by Ammianus Marcellinus (xx. 1) of an invasion of Roman Britain by the Picts and Scots in the year 360. ' They were probably mixed bands of Goidels, Cruithni or Picts of Ireland, and Fir Ulaid or True Ultonians. These last had been crowded into the north-east corner of that island in consequence of the conquest of Oriel or southern Ulster some years previously by Celts from the direction of Meath.' It is probably from the northern half of Ireland that we have the name Scotti. — Celtic Britain, 3rd ed., 243 ; The Welsh Peoi^le, by Ehfs and Brynmor-Jones, 87, 101-2.

2 ' The Picts came and occupied the islands, which are called Orcades, and after- wards from the islands devastated many regions and occupied them in the northern part of Britain, and they remain there to the present time, holding a third part of Britain.' — Historia Brittonum, ch. xii. Bede thought that the Picti had come originally from Scythia, i.e. Scandinavia. — Hist. Eccl., i. 1.

316 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

and it is trans maria, beyond the seas, that they accumulate the plunder acquired by them year by year ; and in chapter xix. we read how ' the foul hordes of Scotti and Picti eagerly come forth from the coracles in which they sail across the sea,^ as when the sun is high and the heat is increasing dark swarms of worms emerge from the narrow crevices of their holes.'

When a legion had arrived from Kome in answer to an appeal from the citizens for help, and had driven out the foe with great slaughter, it commanded the citizens to build a Wall across the island between two seas, which Wall being made of turf proved of no advantage. This Wall, of course, is really that of Antonine, built from Clyde to Forth about A.D. 143. Thus, although the foe had been com- pletely cleared out of Britain, the supposed building of this Wall, sometime after a.d. 388, must have meant to the author of the Excidium Brittanice that the defence of the north of Scotland was now abandoned. Such is the story of the first devastation of Britain by the Picti and Scotti.

Whilst the legion was returning home, the Picti and Scotti again come over the water to commence their second devastation, and again do the Romani arrive in answer to another appeal from the citizens and drive the invaders with great slaughter ' beyond the seas.' The Romani, however, will not be troubled any further by such laborious expeditions, for which reason they leave Britain for ever. Before departing they cause another Wall to be built in a straight line from sea to sea, this time of stone, which Wall historically is that founded by Hadrian about a.d. 122 ; and they also place towers on the sea-coast towards the south against other enemies, which towers of course are the forts of the Saxon Shore, all built before a.d. 306.^ The

* The original has trans tithicam vallem, across Tethys's valley, which is a poetical way of describing the sea. Tetbys was a sea-goddess, wife of Oceanus, and mother of water deities. Compare the expression which follows — in alto Titane, when the sun is high, from Titan, the sun-god.

2 Constantius Chlorus, colleague and representative of Diocletian in Britain, formed a coast defence of forts, some old, some newly erected, extending from the

'PICTI'-'SCOTTI' IN EXGIDIUM BRITTANIjE 317

building of the second Wall must imply that now the defence of the whole country north of it was surrendered. Such is the story of the second devastation.

In chapter xix., as the troops of the Romani were leaving for ever (the tyrant Constantine left Britain in A.D. 407), the Picti and Scotti renew their attacks over the water for a third devastation and seized the abandoned country north of the Wall in place of the inhabitants. It is impor- tant here to give the exact words, which are these : omnem aquilonalem extremamque terrae partem pro indigenis muro tenus capessunt, they seize the whole of the northern and extreme part of the land as far as the Wall instead of the inhabitants. From this we are to beheve that, whereas the Brittani had been the masters (under the Romani) of the whole island of Britain till a.d. 407, from that year the northern part of the island as far as the Wall of Hadrian was taken over by two foreign nations, the Picti and Scotti. Although these nations, however, seized the country north of the Wall, they did not as yet settle in it, but proceeded at once with their attack on southern Britain.

The Picti and Scotti being now, a.d. 407 and shortly after, in possession of Britain, north of the Wall, the object of the citizens was to ward them off the country to the south of it. To this end (so the text would seem to read) the Wall was manned. The wording is somewhat curious : ' There is stationed in edito arcis, on the height of the citadel,^ an army, slow to battle, unwieldy for flight, inept by reason of its quaking heart, which languished day and night in its foolish watch. In the meantime the hooked weapons of their naked enemies are not idle, by which the

Wash to the Isle of Wight. It consisted of some nine, each planted on a harbour and garrisoned by a regiment of horse or foot. The new system was known, from the name of the chief assailant, as Litus Saxonicum, the Saxon Shore. — Dr. Haverfield in Social England, 103, and Cambridge Medieval Ilistory, i. 378.

^ This expression seems hardly adequate to describe a manning of the Wall of Hadrian throughout its whole length. We may have here a covert reference to some particular part of the Wall, and possibly a place-name, Pencaer, Pendinas, or what not. (Uxelodunon or Uxelodunion, at the mouth of the Ellen on the Cumberland coast, means high fort or high town. — Rhfs, Celtic Britain, 3rd ed., 2.?4.)

318 THE CELTIC REVIEW

wretched citizens were dragged de muris, from the walls, and dashed to the ground. . . . Why should I say more ? They abandon their civitates, cities, and their murus celsus, high Wall.' There were flights, dispersions, massacres. The citizens are butchered like so many lambs. Their very existence becomes like that of the beasts of the field, for they even preyed on one another for barest necessities. In addition to these external calamities there were civil tumults, for food became so scarce throughout the whole country that none was obtainable except such as was acquired in the chase. Thus did famine follow in the wake of the third devastation.

Whilst this double horror of war and famine was still prevailing, the miserable remnant of the Brittani make a final appeal to Rome, despatching a letter to the powerful Aetius.^ They begin thus : To Agitius in his third consul- ship come the groans of the Brittani. But the appeal proves of no avail. Now Aetius was consul for the third time in A.D. 446.2

The famine, severe and well remembered, continues to press the wandering and vacillating people, which forces many of them to yield for the sake of a morsel of food. There were others, however, who would not yield, but issuing from mountains, caves, defiles, and thickets, carried on the war unceasingly. They would not yield, and at last, trusting in God, won a signal victory, which checked for a space the audacities of the foe. This victory was the

1 We know from Constantius's Life of St. Germanus (Bk. ir. ch. i. § 62) and from Bede (Hist. Ecd., i. 21) that about this time St. Germanus of Auxerre went to Eavenna to intercede for the peace of the Armoricans, against whom Aetius had enlisted the services of the Alani. As St. Germanus had only just returned from Britain, he may well have acted as emissary on behalf of the Brittani on the same occasion. Mr. Anscombe thinks that the letter was sent by the Brittani of Armorica and not by those of Britain, and that the author of the Excidium Brittanice ignorantly referred it to the insular Britons.

2 ' Aetius might be addressed ter consul not only in 446, but in any year thereafter until his fourth consulship and death in 454.' — J, E. Lloyd's History of Wales, 99, n. 25. The chief point, however, is this, that a.d. 446 is the earliest possible date for the despatch of the letter.

*PICTI'-*SCOTTI' IN EXGIDIUM BRITTANI^ 319

first ever inflicted by the Brittani on the Picti and Scotti, and terminated the third devastation.

It is clear that this third devastation begins in a.d. 407 with the capture of north Britain as far as the Wall, continues at once with the breaking down of the defence of the WaU, and the subsequent ravaging of southern Britain, and ends sometime after a.d. 446 with the first triumph of the Brittani. This means that the third devastation lasted at least forty years from a.d. 407.

The northern nations now withdraw. What did they do ? Here again the exact words are all-important, which are these : revertuntur ergo impudentes grassatores Hiberni domos post non longum temporis reversuri, Picti in extrema parte insulae tunc primum et deinceps requieverunt praedas et contritiones nonnumquam facientes — the shameless Irish freebooters, therefore, go back to their homes, to return again before long. The Picti, then, for the first time, settled down in the extreme part of the island and continued to do so, with occasional pillagings and devastations.

Let us see precisely what these words are meant to convey. We have been told that the Picti and Scotti had captured northern Britain as far as the Wall at least forty years previously. Capessunt pro indigenis, they took it in place of the natives. And yet not until after their defeat subsequent to a.d. 446 did the Picti begin to settle in the country they had taken; and as for the Scotti, they are made to go back to their homes in Ireland, as the use of the word Hiberni, Irish, at this point indicates. Whereas settlements of Picti iii north Britain are mentioned, we are not told of any such on the part of the Scotti, but rather the contrary: revertuntur grassatores Hiberni domos, the Irish freebooters go back to their homes. Our author's idea seems to be that the Picti and Scotti were so engaged in ravaging south Britain for the forty or more years from A.D. 407 that they in the meantime neglected north Britain, so that not until their defeat sometime after a.d. 446 did the Picti busy themselves with making north Britain their

320 THE CELTIC REVIEW

permanent home, and as for the Scotti they withdrew to their native Ireland. The Scotti left Britain alone to return again before long ; the Picti indulged in occasional foragings and depredations.

These occasional forays must have extended over no very small period of time, for during the pauses between them ' the island was becoming rich with so many resources of affluence that no age remembered the possession of such before, with which resources of every kind luxury also grows.' And again during such pauses 'kings were anointed not in the name of God but such as surpassed others in cruelty, and shortly afterwards were put to death by the men who anointed them, without any inquiry as to truth, others more cruel having been elected.'

All this went on until it was suddenly announced that the old foes of the Brittani had again arrived with the intention of thoroughly destroying the country, and of dwelling in it from one end to the other as was their custom. The exact words are : penitus delere et inhahitare solito more a fine usque ad terminum regionem — thoroughly to destroy and to dwell in the country from end to end as was their wont. This is the only indication given us that the Picti and Scotti had inhabited southern Britain from end to end as well as ravaged it. We have been told that they had made three devastations, that they had seized the abandoned northern portion as far as the Wall, and that one of them, the Picti, had colonised ' the extreme part.' It now appears that they had also inhabited from end to end. Neverthe- less, although the Picti and Scotti had inhabited the land from end to end, yet on their defeat which terminated the third devastation both of them are distinctly said to have withdrawn, the Irish freebooters to their native Ireland, and the Picti to Scotland to colonise ' the extreme part.'

Unfortunately no details are given of this fourth devastation, but it will be borne in mind that it commenced no very small interval after a.d. 446, and that no Scotti have been made to settle permanently in the island. It may

*PICTI'-'SCOTTI' IN EXCIDIUM BRITTANI^ 321

indeed seem strange that the Picti and Scotti should seize Scotland as far as the Wall with the final withdrawal of Roman troops in a.d. 407, and that not until after a.d. 446 should the Picti begin to settle for the first time, no mention being made of any permanent settlements of Scotti, ^ but rather the contrary ; nevertheless, this is clearly what the narrative implies.

Whilst the announcement of this beginning of a fourth devastation is still in their ears, the Brittani are afiiicted by that deadly and well-remembered pestilence, ' which in a short time without any sword lays low such a multitude of them that the living are unable to bury the dead.' ^

' According to the traditional account the Scotti did not begin settling in Scotland until about the close of the fifth century. ' It was in 502 (according to the Annals of Ulster) or 496 (according to the Four Masters) that Feargus Mor mac Earca cum gente Dalrisda partem Britanniae tenuit (Tigernach).' — Nicholson's Keltic Researches, 80. The Scotti ' took up their abode in Cantyre and the island of Islay, the part of Ireland from which they came being the nearest district to Cantyre and known as that of Dal-Riada. The migration began during the last years of the fifth century, under a prince called Fergus mac Ercae ; and it was not long before the new- comers spread themselves orer much of what is now known as Argyle.' — Rh^s, Celtic Britain, 3rd ed., 156-7. Bury, on the strength of the Epistola Patricii, argues that there were settlements of Scotti in north-west Britain before the middle of the fifth century. — Bury, St. Patrick, 315-16. However this may be, the Excidium BrittanicB implies no such settlements previous to a lengthy interval after a.d. 446. It is unfortunate that no details are given of the fourth devastation, but one may surmise that now for the first time the Scotti are intended to commence settling.

* This pestilence, which synchronised with the arrival of Picti and Scotti for the fourth time, no small interval after a.d. 446, and which inflicted such havoc among the Brittani, was famosa, well known. It is recorded as a local and a completed incident which occurred prior to the calling in of Saxon aid, so that there can be no question of confounding it with the celebrated European plague which raged for so many years during Justinian's reign in the mid-sixth century. Such a local pestilence among the Brittani was that in which Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, died. Details of it are given in the Book of Llan Dav, 107, 110, 131, 144. It is known there as y dylyt melen, the yellow plague, because it made yellow and bloodless all whom it attacked. It well-nigh reduced the country to a desert. The Brittani fled before it to Ireland and to the Continent. Amongst those who fled was Teilo, bishop of Llandaft", who went to Brittany, where he met his nephew, Oudoceus, who succeeded him at LlandaflF as bishop. The time of the pestilence (considerably post-dated in the Annales Cambrice) may be determined in this wise. Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, and St. Teilo were both contemporaries of St. David, who was born in a.d. 462. That St. David was born in a.d. 462 and flourished in the last half of the fifth century is one of the most assured facts in early Welsh history (see my ' Rhygy varch's Life of St. David' in Y Cymmrodor, xxiv. 1-73). And that Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd

VOL. IX. X

322 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Finally, an assembly is held to deliberate as to the best and safest means of repelling the irruptions of the Picti and Scotti. All the counsellors, together with the superhus tyrannus,^ proud tyrant, agree that the Saxones should be introduced into the island. After this we hear no more of the Picti and Scotti.

The Excidium Brittanice does not teU us the number of years which elapsed between the Letter to Aetius and the advent of the Saxones. But as we know from the contents of the Letter that it could not have been written earlier than A.D. 446, the Saxones must have been admitted into the island some interval after that year. And the interval must have been a long one to have included the victory which terminated the third devastation and the unpre- cedented growth of wealth and luxury which followed.

The conclusions may be summed up as foUows. The Excidium Brittanios is clear as to the Picti and Scotti that they were both extraneous nations, who attacked the island of Britain from over the sea, the Picti from some transmarine quarter in the north, the Scotti of Ireland from the north- west. They differed partly in their customs, but were alike in their appearance, wearing hair on their faces and scant clothing about their legs. No mention is made of their being painted or tattooed. They sailed the sea in coracles.

Not until A.D. 383 was Britain exposed to the attacks of these foreign barbarians, but between that year and A.D. 407 they devastated the island twice, with the result that the defence of Scotland as far as the Wall of Hadrian was abandoned.

In A.D. 407, with the final departure of Roman troops,

flourished contemporaneously with him in the same period is also indicated by the well-known fact that his famous descendant and successor in the Jifth generation, to wit Cadwallon, perished at Rowley Water in 634. The plague, therefore, that carried off Maelgwn, must have occurred about the early sixth century.

* superhus tyrannus, proud tyrant, is commonly taken to be a covert reference to Vortigern, whose name resolves itself into vor + tigem, over-lord.

'PICTI'-'SCOTTI' IN EXCIDIUM BRITTANI^ 323

they commenced their third devastation with the capture of Scotland as far as the Wall. Capessunt pro indigenis, they took it instead of the inhabitants. They then pro- ceeded at once to break down the feeble defence of the Wall, and to ravage southern Britain without mercy, and to dwell in it from one end to the other. This they continued to do until after a.d. 446, when they met with their first decisive check at the hands of the citizens. The Picti and Scotti withdrew, and so terminated the third devastation, which lasted at least forty years from a.d. 407.

During the third devastation the Picti and Scotti had had no leisure to deal with Scotland. Now, however, the Picti began to settle in north Britain for the first time, whilst the Scotti went home to their native Ireland. As yet there do not appear to have been any settlements of Scotti in Scotland.

After the third devastation, which terminated subse- quently to A.D. 446, there followed no very small interval of time during which the Brittani became more affluent and luxurious than ever before in their history. The Picti, however, made occasional raids.

This interval of imprecedented wealth and luxury was brought to an end by the arrival of Picti and Scotti for a fourth devastation. No details are given.

Simultaneously with this fourth arrival there fell upon the Brittani a famosa pestis, famous plague, which carried ofi so many of them that the Hving were unable to bury the dead.

Finally, the Brittani, with the superhus tyrannus, proud t5nrant, determined to call in the aid of the Saxones. How long this was after the Letter to Aetius in a.d. 446 we are not told, but the narrative of the Excidium Brittanioe from chapters xx. to xxiii. postulates no small period of time.

324 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN

COINNEACH MaoLeOED

Air leantainn bho t, d. 252

An Dreathann agus an Iolair

Bha an Dreathann 'na sheasamh air stob, sop 'na bheul, goic 'na cheann, is e meomhrachadh, mar bu ghnath leis, air nithean diomhair an domhain. ' Is mithich dhuit, a laochain, an sop chur as do bheul,' ghlaodh an Uiseag ris, is i deanamh direach air an stob. ' A bheil dad cearr, a bhuin- neag ? ' ' Cearr ! nach faca tu, no mur faca nach cuala tu, an Clacharan is a' Chathag air an dearg chaothaich feadh a' bhaile — fhuair iad naidheachd mu dheireadh.' 'A dh' innseadh na firinn,' ars' an Dreathann, ' bha mi gabhail iongantais, is nithean annasach cho gann mu'n trath so de'n bhliadhna, nach robh mi cluinntinn fathann idir air an nathair-mhara, no air na boiteagan mora, no air na seilcheagan reamhra. Ach ciod a tha iad ag radh, a bhuinneag ? is ciod a chunnaic iad ? is co an t-suil gheur a lorgaich ? is co am beul firinneach a dh' aithris ? ' Mu'n d'fhuair an Uiseag a gob fhosgladh, co bha air tighinn ach an Smeorach. ' Cuir an sop 'nad bheul, a Dhreathainn,' ars' esan, ' nach 'eil fios air tighinn o Iolair na Creige Moire, gu bheil i am beachd tigh-samhraidh a thogail air an iosal, agus gu bheil i an dochas gu'm bi sinn uile 'gar reamhrachadh fein fa chomhair a teachd.' 'Nach eibhinn i,' ars' an Dreathann. ' Eibhinn, a dhuine ! is ann a tha i miomhail ladurna, agus mur b'e gu bheil an Calaman air tighinn, theirinn gu bheil i rud eile.' ' Nach dean thu fead, a ghraidhein ! Cha'n fhaca tu riamh, o'n nach fhaca tu riamh, rud cho inntinneach no cho feumail ri fead. Tog- aidh fead soirbheas, agus leagaidh fead soirbheas. Bha mi meomhrachadh an diugh ' — ' Cha'n ann a' cur casga air do chainnt a tha mi,' ars' an Smeorach, ' ach ciod ata sinn dol a dheanamh ? Nach 'eil thu fhein a' faicinn, ma thig an Iolair, gu feum sinne falbh ; agus ma dh'fhanas sinne.

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 325

nach faod ise tighinn.' ' Mar bha mi dol a radh, an uair nach do chuir an Smeorach casg air mo chainnt, bha mi meomhrachadh an diugh air uabhar is air aimideas an t- saoghail. A bheil thusa, Chalamain, a' creidsinn an t- seanfhacail, " Beag moiteil is mor toirteil " ? ' ' Cha'n 'eil mi 'gad thuigsinn, a Dhreathainn.' ' A bheil thusa 'gam thuigsinn, a Smeoraich ? ' ' Tha thu ciallachadh, nach 'eil ? gur h-e boireannach siobhalta laghach a th'anns an lolair, a chionn gu bheil i mor spagach.' ' Theagamh, a ghraidhein, gu bheil an seanfhacal 'ga chiallachadh, ach cha'n 'eil mise. Cha'n abradh tu gu bheil mi fhein am dhuineachan ro-mhor — co-dhiu, cha'n 'eil mi buileach cho mor ris an lolair — is tha mi cearta coma ged bhiodh h-uile gille beag anns a' bhaile ruith as mo dheidh, is a' magadh orm. Nis, cha'n abrainn sin a thaobh na h-Iolaire moire spagaiche.' 'Ach ciod a ni sinn ? ' ars' an Uiseag. ' Ciod, a chaomhag, ach an rud a tha mi ag radh — cuiridh sinn eagal nan gillean beag air an lolair.'

Bha sgaoth mhor de na h-eoin cruinn comhla a nis, agus chuartaich an Dreathann a' chuideachd le a shuil. * Cha'n fhaic mi a' Chailleach-oidhche,' ars' esan. ' Cha'n 'eil i tighinn idir,' ars' an Clacharan. 'Chuir i am bodach 'na h-aite,' arsa Chathag. 'Tha mi tuigsinn,' ars' an Dreath- ann, ' ach lolair ann no as, cha'n fhaigh am bodachan bas an da latha so. Ach so ! so ! an ceann gnoth- uich sinn. Nis, a mhnathan-uaisle is a dhaoin-uaisle, tha fadal oinm air fad gus an tig an lolair; agus tha am fadal sin cho acrach is gu'n cuir sinn 'ga h-iarraidh an ceart ghrad- aig an ama. A Chlacharain, tha thusa maith gu bruidh- inn.' ' Mata, Dhreathainn, o'n thubhairt thu e, cha bhiodh e ach miomhail dhomhsa cur 'nad aghaidh. Cha'n 'eil mi ag radh nach 'eil a' Chathag pailt cho fileanta, ach cha chuir i loinn air rud mar chuireas mise.' 'A Chlacharain, ni sinn dudaire dhiot ; cuiridh sinn do'n Chreig Mhoir thu le teachdaireachd.' ' Cha ruith leam ach leum, a Dhreath- ainn.— " theid is gu'n teid mi le sugairt agus aoigh " ' — ' Theid thu le teachdaireachd, a ghraidhein.' ' A dh'inn-

326 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

seadh na firinn, a Dhreathainn, bha bloighdeag amharuis agam gu'm biodh agam ri oraid a dheanamh air rud-eigin, agus bha smuid agam air te fad an latha — direach anns an earalas. Cha bhi agam ach facal no dha atharrachadh, is freagraidh an oraid do rud sam bith, o'n lolair gus a'Ghlais- ein.' 'Cluinneam, a ghraidhein, mar dh'iarras tu air an lolair tighinn.' ' larraidh mi oirre mar so — " Air feasgar aluinn earraich bha ghrian a' cromadh thmi an aird-an-iar, agus bha ghealach is na reultan a' dol 'nan culaidh-oidhche lasraich sheudagaich, chum an dleasdanais abhaistich a dheanamh ann an gorm-bhrat nan speur. Bha na h-uillt bhoidheach bhinne cronanaich thun an traigh, agus bha calltuinn an fhaile chubhraidh a' toirt phog dhaibh 'san dol seachad. Bha ceo nam beann air an leitir ud thall, a'sgaoileadh, le lamhan min-gheal, sroil-shithe de shneachda- briiadair air tulaich nan sliabh ; agus bha coin bhuchall- acha bhachallacha nan geug, mar ris an neoinean dhiblidh is mar ris an t-s6bhraich fhinealta, air an lionadh le gair- deachas mor fa chomhair ailleachd an t-saoghail ta ann. Ach, O ! astraiche nan speur, eadhon mar thaomas beum- sleibh o na sgairnichean gruamach ard, no mar bheucas a' bheithir 'nuair theid tein' agus uisge gu stri, eadhon mar sin thainig t' fhios thim an ealtainn ud shios, gu robh thusa los tighinn le lamhachas-laidir nan daoi, a thoirt uainne na dachaidh a f huair sinn le beannachd o shinnsir nach maireann 'san am — eadhon ar fonn, ar fearann, ar fasach fein. Ach, O ! a spuinneadair nam bantrach, a chreachadair nan nead, a mhortair nan uan, eisd a nis ri mo bhriathraibh fiosnacha, foisneacha, fior-ghlic, fior-eolach, agus — " ' ' Cha chuala mi riamh a leithid,' ars' an Dreathann, ' cha'n e bruidhinn tha sin ach bardachd.' ' Cha'n e fhein a rinn e,' arsa Chathag, ' chuala mi h-uile facal deth roimhe.' ' Tha mi coma CO rinn e,' ars' an Dreathann, ' cha chuala mi riamh sgleogaireachd cho sgiolta ris. Ach is e tha cur an dorrain orm nach cluinn sinn ciod a their an lolair.' ' Nach innis mise dhuibh,' ars' an Clacharan. 'Cha'n innis, a ghraidh- ein; bidh tusa an crochadh ris a' chraoibh as airde th'

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 327

anns a' Chreig Mhoir.' ' O chiall ! cha teid mi aim idir, a Dhreathaimi.' ' Theid thu ami gmi teagamh, a Chlacharain, ach fagaidh tu an sgleogaireachd aig an tigh, is bheir thu leat crioman beag de m' shop-sa.' ' Ciod a their mi, mata ? ' * Mu'n abair thu diog, a ghraidhein, ni thu beic. Agus bheir thu an ceart aire do d'ghuth. Feumaidh e bhi iosal, agus feumaidh e bhi fosgarra, agus feumaidh crith bheag a bhi ann cuideachd, direach a leigeadh fhaicinn gu bheil fios agad CO ris a tha thu bruidhinn. Agus an uair a their mo Bhaintigheama, " Tha cead labhairt agad, a dhudaire," their thusa : "A Bhaintigheama urramach, tha eoin na h-ealtainne cur failt oirbh. Tha e 'na aobhar gairdeachais dhuinn, gu bheil sibh am beachd, leis an anabarr iochda, tigh-samhraidh a thogail air an iosal, agus is e lan-durachd ar cridhe, gu'm bi sibh cho sona 'nar measg, is gu faod sibh a radh an ^m dealachaidh, gu'm b'fhearr leibh gu mor a bhi f uireach na falbh. Ach a Bhaintigheama urramach, tha bhur seirbhisich dhileas a' guidhe oirbh, sgriob a thoirt do'n iosal an diugh, ma's e is gu'm bi sin freagarrach dhuibh, a chum gu'n innis sibh dhuinn, ciod an seorsa nid a b'aill leibh sin a dheanamh, agus ciod an seorsa bidh is annlainn a b'aill leibh sinn a chruinneachadh, fa chomhair latha mor bhur teachd. Agus bidh bhur seirbhisich dhileas do ghnath a' guidhe." ' ' O chiall ! ' ars' an Clacharan, ' cha'n urrainn domhsa an goil- eam-oilean sin a thogail. Nach 'eil fhios agad, a Dhreath- ainn, gu bheil e anabarrach duilich do theangair rud nach d'rinn e suas ionnsachadh air a theangaidh. Nis, na leig- eadh tu leam fhein ' — ' Bu mhaith a dh' ionnsaich thu an oraid sgleogach eile, ged nach tu rinn i,' arsa Chathag. 'Trobhad so, a Chlacharain,' ars' an Dreathann, 'agus abair an goileam-oilean facal air an fhacal, direach mar bheir mise dhuit e. "A Bhaintigheama urramach, tha eoin na h-ealtainne cur failt oirbh." ' ' " A Bhaintigheama urra- mach"— ach am feum mi seasamh air mo leth-chois fhad 's ata mi 'ga radh ? ' ' Nach 'eil fios gu feum, a ghraidhein — o nach urrainn duit seasamh air t' eanchainn, Abair na facail a nis. ... A rithist .... A rithist. . . . Ro-

328 THE CELTIC REVIEW

mhaith, a dhudaire. . . . Cha'n 'eil thu cho maol, a ghraidh- ein. . . . Aon iteal eile. . . . Cha'n 'eil mi an duil nach 'eil e agad air fad a nis, a ghraidhein, ach direach gu'n d'rinn thu aon iomrall beag anns na facail mu dheireadh.' ' Ciod a thubhairt mi ? ' ' Thubhairt, gu robh na seirbhisich dhileas ris na guidheachan. Nis, a ghraidhein, cha'n 'eil mi ag radh nach e sin as firinniche, ach cha'n e as modhaile, agus air son na chunnaic thu riamh, na leig a' chraobh as t' aire.' 'A Dhreathainn,' ars' an Calaman, is e air ur- chlisgeadh a duiseal beag cadail, ' a Dhreathainn, cha toigh learn an gnothuch so — cha'n 'eil moran de'n fhirinn ann.' ' Ud, a dhuine,' ars' an Smeorach, ' cha chreid lolair na Creige Moire firinn, ach creididh i breug cho luath 's a dh' itheas mise boiteag.' ' Cha toigh learn na breugan,' ars' an Calaman. ' Saoil, a charaid,' ars' an Smeorach, ' am marbh- adh tu fhein am Bru-dearg laghach leis an fhirinn, na'm b'urrainn duit a shabhaladh le bloigh breige.' ' Cha'n 'eil mi idir a' creidsinn, a Smeoraich ionmhuinn, gu bheil an fhirinn cho marbhtach 's a tha thu ag radh.' ' Tha i marbh- tach gu leoir, a Chalamain, ma thig i 'na h-Iolair.' ' So ! so ! a chlann, bithibh soitheamh,' ars' an Dreathann — ' tha mise lan-chinnteach, a mhnathan-uaisle is a dhaoin-uaisle, gu bheil mo bheachd fhein agus beachd a' Chalamain calg- dhireach an eagaibh a cheile, ach direach nach 'eil esan a' tuigsinn mo bheachd-sa. Cluinn so, a Chalamain. Cha'n 'eil sinn idir dol a thoirt rud a chreidsinn air an lolair, is ann a tha sinn dol a thoirt oirre rud a chreidsinn, agus nach 'eil thu fhein a' faicinn nach ionnan idir an da ni.' ' Cha'n urrainn domh radh gu bheil, a Dhreathainn ; agus, co-dhiu, cha toigh leam gUong nam facal.' ' Mata, Chalamain, cuiridh mi a' phuing air leithid de dhoigh is gu'n tuig eadhon an t-isean anns an ugh mi. Na'n abrainn-sa riut fhein, rud nach abair, ach abair gu'n abradh, Biodh e dubh no geal no grisionn (ma tha e dubh no geal no grisionn) gur neo-thoigh leam fhein (na'm bu neo-thoigh leam fhein) Nebuchadnesar, bhithinn, na'm bithinn, a' toirt rud a chreidsinn ort ; ach ma their mi, rud a their agus a dh'fhaodas mi radh, Biodh

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 329

e dubh no geal no grisionn (ma tha no nach 'eil e dubh no geal no grisionn) gur ro-thoigh learn fhein (o'n as ro-thoigh learn fhein) Nebuchadnesar, cha'n ann, o nach ann, a' toirt rud a chreidsinn ort a tha mi, ach a' toirt ort rud a chreid- sinn. Nis, nach 'eil thu tuigsinn sin ? ' * Cha'n 'eil, sran- nadh dheth ! ach, O Dhreathainn, is caomh le mo chluais caoin nam facal. Abair a rithist e.' ' Biodh e dubh no geal no grisionn, gaol mo chridhe Nebuchadnesar.' ' Tha mi 'gad thuigsinn a nis. Ach stad gus an smaointich mi. Biodh e dubh — no geal — no — no — no an rud eile — tha gaol mo chridhe agam air Nebuchadnesar. Tha thu ceart, gun amharus tha thu ceart, a Dhreathainn, agus tha mise lan-riaraichte — is e sin ri radh, ma tha am Bru-dearg riaraichte.' Chlisg am Bru-dearg a teis-meadhon bruadair. ' An robh sibh a' bruidhinn rium, a chairdean ? ' ' Tha an Calaman is mi fhein a' cur romhainn,' ars' an Dreathami, ' gu'n innis sinn an fhirinn, an fhirinn uile, gun aon hde ach an fhirinn, do lolair na Creige Moire. A bheil dad agad an aghaidh sin, a ghraidhein ? ' ' An ann agamsa ! Is caomh leam fhein an fhirinn, a Dhreathainn,' agus chaidh am Bru- dearg air ais d'a bhruadar. ' Nis o'n tha sinn uile lan- riaraichte,' ars' an Dreathann, ' is mithich do'n dudaire bhi sgaoileadh nan sgiath. Ach aon fhacal riut anns an deal- achadh. An uair a thig thu air t'ais o'n Chreig Mhoir, is an lolair agad air roineig, feumaidh tu bhi cho sgith, a ghraidh- ein, is nach tig aon bhiog as do ghob.' ' O chiall ! am feum mi bhi cho sgith sin ? ' ' Feumaidh, a ghraidhein ; is an uair a bhios an spors uile thairis, innsidh tu dhuinn ciamar a chaidh dhuit anns a' Chreig Mhoir.' Chuir an Clacharan car-a-mhuiltein deth fhein tri uairean. ' Hu hhk hidil a, hu bha hidilan ! nach ann aig a' Chathaig a bhios am farmad rium. Cha'n 'eil mi an diiil nach toisich mi, an larach nam bonn, air an oraid a dheilbh.' ' A Chlacharain,' ars' an Dreathann, ' cluinn so, agus cluinn e air a' chluais as buidhre. Gus an ruig thusa Chreag Mhor, na biodh a chridhe agad — a bheil thu cluinntinn, a ghraidhein ? — na biodh a chridhe agad smuain no smuain altrum 'nad cheann, ma's ceann

330 THE CELTIC REVIEW

gogan, ach an da smuain so — an teachdaireachd agus a chroich. Turus maith leat, a dhudaire.'

Chuir an Dreathann a shop 'na bheul, is thoisich e air cnuasachd. Dh' fhan na h-eoin eile, a' Chathag is gu leir, 'nam balbh-thosd, gus am bu deonach leis fhein bruidhinn. An ceann treise chairich e an sop air an lar. ' A mhnathan- uaisle is a dhaoin-uaisle, faodaidh gu bheil mi neonach, ach is iomadh rud a chminaic mi, agus mur h-eil mi air mo mhealladh, chi mi rud an diugh cuideachd. A Chathag, tha thusa maith air na rolaistean — tha dreuchd beag agam dhuit.' ' Ciod a thuirt thu ? ' ars' an Calaman. ' Bha mi direach dol a radh, o nach trie leis a' Chathaig an fhirinn innseadh, gu'n toir sinn cothrom dhi an diugh an fhirinn innseadh do lolair na Creige Moire.' ' Ro-mhaith, a charaid ionmhuinn. O'n tha cuisean dol air an aghaidh cho firinn- each ceart, cha'n 'eil mi an duil nach bi norrag bheag agam fhein air an tolman ud thaU. Ach feuch gu'n toir thu sanas dhomh, a Dhreathainn, ma thig ar bana-charaid urramach, a' Bhaintighearna. B'fhior-thoigh leam aon fhacal maith a radh rithe — direach anns an earalas.' ' Cha'n 'eil mi ag radh nach biodh e iomchuidh, a Chalamain, ach tha eagal orm nach biodh e modhail, facal maith a radh ri Baintighearna — co-dhiu, a' chiad latha. Ach an ath uair a thig i, ma thig ! faodaidh tu fhein is am Bru-dearg, a dha chreutair gun lochd, dalladh oirre fad an latha leis na clachan is leis na facail mhatha. Cadal maith dhuit, a ghraidhein.'

Mu'n gann a bha Chathag air a ceart oileanachadh aig an Dreathann, chualas foirm agus toirm anns an adhar shuas. Co bha so ach lolair na Creige Moire, agus an Clacharan anns an ospagaich as a deidh. Dh'eirich na h-eoin uile 'nan seasamh, agus rinn iad beic do'n Bhaintighearna. Rinn a' Bhaintighearna beic do na h-eoin an comain na beice ceudna. Rinn na h-eoin beic eile do'n Bhaintighearna an comain na beice comaine — agus chaidh iad an sin an ceann gnothuich. 'A Bhaintighearna urramach,' arsa Chathag, ' chuir sibh urram nach beag air coin na h-ealtainn an diugh, agus is fiachan oirnne moit ar cridhe dhearbhadh

LA IS BLIADHNA LEIS NA H-EOIN 331

is a lan-dearbhadh le gniomharan ar lamh. Ach, a Bhain- tigheama urramach, mu'n cuir sinn nithean eile 'nur cead, bu mhaith leinn aon fhathann beag ainmeachadh 'nur lathair. Cha ghabh sibh gu h-olc e, oir cha'n e olc ach eud a ta 'nar n-amharc, ach tha na gillean beaga ag eigheach air an rathad mhor, nach dluithe theid lolair na Creige Moire do'n ghrein, na an Dreathann beag sin ata nis cho diblidh a' deanamh beice 'nur lathair.' ' Mata, Chathag bhochd,' ars' an lolair, ' cha bu bheag an tamailt learn fhein gu'm biodh na gillean beaga ag eigheach bhreug as mo dheidh. Na'm b' fhirinn e, cha'n 'eil mi an duil gu'n nochd- ainn m'aghaidh gu brath tuilleadh shios air a' chomhnard. So ! so ! a Dhreathainn, bheir sinn na speuran oimn.' Thionndaidh a' Bhaintighearn a h-earr ris na h-eoin, agus sgaoil i a mach a sgiathan. Ghrad-spion an Dreathann badan coinnich a tolman, is gearrar sinteag bheag bhoidh- each gu druim na h-Iolaire. ' Glug-glog, glog-glug,' ars ise, is i bruidhinn rithe fhein, ' cha'n 'eil mo leithid ann gu streup na gaoithe — nach miomhail na gillean beaga ! ' An earalas gu'm bristeadh a ghair air, stob an Dreathann am badan coinnich 'na bheul, agus o nach robh an corr aige ri dheanamh anns a' cheart am, thoisich e air cur thoimh- seachan air fhein. An ceann treise sguir an glugail-glogail, agus thoisich an ospagaich. ' Tha mi an duil gu bheil mi air fior-bharr mo chomais,' ars' an lolair rithe fhein, ' is mithich dhomh tearnadh. Glug-glog, glog-glug, c'aite bheil thu, Dhreathainn Duinn ? ' ' Fada, fada, os do chionn,' ars' an Dreathann, is e toirt sithidh bhig bhoidhich an aird. Thug an lolair aon chlisg-shuil os a cionn, agus an sin, gun ghuth mor, gun droch fhacal, sheol i air falbh do'n Chreig Mhoir.

An an rathad gu talamh co thachair ris an Dreathann ach an Clacharan agus a' Chathag, is iad air tighinn a dh'aon ghnothuch 'ga choinneachadh anns na speuran. ' Is e latha mor a bha 'n so,' ars' an Clacharan. ' Is e latha de na laithean a bha 'n so,' arsa Chathag. ' A bheil fhios agaibh,' ars' an Dreathann, * co air a bha mi smaointinn, an uair a bhuail mo dhosan anns a' ghealaich ? ' ' Is e naidh-

332 THE CELTIC REVIEW

eachd a bhios an so,' ars' an Clacharan. ' Is e naidheachd a rireabh a bhios an so,' arsa Chathag. ' Mata, an uair a bhuail mo dhosan anns a' ghealaich, bhuail an smuain so gu laidir ri m'inntinn, gu'm bu dubh is gu'm bu dona saoghal peacach gun phuirt-a-beul. Cha'n aithne dhomh fhein ni eile cho inntinneach no cho seaghail riutha. An cuala tusa, Chlacharain, no thusa, Chathag, rud riamh cho laghach no cho inntinneach ris a' phort so :

Tha mi 'n diiil gu'm bi mi nochd

Hi taobh mo ghaoil, ge b' ann air sop,

Tha mi 'n diiil gu'm bi mi nochd

Air taobh a bhos na h-aibhne.

Slan leibh, a chairdean.'

(R^a Leantainn.)

HENRY WHYTE— 'FIONN' M. M.

By the death of Mr. Henry Whyte the small company of Gaelic writers has lost one of its most active and capable members. For a period of almost forty years his pen name of Fionn has been familiar to all lovers of Gaelic literatm'e and music. His acquaintance with the literature, the history, and the music of the Highlands was wide and minute, while his own contributions to Gaelic literature in prose and verse, though not extensive, possess real merit and have won considerable popularity. One can still recaU the joy with which his early publications — the * Celtic Lyre ' and the ' Celtic Garland ' — were hailed by aU lovers of Gaelic song. The ' Celtic Lyre ' gave an impetus to the popular study of Gaelic music which has not yet exhausted itself, and helped to create a demand for similarpublications which is being very competently met, one is glad to note, by devoted and accomplished workers in that field. Probably no individual worker in recent times has contributed more to diffuse a knowledge of and create a love for Gaelic. music than Fionn. Not alone by his books but even more by his

HENRY WHYTE— 'FIONN'

HENRY WHYTE 333

lectures, by his magazine and newspaper articles, and by his extensive private correspondence he has fed the fire of devotion to our national music which is burning so brightly in our day. His own contributions to Gaelic song, though not numerous, are of full average merit, and some of them have achieved widespread popularity. Two of them at least — ' Ochoin a Righ si mo ribhinn donn ' and ' Dhealaich mise nochd ri' m' leannan ' — are well-established favourites and are often heard on our concert platforms. He was particularly happy in his translations of Gaelic songs into English. In these translations, while always faithful to the substance and spirit of the original, he exhibited remark- able skill in reproducing its measure and rhythm, so that his versions are usually capable of being sung in English to the Gaelic tunes. This faculty, as also the power, hardly less marked, of turning English verse into Gaelic, he shared with his brother John, whose recent death removed a most useful worker from the Gaelic field. A large proportion of the most successful translations in the Kelly collection of Gaelic hymns are from the pen of Mr. John Whyte, under whose editorial supervision the volume was issued.

For many years Mr. Whyte found a congenial sphere for his energies in the varied operations of An Comunn Gaid- healach. While actively interesting himself in all its schemes, he rendered notably valuable assistance in con- nection with the important and difficult work pertaining to the Annual Mod. For this particular service his intimate acquamtance with Gaelic music and song, combined with musical attainments of no mean order, very specially fitted him. But it was perhaps as a journalist — as a writer on subjects connected with the history, folklore, poetry and music of the Highlands — that his most important work was accomplished. This work, suffering the common fate of its kind, is buried in the files of newspapers and in the pages of magazines, and is consequently in danger of falling into neglect and forgetfulness. He was constantly writing on such subjects as these, and writing with knowledge and

834 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

accuracy. He had a rich store of information to draw upon, and was ever ready to put his information at the service of others. He seemed never to grudge time or trouble in answering the innumerable inquiries addressed to him on all sorts of questions concerning song-origins, clan and family histories, and kindred subjects. He was applied to from all quarters on every variety of Highland topic, and if he happened not to possess the required information himself, as sometimes occurred even in his case, he spared no pains in the endeavour to obtain it. In these respects he was one of the most obliging and good-natured of men.

He had an excellent command of expressive and idiomatic Gaehc, and wrote it clearly and forcibly. He wrote at times on subjects that do not usually engage the pens of GaeUc writers, and showed how in the hands of a master the Gaelic can be easily adapted to meet modem requirements. For example, he translated the Crofters Act into good serviceable Gaelic, and in doing so, not only conferred a real benefit on his fellow-countrymen, but proved that the mother tongue was capable of reproduc- ing clearly and accurately the involved, and cumbrous, phraseology of parhamentary enactments. Like most Gaehc writers, he had the gift of humour, and he used it effectively in his writings. This is more noticeable in his prose compositions, particularly in those short stories which appear in that excellent collection of Gaehc readings ' Leabhar na Ceihdh.'

In his earlier years especially Mr. Whyte was a keen pohtician, and took an active part in the agitation which led to the passing of the Crofters Act. The writer has often heard him tell of the hard things he had to endure at that time because of the prominent part he took in the movement and because of his pubhcly announced sympathy with the national aspirations of the Irish. No one could deny him the courage of his convictions, and the attempts to silence him at that time, some of them very unworthy, had the effect rather of provoking him into greater activity. He was a

HENEY WHYTE 335

good Highlander, whose interest in the past of his countrymen did not absorb him to the exclusion of all concern for their present condition and needs. He knew most of the men who had helped to make Highland history during the last forty years — in politics, in the Church, and in literature — and his reminiscences of these were most interesting. He was a capital raconteur, and his entertaining stories of men and things, told with infinite relish and with the liveliest appreciation of their humour, made an evening spent in his company a delightful experience. Full of sentiment though he was, he never allowed his sentiment to run away with him. He was a man of cool and critical judgment and never indulged in ' gush.' His appreciations were usually re- strained in tone and temperate in expression, well-balanced and judicial. His writing was always marked by sound judgment and good taste, and nothing ever came from his pen to which the most fastidious could object. His services to Gaelic Uterature were recognised some time ago by the conferring upon him of a civil list pension. His brother John also held one of these pensions, and together they furnished the unique spectacle of two members of the same family simultaneously enjoying State rewards for con- spicuous service in the field of Gaelic letters.

FionrCs death leaves a blank which will be difficult to fill. In some respects he occupied a position which was unique. The sum of his original contributions to Gaelic literature, so far as these are available in book form, is not great, but if his translations from the English are added, and his innumerable articles in Enghsh on Gaelic subjects taken into account, the extent of our indebtedness to him will be better realised. He was a most industrious and intelligent gleaner, and was not content to lock up in his own breast the vast store of information he had gathered, but shared it freely with all who were interested. Above all, grateful acknowledgment must be made of the valuable service he rendered in popularising our national music and in pro- claiming by voice and pen the beauty and the worth of the Highlander's heritage of poetry and song.

836 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Mr. Whyte was a native of Easdale, but spent the greater part of his hfe in Glasgow, in which he was for more than a generation the most widely known Highlander. During the later years of his life he devoted himself entirely to journalistic work. He was the representative in Glasgow of the Ohan Times, and contributed weekly articles on High- land topics to other well-known newspapers.

BOOK REVIEW

A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative, by J. Morris Jones, M.A., Phonology and Accidence. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press, 1913. Pp. xxvii, 477. Price 13s. 6rf.

The appearance of this volume has given great joy to the Welsh people and to students of Celtic Philology ; nor is the joy any less of that band of students of the Science of Language who delight in seeing the principles of that science successfully and brilliantly applied to the study of any tongue. It may be stated at the outset, that the philology of Professor J. Morris Jones's grammar is of the most advanced and scientific character, while, moreover, it has not been written by one whose knowledge of the language is purely philological, but by one who has an admirable command of the living Welsh tongue. Wales is, therefore, naturally proud to have the first volume of a grammar which analyses her language with consummate skill, and which puts on record to all time the central tradition of literary Welsh. As a worker for many years in the same field, the writer cannot but com- mend this new volume with ungrudging praise.

The comments which follow must not be regarded as inconsistent with the profoundest admiration for this classic work, but are to be viewed as means of raising points for discussion for the purpose of still further advancing Welsh scholarship. Many of them allow of legitimate difference of opinion, and, possibly, a closer study of the older literature and of the dialects will provide fresh means for deciding some of them. The following are, in the opinion of the writer, points that deserve fresh con- sideration. On p. 4, the author holds, that the form Brydein, in the ex- pression milguir Brydein, found in the Black Book of Carmarthen, is a radical and not a mutated form ; but the writer well remembers the expres- sion of an opinion by Sir John Rhys, that, in Welsh, there was once a mutation after masculine nouns in the plural, and it is possible that we have here an instance of that mutation, as in the expression milwir orvith in the Black Book of Carmarthen, poem iii. Though orvith is an adjective, the principle of the two mutations is the same. On p. 5, it is definitely

BOOK REVIEW 337

stated that 'the Picts were Britons.' There is much to be said for this view, as Dr. W. J. Watson has shown, but, in a work of the scope of the present, there ought to be some reference to the view so ably defended by Sir John Rhys, that the Picts were a pre-Celtic race, and that the British and Gaelic words found in their language were borrowed. The question is far from being a simple one, for the interpretation of the Ogam Inscription of Scotland is by no means easy. Nor, again, does the author (on p. 6) refer to the suggestion of Sir John Rhys relating the name Maelgwn, which was found a few years ago on the Nevern ogam inscription as Maglicunas. As proper names on such inscriptions are oftenest in the genitive case. Sir John Rhys has suggested that the original form of the nominative was Maglicu, and not Maglocunos, as has been generally assumed, and that Maglicunas is in the genitive case. At the same time, it has to be admitted, that the author might well argue, that instances of the proper name in the nominative are known. It is stated (on p. 14), that the sound « of Welsh is very similar in its effect upon the ear to the French u. There is, perhaps, a slight resemblance, and, historically, u of Welsh has developed from a sound practically identical with the French u, but the protrusion of the lips required for the French u gives it an unmistakably different character from the Welsh u. Again, the author seems to depart from his usual scientific precision of statement, where he says, that * the Welsh y is an i pronounced further back.' It is also too much to say (on p. 18), that the Welsh t is usually more dental than the English t. The dental / is not unknown in Wales, notably in some of the Arvon dialects, but the pro- nunciation of the people who use it is in that respect noted by the people from other parts as different from their own. On p. 19 it is said, that h may be ' a voiceless form of the vowel that follows it,' but it is truer after all to hold that A is a preliminary breathing to the vowel, since (except in whispering) there cannot be a voiceless vowel, vibration of the vocal chords being necessary to a spoken vowel. There is a reference (on p. 22) to the t which was used, chiefly in the twelfth century, to represent the sound of modern dd. This sound, the author says, is represented ' rather illogically by t.' So it would seem, but it is not improbable that t is here the remnant of th, and, in the Black Book, ill., urthen is iound=urdden, and, perhaps (in poem ix.), forth =ffordd, and (in poem v), oeth = oedd.

On p. 23, it might perhaps have been well to add, that ng is sounded to-day as ng-\-g in South Wales, in words like dangos. In the explanation given (on p. 27) of forms like enmeituou, the old form for amneidiau, it is possible that a more probable view than that given by the author is, that it was the labial o immediately after it, that turned i (in the suffix iou) into u. For the sake of clearness (on p. 32, § iii), it might be well to add, after ' The present sound of the form ei,' the words 'in the first syllable of a dissyllabic word,' and, also, for the sake of the non- Welsh reader, it might be well to write 'corr.' in full as 'corrupted,' lest he should inadvertently think that it

VOL. IX. Y

338 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

stands for ' corrected.' In the fourth line on p. 33 the word mae has been too widely spaced. On p. 36, for the sake of clearness (in § iii, 2), it would be well to add after the words ' in fact the yw in cywydd,' the words ' as pro- nounced by many.' The line — Nid vid iscolheic nid vid eleic unhen, from the Black Book (on p. 50) does not necessarily prove that -eic is monosyllabic, since the line may be corrected into its original form as Nid vid scolheic nid vid leic unhen. It is stated (on p. 51, line 1), that the accent in words like cyhyd is on the first syllable, but, at the present day, most people pronounce this word with the accent on the last syllable. A small point (on p. 55) relating to English usage is the use of ' Oh ' in address, in the expression ' Oh God,' while the more usual practice at the present day is to write ' 0 ' in address, and ' Oh ' in the expression of emotion. On p. 60, we find the accentuation Pentyrch, but it might have been well to add that the form Pdntyrch is to be found in North Wales. In spite of the frequent use in the Llyn district of the corrupted English name 'The Rivals,' for the Carnarvonshire mountain 'Yr Eifl,' it is to be regretted that so patriotic a Welsh scholar as Professor J. Morris Jones should have sanctioned the practice. On the same page, it would be well to add tibym, pdu and ffdu. In § 61 on the same page, melfoch is translated as 'suckling pigs,' while the usual English expression is ' sucking pigs.'

On p. 77 it might have been well to state that the old word pryfder in Welsh is nothing but a corruption of the late Latin form prebiter (for presbyter), and the Irish form given is a form borrowed and modified from this. On the same page (§ 63), it is not made sufficiently clear to the non- expert reader how hvdd- corresponds to sod- in the root of the word huddygl. On p. 80, it is said that duw has been changed from dwyw, which is identical with the first syllable of the word dwyfol, but it is more probable that it is from another grade of the root, namely, diu-, the y of dyw being labialised to u, as in Med. duw, ' day.' In Mediaeval Welsh byw (to live) was also occasion- ally spelt buw. Since tad is the Welsh derivation of the Indo-European term of endearment tata, it is probable that in the Welsh child's word tada, the ' a ' has been added. The author rightly calls attention to the history of Latin s in Welsh, but, in view of hestavyr (from sextarius), and most probably hwyr (from sera), and hagr (from sacrum), it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that initial s of Latin sometimes became h in Welsh. On pp. 81 and 84, the author gives his own derivations of hvryr and hagr ; but it might have been well to state that there was room for difierence of opinion. On p. 83 it might have been advisable to say that pl-o-n-, being the 6- grade form corresponding to the Latin e- grade from plenus, was the original form of the root of Welsh llaum. It would be possible to add (on p. 88), that the pronunciation neuodd has a wider range than Anglesey, for it is found at any rate in the Llyn promontory of Carnarvonshire.

There is a diflFerence of opinion between the author and Sir John Rhys in connection with the development of words like lleidr. The author holds,

BOOK EEVIEW 339

like Zeuss, Strachan, and others, that the 6 at the end of latro turned to m, and after that to I. Sir John Khys holds that the vowel was aflFected in lleidr, owing to a British mispronunciation of latro as lairio. There was a tendency to turn a long o at the end of a Latin word to a short o, and by the fourth century, at least, a long o at the end of a Latin word was com- pletely lost. In spite of that, it is quite possible that the Britons, like the Gauls, had turned a final long o to m, as we know the Gauls to have done from the form Frontu for Fronto on a Gaulish inscription. It may be noted, also (on p. 91), that the author derives the name Selyf ( = Solomon) from the form Salomo, and not from Selemio, as is done by Sir John Ehys in his Lectures on Welsh Philology. If the author's view regarding the treatment of long 0 at the end of a word be correct, the derivation given is perfectly natural. On p. 94, it is said that the word Chwefror is ' generally sounded Chwefrol ' : it is true that it is so pronounced in some dialects, but the more usual pronunciation is certainly Chwefror. It might have been stated on p. 95 § (2) that aw had begun to change to o early in the Middle Ages, since we find in the Black Book of Carmarthen (poem iv.) the form caffod for caffawd, without mentioning dywod. It is not unlikely that o and aw in terminations lived side by side for a considerable period. In the Welsh of the Bruts are found incorrect forms like manachlawc, which would not have been written, were it not usual to write aw where o was sounded, until the correct form manachloc came to seem too colloquial and unliterary. In § iv on the same page, it would have been well to note that the forms cronni, ffynhonnau and Meirionnydd are old misspellings. It would have been interesting to the reader to have it stated (on p. 96, § 73 (2)), that there is in the Welsh place-name another form of the word du, namely dyw, which is found in. the name Dowlais (for Dywlais), a parallel form to the usual Dulais. In § 74, with reference to the word lluosog it might have been well to state that u has come from i before the labial sound o.

It is suggested (on p. 99) that oe in the Latin coena has turned to toy in cwyn (an old word for cinio), but the truth is that the correct spelling of this Latin word is cena, a word which comes from cesna. The wrong spelling coena was invented through the false view that it has come from the Greek KoivT^, On p. 100 it would not have been uninteresting to mention the South Wales form harn for haearn, which has sprung from the same root as haearn, but with the accent on the syllable -drn-. It would have been interesting, too, to add (on p. 101) the dialect form chmd for hwyaid, or rather for the Mediaeval hwyeid. On the same page esdk- is given as the root of the word eog, but there is some doubt about the original form, since esoz was the form taken by this word, when borrowed into Latin from Celtic. The author very plausibly derives the Welsh name Cai (Cei in Med. Welsh), the name of one of Arthur's chief companions, from Latin Caius ; but it is a well-known fact that in this word the Romans continued to write C for G, since the name was really pronounced as Gains, and this name, as

340 THE CELTIC REVIEW

is stated by Lindsay {The Latin Language, p. 252), stands for Gavius. Again, on the same page, it might have been said that there is considerable doubt about the derivation of the name Owain (Owen), for it is quite as easy to derive it from Eugenius as from Esugenios. On p. 105, it might have been stated that there is in Italian a form rovina of the Latin ruina, which was formed on the same principle as the Welsh word rhewin. It would have been possible to add on p. 109, that in South- West Wales the forms tewill and tewi are said for tywyll and tywydd. Again, the author derives to from togia (the original of the Irish tuige), while the Welsh form could come equally well from a Celtic toga, the exact equivalent of the Latin toga. As for the word gwUu (p. 119), it is not impossible that Welsh had once a form gwela by the side of gwely, just as we have eira and eiry. In North-East Cheshire, according to the late Mr. Thomas Darlington, there was a local expression, 'to go to the goela,' for 'to go to bed,' where go'ela is probably the Welsh by -form gwela. On p. 125 it is stated that tanc is from the same root as the Latin pax, pango, but it is more likely to have come from the root of the Latin tango, in the sense of touching or striking the hand as a symbol of peace. The whole theory of the author as to interchange of mutes in Indo-European roots is very hypothetical. The attention of philologists is certain to be drawn to § 3 on p. 125, and, owing to its rather novel features (some of which possibly further research may justify), it is certain to give rise to much discussion. On p. 131, after the word angar, it might have been well to inform the reader, and especially the non-Welsh reader, that even the North Wales pronunciation is ang-\-gar. Nor would it have been inadvisable to add (on p. 138) the Latin tortus as the derivation of the word torth, a derivation that is quite as probable as that from the Celtic form given. In § 101 on this page the author makes suggestions that are worthy of close attention.

On p. 156 he says, that Latin lad- stands for slad-, and that for sglact-, but it is exceedingly probable, that lad- stands for glad- (from the same root as the Greek yaXaKT-). Possibly Professor J. Morris Jones has a theory to identify the two forms slad- and glad-, but, if he has, it should be more explicitly stated. As to the history of the word indulgens in Welsh (p. 160), it might be well for the author to give further consideration to what has been written by Sir John Ehys about the Manx ennoil and the inscription form Andagelli. On p. 161, the derivation of archen from the Latin arcenda (from arceo), like peden from petenda, and offeren from offerenda appears much more probable than that given by the author. He may well be too ingenious also, in deriving ymlddd from a source different from ym and lladd. The word llygru (on p. 166) is also ingeniously explained, but a more probable derivation is that from Latin lucrum, suggested by Mr. John Lloyd Jones, M.A., one of the author's ablest pupils. In addition to what is said (on p. 172) about /y, it might be added, that the form yn iov fy (n) is still used in some of the South Wales dialects, as in the expression yn llygad for fy llygad.

BOOK REVIEW 341

On p. 178, the author regards gwirion in the Black Book of Carmarthen, as standing for the Old British form virgones, but in the line where it occurs, it is more probable that is the plural of gmr in the sense of 'true ones,' or 'faithful ones.' The form gwerydd, too, probably stands for gweryf, and the form gweryddon is probably only the plural form of this word. It is stated (on p. 178), that it was through analogy that the '/' came into llefydd and brofydd, but it not improbably stands for a spirant g from a momentary g. In connection with cyfan and cyfa (p. 181), it might have been stated, that ma is probably not a contraction of mann, but a separate form from an older magos. The same would apply to yman and yma. In felly it seems more probable, that we have the equivalent of fel-\-hy, with an old demonstrative hy, rather than that the -nn of hynn should have been dropped. It is not clear, either, why the author derives the name Gwenlliant from gwenn and the foreign word bliant. On p. 184, it is said that the misspelling set for Latin sed in a Welsh MS, is a proof, that the copyist was in the habit of writing t for d at the end of a word, but it is equally likely that he was thinking of et. To the example given on p. 1 86 of the change of / back to h, it might at first sight have seemed possible to add dadebru, with a deriva- tion of ebru from Latin ebrius, but possibly the long e of the Latin word is a hindrance. On p, 187, it is said, that Harlech springs from Arddlech, but it is quite as likely that the simpler derivation from hardd and llech is adequate. To the instances given on p. 188 of the use of the mutated as the radical form, it would be possible to add olwyn for golwyn or gwolwyn, from the same root as the Latin volvo. On p. 193, the words Kir llawr eirccheid (in the Black Book of Carmarthen, poem x.) are translated 'beside the suppliants,' as if it were to be read Kir Haw r eirccheid, but a more probable translation is 'beside the lowly suppliants,' llawr being used adjectively. With regard to the derivation of y lleill (p. 194), it is not improbable that it comes from allallii, and, similarly, y Hall from alldllos, while arall (for alall), comes from alallos. On p. 216, it is said that the plural form broder was turned to brodyr as a further indication of the plural, but there is also found (cf. Black Book, poem X.) the form llyther by the side of llythyr. The modern form dynes is condemned on p. 223, and it is said that dyn means 'man' or 'woman.' This was undoubtedly once the case, but the usage of the language has now changed. There is a tendency to speak of the older linguistic usage as still existing on p. 236, where it is said — 'But adjectives in -ig, -og, -ol have plurals in -ion.^ It is true that this was once the case, but the older usage has now been modified. The author states (on p. 246), that the origin of the word cynffon is cynh-ffon, but it is quite as probable that it stands for cynh-fon (from cynt and bon). It is said (on p. 256), that the ending -dde is never found at the end of adjectives in prose, but it certainly does occur once in the name Dinas Ffaraon Dandde, which is found in the story of Lludd and Llevelys.

The author says (on p. 266) that dir- in dirfawr is the same word as dir

342 THE CELTIC REVIEW

(certain). This is, indeed, a possible derivation, but the derivation from di-\-ry+fawr is equally likely. To words containing the root eJ-(on p. 267), it is possible to add ehran (eb+rhan) and Epynl (eb-^hynt). An instance of the form emhennyd {=ymennydd) is given from 'Meddygon Myddfai,' but another example might have been added from ' Brut y Brenhinoedd ' {Red Book of Her g est Bruts, p. 140), namely emhenyd. On p. 279, the words ^nid annuyd hawdit hetiw' are translated 'there shall not be for us (a summer day),' but the true rendering is, ' To-day is not of the nature of a summer day ' ; annuyd, being the Black Book equivalent for the later annwyd. In the words ^an im roted par, par is translated as 'existence,' but it probably means, as usual, a spear, and the whole line may be translated, ' when a spear was put into me.' The word ae, found in the line given on p. 285, E beteu ae gulich y glav, is difi&cult of explanation. It may be, as the author thinks, an old form of the relative pronoun, but the e of ae may not im- possibly be a personal pronoun. Again, it may be admitted, that htm in yr hwn was originally demonstrative, but how old the tendency is to regard yr hwn as relative may be seen from the fact, that hirunn exists as an eighth or ninth century gloss on the Latin quern. Like one of his predecessors as a grammarian, Emrys ap Iwan, the author rightly condemns the use of yr oil for 'the whole.' It is difficult to understand why he derives the word ami (in Med. Welsh amhyl) from a hypothetical Celtic form amhilos, rather than from the Latin amplus. The Med. meaning ' abundant ' is confirmatory of the derivation from Latin. As for the word sesuinad (from the Black Book of Carmarthen), the present writer once held, like the author, that it was one word, and a reduplicated form, but he now holds it to be two words, and translates the words pan im se suinad as ' when my seed was created.' The word se is a doublet of he, and occurs several times in the older poetry. The writer may be right where he says (on p. 333), that caran comes from caren, but it may have been formed by analogy with the third person plural. As for the explanation which the author gives of the words ac y haruetud (in the Black Book of Carmarthen), where he proposes an emendation, it seems to the present writer, that the words as they stand may be right, and that they are to be translated, ' And thou wouldst purpose ' ; aruetud being from a verb, which, in Modern Welsh, would be arfeddaf. In connection with the verb caf, there may be added to the forms given a form cawdd for cafawdd, which is found in the line of Dafydd ab Gwilym Y milwr gynt, mawlair gawdd. At the bottom of p. 350, also, the form cymwd might have been added, as one containing the form hwd for the more usual hod. On p. 364, the form ymda, too, might have been added, as it doubtless stands for ym-\- dy-\-a. The author deserves special praise for his explanations of the many difficult problems connected with the history of the Welsh verb. On p. 370, the author expresses his view, that gwad- in gwadu is due to a dififerent vowel gradation of the root gwed- of dywedyd, but, though this ingenious derivation is possible, a more probable view is the simpler one, that gwadu

BOOK REVIEW 343

stands for go-\-adu. To the forms given on p, 375 may be added the form digonsynt, found in the elegy on Cynddylan attributed to Meugant. On p. 397, the author expresses the view, thoX-ediw is a modification of -adwy, in words like telediw and meiiediv, but it appears more probable, that -ediw contains the old ending -t'luos, which is found in the Latin captivus.

The author (on p. 410) says that one should read ym ach mur Kaer Loyw, in E. M. 131, with ach as an old preposition, but a more probable reading is ymach, that is, 'in the curve or bend.' It is also stated (on p. 415) that Ivjrw i ben is said in South Wales, but, as a matter of fact, the expression used is Itoyr i hen for Iwry i ben. In certain relative clauses, the author says that ry contains the relative pronoun, but it is more likely that in such sentences there is no relative pronoun, in accordance with a tendency often seen in Irish to dispense with a relative pronoun. It would have been possible (on p, 438) to add the form 4rioed (with the accent on the first syllable), which is found in Dafydd ah Gwilym (poem xcviii.) : —

' A'r gaeaf oeraf erioed Hirddu cas, yn hyrddio coed.'

On p. 217 defynnau has been wrongly printed for defnynnau, and there is a misprint of a vocalic i for a consonantal i on p. 100, v. (4). In the Phono- logy, too, where the writer mentions the change of Indo-Eur. qu in Greek into T, the case of this change before i, as in ns and tIvw, requires mention. As will be seen from the foregoing comments, the doubtful points are mostly of a minute character, and in no wise impair the quality of the work. A consideration, however, arises to the mind of the philologist, while read- ing the book, as to the direction in which Welsh philology should develop. The work of Professor Morris Jones aims at presenting the reader with an account of the tradition of literary Welsh, and it aims also at the inculcation of this tradition as the standard of correct Welsh composition. It is no less normative than descriptive. From its pre-occupation with the literary tradi- tion, it tends, at times, to speak of past practice as if it were still binding at the present day. Every literary Welshman will sympathise with the author's conservatism, because the Welsh literary tradition has a strong conservative bent, but however much those of us who are familiar with the nuances of the older forms of the tradition may sympathise with a tendency to regard the standard of correct Welsh as comparable in fixity with that of Attic Greek and Latin of the Golden Age, we cannot fail to realise, from time to time, that, to the average literary Welshman, it is practically impossible to write with perfect accuracy in what the author of the present grammar would regard as classical Welsh. Moreover, all forms of literature, even in Welsh, cannot be equally conservative. Hence the question arises, whether certain concessions may not be made to modern writers, so as to allow the admission into the written language of the present day of non-classical forms which have entered into general use, like dweyd and gvmeyd. The

344 THE CELTIC REVIEW

danger of too rigid an insistence on the minuiice of the classical tradition is to deter young writers from attempting composition in Welsh at all. What will be wanted in the future will be normative grammars, which will indicate what forms may be used in different styles. The Cynghanedd poetry may well cling to older forms, when the freer song and lyric, the novel and the drama have adopted a literary language less removed from the practice of the best public speaking. A careful reader of Professor J. Morris Jones's classic work will find much that will suggest new developments in both the descriptive and the normative grammar of the Welsh tongue. Professor J. Morris Jones has done well to bring out the significant fact, that there is in Welsh an elevated literary tradition in the use of the language, and this will be a very valuable piece of information for philologists who tend to concentrate attention only on the forms and the vocabulary of Welsh. Evidence of great acuteness and labour on the part of the author is visible on every page, and his teaching is already having its effect on the present day writing of Welsh, though there are also signs of a misapprehension and misapplication of his teaching. The Grammar, of which the first volume has now appeared, will ever be a standing monument to his patriotic zeal and knowledge of the Welsh tongue. E. Anwyl.

NOTES

'An Biabhach M5r'

Referring to the note on the word riabkach, which appeared in your issue of August last, is it not possible that this sobriquet for the devil is really a corruption of ^An Beabhach Mbr'1 In Irish the word reabhach (from reabh=a. wile, trick) signifies 'one who plays tricks, the devil.' When this word became obsolete in Scottish Gaelic, and its import was forgotten, it would naturally in such an instance, by a process common to all languages, be replaced by riabhach, a word almost identical in form and still in every- day use: hence 'An Biabhach Mbr' (=the great grizzled one) instead of ' An Beabhach Mbr ' (=the great trickster, the great devil).

MacGilleriabhaich.

Further Remarks on the 'Ciuthach'

Dr. Watson has made such a close study of the Ciuthach, as his article in the Celtic Beview of January 1914 suflaciently demonstrates, that it seems almost unnecessary to supplement his statements. But it may be interesting to add a third version of the Creag a' Chiuthaich story, as recorded by me in a paper called ' The Kewach's Castle,' which appeared in The Antiquary of July 1908. 'The Kewach's Castle' formerly crowned a little islet that stands out from the shore and overlooks the broad sands of Uig Bay, in the west of Lewis. To-day, all that remains of the stronghold is an irregular

NOTES 345

circle of stones. But tradition tells us that this was once the home of a redoubtable giant, known as Kewach, son of Nuaran, or Nu-ag-aran.^ This Kewach was one of four brothers who then dominated the whole of that neighbourhood. Two of them dwelt in the island of Berneray, the ' Borva ' of Black's Princess of Thule. Of these, one brother, named Glom, had his seat at Barra-Glom; while the castle of the other was known as Teeda- Borra, that giant bearing the peculiar name of Teeda, or Teed. The fourth of the sons of Nuaran was called Dearg, or the Ked One, and his tower, which stands upon a rocky eminence above the eastern entrance of Loch Eoag, was styled Dearg's Castle, or Biin Deirg. Its modern name is the Doon of Carloway (Gaelic, Dibn Charlobhaigh), from its situation beside the township of Carloway. The distance between Dearg's tower and that of his brother, the Kewach, is twelve miles ; the two other brothers occupying positions about midway. In the opinion of the late Captain Thomas, who had made a study of such structures, the strongholds were essentially alike, although differing in detail. . . .'

The Kewach of Uig and his three brothers are all described as enemies of the legendary race of the Fians. It was at their hands that Dearg met his death, in the island of Skye. And they slew his brother of Uig, also, near his own castle ; in proof of which the Kewach's Grave (fourteen feet long) is shown to this day. Some time before his death, however, the Kewach performed a remarkable feat. He had been assailed all day long by a Fian, shooting at him from the opposite or southern shore of the bay. The Kewach, of course, responded ; but apparently neither of them possessed great skill in archery — although it must be admitted the distance was great. At last the Kewach wounded his enemy. He was quick to avail himself of this advantage. Leaping down from his castle wall, he strode across the broad sands and up the slope where his disabled enemy stood, supporting himself against a small cliff. Him the Kewach seized in his arms, and then thrust against the face of the cliff with such supernatural violence that he actually crushed him into the solid rock ! Evidence of this amazing climax is still visible, for the Kewach's Rock (Creag a' Chiuthaich) yet retains the impression of the flattened Fian, whose outlines, however, are vague beyond recognition. I may add that I took a photograph, which I still have, of this phenomenon. It is really a ' fault ' in the rock, different in colour and character from the rest of the cliff. It has no resemblance to a human figure.

Here we have the Fian and not the Ciuthach represented as defeated and crushed. It may be that, as a mere bird of passage, I did not pay sufl&cient attention to the details. However, my version was written down while it was still fresh in my memory. There can be no harm in stating

^ 'Nu-ag-aran' is probably the ' Nuamharan ' of Celtic Review, Jan. 1914, p. 207, written according to English phonetics. Uamh acquires a guttural sound in some districts, as uaigh and uag.

346 THE CELTIC REVIEW

that I was in the company of Mr. Macrae of Timsgarry, and other friends, on that occasion, although I would not saddle anybody else with an inaccuracy of which I may be guilty.

Dr. Watson's suggestion that the Ciuthach may have been a broch- dweller is supported by the Lewis tradition, which assigns a broch, or a building akin to a broch, to each of the four sons of Nuaran. The Ciuthach appears, however, in another connection, not necessarily inconsistent with the idea that he was a broch-dweller, in the story of the flight of Diarmaid and Grainne. This incident is also referred to by Dr. Watson in his Ciuthach article. But it is useful to supplement his remarks by a further quotation from the Antiquary article already cited. It will be remembered that the Ciuthach, or a ciuthach (for the term is certainly generic in some cases), intruded himself upon Diarmaid and Grainne when they were living in a large cave by the sea-shore, whether at Carraig an Daimh, in Kintyre, or at Kinvarra, in the west of Tiree, or elsewhere. ' He came to them on a night of mist and storm and sleet, a night so wild that even Diarmaid, " the third best hero of the Fians," did not venture to stir from the cave. The Ciuthach came to them, says the story, from out of the Western ocean, in his skin-boat or curachan, propelled by two oars ; and one version has the prosaic addition that he brought with him a string of fish. In he came to their sea-cave in his light skiff, which he drew up and laid upon a shelf of rock. At first he was hospitably received by Diarmaid and by Grainne alike, who entertained him for several days. According to one account, Diarmaid and his self-invited guest amused themselves by playing at taileasg, otherwise "wedges" or dice. The Ciuthach won; and he demanded Grainne as his prize. Some versions denote that he had already won this wanton lady, without any difficulty ; and all are agreed in saying that, up to this point, Diarmaid had coldly repelled the advances made to him by Grainne. Be this as it may, there was a sudden and fierce struggle between the two men, which ended by Diarmaid slaying the Ciuthach.'

In this incident, assuming it to have a basis in fact, there is one specially interesting feature. This is the picture of the Ciuthach in his curachan, or light skin-skifF, emerging out of the Western ocean on a night so wild that even Diarmaid was afraid to venture from the cave. There is only one kind of skin-boat that can live in such a stormy sea as the story indicates, and that is the decked canoe formerly used in the north-east of Scotland by people known as Finn-men. The only surviving specimen of such a canoe, used in Scottish waters, is preserved in Marischal College, Aberdeen. It was propelled, not by two oars, but by a double-bladed paddle, and if the Ciuthach used such a paddle to propel such a canoe, he could weather almost any storm. Much has been written about the curach, but nothing so far about the curachan. Perhaps a study of this latter word may bear out the theory that the Ciuthachs who lived in brochs and caves made use of the same kind of skin-canoe as the people remembered in Orkney and Shetland as Finn-men. David MacRitchie.

NOTES 347

Some Highland Pedigrees : a Correction.

Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair in his paper on the MacNeills of Argyll (vol. vi. p. 55, etc.) makes out, or rather strongly suggests, that they were an early offshoot of the MacLeans. There is no doubt that they come from the same original stock as the Lamonts, MacSuibhnes, alias MacEwens of Otter and Castle Swein, and the MacLachlans. (Vide my paper on the Mac Suibhnes : Celtic Review, vol. vii. pp. 272-283.)

Then in vol. v. p. 70, etc., in his paper on the Clan Cameron, he touches on a Clan Sorley who lived about Glen Nevis, and who were sprung from a common ancestor with the Cameron, viz. Martin Mor. He then proceeds to identify these Mac Sorlies or Mac Somarlies of Glen Nevis with the Clan Sorley whose pedigree is given in Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis (lona Club), p. 56, and in doing so asserts boldly that it may be regarded as an unquestioned fact that this pedigree is that of the MacSomarlies of Glen Nevis and also asserts, ' there were no other Mac Somarlies or Mac Sorlies in the Highlands who possessed lands of their own and constituted a distinct Clan.'

Skene equally failed to identify the following pedigree, which runs * Donald son of Gillespie son of Angus son of Donald son of Sorlie son of Ferchar son of Dunslave.'

1. Now every one at all versed in the old Highland pedigrees ought to have quickly seen that Ferchar and Dunslave are the names which occur in the Lamont pedigree. 2. The pedigree which immediately precedes is that of the MacLachlans, and might have given the necessary hint to writers. Sir Norman Lamont of Knockdow, on my pointing out this clue to him, was soon able to definitely place them as a very old branch of the Clan Lamont, who eventually, after for centuries witnessing as Mac Sorley, and MacQuorley alias Lamont, entirely adopted or resumed this latter name. In the Inventory of Lamont Writs, which Mr. Lamont is shortly to publish through the Scottish Eecord Society, full proofs of this statement will be found from the progress of the Lands of Monydrain in Glasrie, Argyll, which is where these Mac Sorlies were seated, and which proves their descent for many additional generations. I do not for a moment believe that the Mac Sorlies of Glen Nevis spring from Somarlie son of Ferchar son of Dunslave. If they did, then they were of a common origin with the Lamonts, MacLachlans, and Mac Suibhnes ; and the fact is Sorlie has always been a common name.

Mr. A. M. Sinclair on p. 73 protests about Allan Mac Olony by the blunder- ing of some scribe being converted into Allan Mac Ochtry, a name * which never existed among the MacGillonies or any other Highland clan. All I can say on the subject is that a race called MacUchtre, who are designated as of ' Garvie,' long held these lands which are in Glendaruel of the Earls of Argyll in the Middle Ages, so it certainly did exist as a name in the Highlands. Uchtred MacDowall, Lord of Galloway, is another instance of the use of the name, and no doubt the original progenitor of these

348 THE CELTIC REVIEW

MacUchtres who gradually anglicised their name to Ochiltrie (Argyll Charters, passim), was a person of the name of Uchtred, which is a well- known early Saxon name, and is kept up to this day by the Kay-Shuttle- worth family in England. Niall D. Campbell.

The MacSuibhne (MacSween) Pedigree

Since writing the article on this old Celtic clan, I have acquired a facsimile of the famous Book of Ballymote, and find from it that the identity I suggested between the Mac Suibhnes and the clan afterwards known as MacEwen of Otter in Argyll is fully proved. On folio 77 begins the great pedigree of the O'Neils, which extends over two closely written columns. In the third column, at line 15, a small heading caught my eye reading, (I employ the Eoman instead of the Gaelic lettering and expand these names which are contracted so far as I am sure of them) : —

' De g(ene)l(ach) cl(an) Suibhne fanadaig an so ' (viz. Here follows the genealogy of the Clann Suibhne of Fanadach (now Fanat in Donegal, Ireland).

' Toirdolbach M'' maelmuire M'= moroch oig M*' moroch mir ' (viz. moir)

* M*' maelmuire M<= moroch M'^maelmuiri M<= Suibhne a quo cl(an) Suibhne.'

Then comes another line of descents thus : —

'Toirdelbach ogh M<=Eogain connrug' (this epithet may be connrag),

* M'' donchaidh moir M*^ moroch oig M*^ moroch mir ' (viz. moir) who appears above.

Then comes in faint yet plain letters in another square bracket : —

* G(ene)l(ach) M'^ suibhne otraige ' (viz.) the Genealogy of M'= suibhne of Ottir.

It starts with six brothers who are termed the clan Eoghain or Ewen, viz. : —

' Toirdelbach (agus Eoin agus donchadh agus dubgall agus Gofrig agus Dondslebi clann Eogain) M" dubgaill M'^ maelmuiri M*" moroch mor M'= mael- muiri M*= moroch M<= maelmuiri M*= suibhne a quo clann cruibh[?J or is it 0'suibhne['?] M<=Edha alaid renabarta burre M*=andrathan M'^aeda athloan cacomraig (cl. neill) M'= flaithbertaig itosai [1] M<= muirchertaig M'= demnaill M'' muirchertaigh [whom I omitted in my last article] M*= neill glundubh.'

This last is Niall Glunbubh, high king of Ireland, slain by the Danes on 17 Oct. 917, whose ancestors are well known for centuries, and are to be found in the O'Neill main stem in this MS.

The five brothers above named may be calculated to have flourished about the year 1420, as we know that Maelmuiri son of Suibhne appears as a witness in 1262 (Paisley Charters), but the Duggall son of Sewen who appears in 1261-62 (ibid.) evidently does not appear in the Book of Ballymote, as he can hardly be the Dubgaill who was one of the five brothers, nor Dubgaill who was their father.

Another problem is this, we know that Iain or Ewen, Terrealnanogh and Murquocgh were three brothers and sons of Suibhne in 1310. Yet, strange

NOTES

349

to say, the Ballymote Book does not seem to notice them, though its Toirdel- bach oig son of Eogain connrug son of Donchaidh moir son of Moroch oig son of Moroch Moir might be meant for the second brother were it not that he obviously is one descent younger than the five brothers of the Irish pedigree, who presumably flourished about 1420.

Thus the early kinship of these ancient clans may be best set forth as follows.

Aedh Alain of Buirche

I Giollachrist

I

Lachlan

ancestor of the

M°LachIans

Niall

ancestor of

a elan of

M-'Neills,

probably those

of Tayniah

and Gighw.

Dunsiebhe (omitted in Ballymote)

Ferchar

Suibhne who built

Castle Sween in Knapdale, ancestor ef the MacSweens

of Fannad and MacEwens of Otter

GioUacoluim died 1238

I

SirLadhman, Kt.,

vivens Oct. 1269

also Feb. 1292-3.

Ancestor of the

Clan Lamont

Duncan vivens 1238

I

Sir David

a canon of

Argyll in 1270

Duffgall vivens 1261

Maelmure vivens 1262

Angus MacFerchar

vivens 1270-1292-

1296

4

M^Ewen of Otter

Sorley, ancestor of the MacSorleys or M'^Quorlies or

Laments of Monydrain in

Glasrie, Argyll, as they later

called themselves

Dunsleve lived 1262, ancestor of M<=Dunslave

Moroch Mor

vivens 1262-1267.

Died in prison

I

M<'Sweens of Fannad

This survey shows us an exact reproduction among the clans of Scotland of what is true of district after district in Ireland, viz. that as a rule where clans of different names occupied adjacent territories, they sprang from a common ancestry. It may be therefore quite true that the Campbells of Lochow, the MacNachtans of that Ilk, and the Drummonds and Mac- Arthurs are also sprung from the O'Duibhnes as is recorded in the traditional genealogies of the Senachies, the dates of their divergence from the main stem being so remote that it was before the surname of Campbell had become fixed.

We have an illustration of this practice in the case of the MacSorleys of Monydrain. They knew well enough that they were sprung from a common ancestor with the Lamonts, and both for some generations bore the patronymic Mac Fhearchair from Ferchar the son of Dunsiebhe son of Aedh Alain, yet when Lamont or Lawmont crystallised as the clan name, those septs, even though derived from a generation older than Sir Ladhman of 1269, did not hesitate to adopt that surname ultimately, however long they may have clung to their sept name as an alternative before doing so.

Niall D. Campbell.

350 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR AND READER

By Julius Pokorny, Ph.D., LL.D. (Vienna)

{Continued from page 288)

§ 177. The Future and Secondary Future. Of the future there are three types :

1. The f- future

is formed from almost all weak verbs and some radical verbs, as e.g. the compounds of -ice, -moinethar, etc.

Its stem is formed by adding a suffix, whose consonant appears as / or h { = v). The h is always found in final position ; / appears regularly in the interior of a word after consonants, while in vowel-flanked position either h or f may be found.

The / (h) shows in most instances palatal quality ; only occa- sionally in %- verbs, more frequently in a- verbs, broad quaUty may be found.

2. The s- future

is a reduplicated form of the s- subjunctive. A sigmatic future and a sigmatic subjunctive regularly go together. Only the compounds of -ic{c) have an s- subjunctive and a h- future. The reduplication-vowel is -%-. Thus, e.g. claidid ' digs,' 3. sg. subj. cldis fr. *kldd-s-ti : 3 sg. fut. cechlais fr. *ki-kldd-8-ti, composi- tional form -cechla fr *ki-kldd-s-t ; guidid ' prays,' 3. sg. subj. geiss fr. *g''hedh-s-ti : 3. sg. fut. gigis fr. ^g^hi-g^hedh-s-ti, compositional form -gig fr. g'hi-g'hedh-s-t ; cf. further saigid ' makes for,' compositional 3. sg. subj. -sd fr. *sdg-s-t and composi- tional 3. sg. fut. -sia fr. *si-sdg-s-t; ad-fdt 'tells,' 3. sg. subj. ad-fe : 3. sg. fut. ad-fi fr. *ad-vi-v. . . .

If the root begins with a vowel, it contracts with e or ito i; before o it remains, e.g. org{a)id 'slays,' compositional 3. sg. subj. -orr : compositional 3. sg. fut. -ior, -iarr (§ 64).

Note 1. — No trace of reduplication is found in some compound verbs, containing at least two preverbal prepositions, e.g. con-rig 'binds,' compositional 2. sg. fut. -riris fr. *ri''rig-s-ei, but ar-fmrsef, 3. pi. of ar-fuirig, 'detains.'

ACCIDENCE 351

Note 2. — In some verbs, as rethid 'runs,' saidid 'sits,' etc., the subjunctive forms serve to express the future tense.

3. The reduplicated and e- future.

a. The reduplicated future is a reduplicated form of the d- subjunctive, the reduplication vowel being i.

Thus, e.g. gainithir ' is born ' (fr. *gn-je-trai), 3. sg. pres. subj. genaithir (fr. *gen-d-trai) : 3. sg. fut. gignithir (fr. *gi-§en-d- trai) ; canid ' sings,' compositional 3. sg. pres. subj. -cana : compositional 3. sg. fut. cechna (fr. O. C. *ki-Jcan-d-t).

b. The e- future is in origin only a particular kind of redupli- cated future. It arose regularly in verbs whose future-stems go back to a time when the reduplicated future was still formed from the reduced root form, e.g. celid 'conceals,' 3. sg. fut. c4l{a)id (fr. *^i-^l-d-ti), fo-geir ' inflames,' 3. sg. secondary fut. fo-gerad (fr. ^upo-g^hi-g^hr-d-to), and thence spread more and more as a convenient type. Hence be(i)rid ' carries,' 3. sg. fut. ber{a)id, gaibid ' takes,' 3. sg. fut. g&){a)id, etc.

Note. — The na- and nu- verbs (§ 175, 4) have in the composi- tional 3 sg. fut. the ending -i e.g. len{a)id 'follows' (fr. 0. C. *li-na-ti) ; compositional 3. sg. fut. -lili. 0. C. *-li-li-a-t, the reduplicated form of the subjunctive *-li-art, 0. Ir. -lia, would have given *-lile.

ben{a)id ' cuts ' shows no trace of reduplication in the future, e.g. 3. secondary fut. no-b'iad.

§ 178. Active and Deponent Preterite and Perfect.

Of this tense there are three types.

1. The s- preterite and perfect

is formed from all weak verbs (and some radical verbs, as gaibid ' takes,' ad-glddathar ' addresses,' etc.).

Its stem is formed by adding -ss- to the short form (§ 128) of the suflSx (§ 173, 1 ), e.g. car(a)id 'loves' (pres. stem car-d-): 3. sg. pret. carais (fr. *carassi, 0. C. *kar-d-s-ti), compositional form -car (fr. *carass, O. C. *kar-d-s-t).

On the hiatus- verbs, see § 181.

2. The t- preterite and perfect

is formed from radical verbs in -I, -r and from some in -m and -g. There is no deponent inflexion.

352 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Its stem is formed by adding -t-, thus e.g. do-meil ' consumes ' 3. sg. pret. do-melt (fr. Ho-rml-t), contracted form (after the particles and conjunctions mentioned in § 53) -tomalt (fr. *-tb- mel-t) ; berid ' carries,' compositional 1. sg. pret. -biurt, fr. 0. C *ber-t-o ( = I.E. 3. sg. *bhert + d).

3. The reduplicated preterite and perfect is formed from all the other radical verbs.

There are two types,

(a) really reduplicated forms. The reduplication vowel was regularly e, but in roots ending in i this vowel seem to have been introduced as reduplication vowel; in roots ending in a consonant the root vowel appears in the deflected vowel grade (§ 129), thus e.g. ligid 'licks' (fr. I.E. *li^h-e-ti), 3. sg. perf. ro-lelaig (fr. I.E. le-loigh-e; the i of the present stem is the reduced vowel grade of ei), cingid 'steps' (fr. I.E. *kheng-e-ti), 3. sg. perf. ro-cechaing (fr. I.E. *pro-khe-khong-e), while in roots ending in a vowel, the root-vowel has been lost, e.g. -len(a)id ' you follow ' (fr. I.E. Hi-nd-te) : 3. sg. perf ro-lil (0. C. *ro-li-l-e), -cren(a)id ' you sell ' (fr. I.E. ^k''ri-n9-te) : 3. sg. perf. ro-ciuir (fr. 0. C. *ro-k%-k'r-e, cf. § 115) etc.

(b) Forms without reduplication.

The root-vowel appears as d (fr. I.E. o) or i (fr. I.E. e) in O. Ir., e.g. te{i)chid 'flees,' 3. sg. pret. tdich (fr. I.E. *tdk-e); guidid 'prays,' 1. sg. perf. ro-gdd (fr. I.E. *pro-g''hodh-a) ; midithir 'judges,' 3. sg. perf. deponent ro-rnidair, etc.

Note. — ben{a)id 'cuts' forms its preterite from the aorist-stem 0. C. *bl, e.g. 3. sg. perf. ro-M, fr. 0. C. *ro-bl-e ; 3 pi. perf. ro-b4otar, fr. *ro-bl-(mtro.

For the preterite of Uagu ' I go ' the aorist-stem I.E. *litdh is used, e.g. -luid ' went ' fr. 0. C. *lud-e.

The perfect of ro-cluinethar 'hears' is c'i!cal{a)e fr. *fCu-klov-e, with analogical ?/.

4. The perfect ^ is commonly distinguished from the preterite by the addition of ro- or other particles (see § 174). The pre- terite is the narrative tense. Further, it is used in indirect

^ This short section (4) is taken from Strachan's Selectiona, p. 61.

ACCIDENCE 353

speech to represent a present of direct speech ; it is used in a modal sense, e.g. ni hoi ' there were not ' ; further after nnad- *well,' e.g. mad-genatar ' blessed are' and after 6 'since.'

The perfect marks the occurrence of an action in past time from the point of view of the present. Such action may fall within the recent experience of the speaker (or the person spoken to), or within his more remote experience, or it may fall in an indefinite past. In subordinate clauses, the perfect may denote action prior to the action of the main verb.

§ 179. Passive Preterite and Perfect.

There is only one formation. The non- compositional forms (originally identical with the passive participle ?) may have been formed by means of the old suflfix -tjo-, -tjd, e.g. marbaid ' kills ' : marhthae, fr. *inrvd-tjo-{-tjd) ; the e and the broad th in brethae (fr. berid * carries ') would be due to the influence of the com- positional forms. The latter are formed by means of the suffix -to-, -td-, e.g. ro-breth ' he has been carried ' fr. *pro-hhr-to-s ; in the plural the feminine form is used for all genders, e.g. ni- marbtha ' they have not been killed ' (fr. ^mrvd-tds), do-hretha ' they have been given ' fr. *to-bhr-tds. Other examples are bong{a)id ' breaks ' : -bocht (fr. *bhog-to-) ; ad-fet ' tells ' : ad-fess (fr. *-vid-to- ; cf. § 94.) ; do-moinethar ' believes ' : do-inet (fr. *to-7nii-to-) ; ad-ci ' sees ' : ad-cess (fr. *ad-k%8-to-), etc.

Note. — In radical verbs the root originally always showed the reduced vowel-grade, as in ro-cleth (fr. *pro-Kl-to-) fr. celid 'hides, ro-breth, etc. But through the influence of other verbal forms the normal vowel grade has often been restored.

§ 180. Passive Participle and Participle of Necessity.

These participles are (verbal) adjectives and hence always stressed on the first syllable. The participle of necessity looks in most instances like a dat. sg, fern, of the passive participle, though it is of different origin, e.g. do-eim ' protects,' part. pass. dite (fr. *de-e7n-tjo-) : part. nee. diti ; guidid ' prays,' part. pass. gesse (fr. ^g^hedh-tjo-) : part. nee. gessi ; ad-rimi ' reckons,' part. pass. dirTThithe (fr. *ad-rim%-tjo-) : part, nee. dirmithi, etc.

VOL. IX. Z

354 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Note. — The part. nee. cannot be inflected. The dative plur., which occurs thirteen times in Ml, e.g. betis imgabthib (fr. im-gaib) ' that they should have been avoided/ is an artificial formation.

§ 181. Hiatus-verbs.

In hiatus-verbs, i.e. verbs whose root ended in a vowel or s, V, j, p which have been dropped in vowel-flanked position, the inflexion of radical and weak verbs has been mixed up very early. Thus, e.g. ad-ci ' sees ' (fr. *ad~h%s-e-t), contracted form -aicci though being in origin a radical e/o verb, looks in the present like an i- verb ; hence it has an a- subjunctive (deponent inflexion), while in the contracted ^ passive the forms of the old s- subjunctive have been preserved.

Otherwise all hiatus-verbs (except do-goa ' chooses ') seem to have only an a- subjunctive, though some forms show the influence of the s- subjunctive, as e.g. the compositional 1. sg. -gneu (-gneo) fr, gniid ' does.'

In the future tense gniid ' does,' the cpds. of -goa and -ci (but in the passive the latter have an s- future) and some other verbs have the reduplicated future, while most of the hiatus- verbs have probably an /- future.

In the preterite many verbs, as the cpds. of -ci and -goa, did •weeps,' etc., have the reduplicated preterite, gniid shows a mixture of the reduplicated and s- preterite (stem geniss, fr. Pr. Ir. *ge-gnlss-),

e.g. do-genis * thou didst ' fr. Pr. Ir. *dl-ge-gnl-ss-e (I.E. *ei).

Not a few of the hiatus-verbs have, however, the s- preterite, thus, e.g. ad-roillis (fr. Pr. Ir. *ad-ro-sli-ss-e) ' thou hast deserved,' 1. sg. pres. ad-roilliu; ad-noi 'entrusts' I.E. *ate-nev-e-t : 3. sg. perf. ad-ro-n{a)i, etc.

In such verbs as ad-roilli (3. sg.) the final vowel has been pre- served, as only the various sufiixes (§ 173, i.) were shortened in the

^ Most compound verbs have contracted and uncontracted forms. The con- tracted forms are used after the particles and conjunctions mentioned in § .53, 2. be, after ro- and in the imperative. Thus, e.g. aa-htir 'says' (fr. *t1c8-})heret), but n\-epir *he does not say' (fr. -^ics-bhtret).

ACCIDENCE 355

preterite (§ 178, i), but not the root-vowels, while in such verbs as ad-ro-n{a)i, the final vowel results from two subsequent hiatus-vowels ; <id-ron{a)i instead of *ad-ro-n(a)e fr. O. C, *ad-ro- nove+s-t is due to the influence of ad-roilli, etc.

Use of the Subjunctive Mood § 182. The subjunctive is used:

1. In principal and subordinate clauses as a subjunctive of wish and will, and as a potential subjunctive ; further after hes ' perchance.'

2. In relative, temporal, conditional and concessive clauses and in clauses of comparison (occasionally also in indirect questions), when the action is to be marked as hypothetic, prospective or general.

3. After re-siu ' before ' and acht ' but that, provided that.'

4. In final clauses.

5. In 'that-' clauses after verbs of effort, fearing, rejoicing, grieving, wondering, happening, etc., and after certain imper- sonal expressions denoting ' it happens, it is possible, necessary, right,' etc.

Note. — But to express a fact or result the indicative is used. After verbs of saying, thinking, showing, etc., the subjunctive is used only when the ' that '- clause belongs to one of the categories given above 1-4.

6. In relative clauses of the form ' if it be they who do it,' 'let it be this that they do,' where the copula is in the subjunc- tive or imperative, the following verb is also put in the sub- junctive, e.g. hat he berte (subj.) bretha lib ' let it be them who give judgments among you ' ; bad hed dogneid ' let it be that that ye do,'

PARADIGM OF WEAK VERBS § 183. Only the regular verbal-forms are given below. The a- verbs are represented by scar{a)im{m)^ '1 separate' (fr. *skrd-'mi), the i verbs by Uciin{m) ^ ' I leave,' the deponent

* The unaspirated -mm of the 1. sg. is due to the influence of the copula am (with unaspirated m), fr. *imm, *tsmi (§ 81).

356 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

inflexion by suidigur ' I place ' (i-verb ; an example of an d- verb would be comalnur ' I fulfil ').

Indicative § 184. Non-compositional Present.

Sg. 1. scaraim{m)	Ucmi{'m)	auidigv/r
2. scarai	led	suidigther
3. scaraid	lecid	suidigidir
rel. scaras	Idces	suidigedar
PI. 1. scarmai	Uicmi	suidigmir
rel. scarmae	Uicme	suidigmer
2. scarthae	leicthe	suidigthe
3. scarait	Ucit	Buidigitir
rel. scardae, scaraife	leicde,lecite	suidigetar

§ 185. Compositional Present.

Sg. 1. -scaraim (7n), -scaru -leci7n{m), -Uc{i)u -suidigur

2. -scarai -led -suidigther

3. -scara -led -suidigedar PI. 1. -scaram -lecem -suidigmer

2. -scaraid -Udd -suidigid

3. -scarat -Ucet -suidigetar

§ 186. Imperfect. (Only compositional forms, § 179, la.)

Sg.l.	-scarainn	-Udnn	-suidiginn
2.	-scartha	-leicthea	-suidigthea
3.	-scarad	-Uced	-suidiged
PLl.	-scarmais	-leicmis	-suidigmis
2.	-scarthae	-leicthe	-suidigthe
3.	-scartais	-leictis	-suidigtis

§ 187. Non-compositional Future.

(The a- verbs are mostly inflected like i- verbs, § 177, i.)

Sg. 1. [The cpds. of Uicfea suidigfer

2. scaraid have leicfe suidigflder

ACCIDENCE	(
3. the e- future leicfid	suidigfidir
rel. like strong verbs,] leicfes	suidigfedar
PI. 1. leicfimmi	suidigfimmir
rel. UicfimTne	suidigfemmar
2. leicjide	suidigfide
3. Uicjit	suidigfitir
rel. Uicfite	suidigfetar
§ 188. Compositional Future.
Sg. 1. -Uc{i)nh (§ 62)	-suidigfer
2. -leicfe	-suidigfider
3. -leicfea	-suidigfedar
PI. 1. -leicfem	-suidigfeTYhTnar
2. -leicfid	-suidigfid
3. -leicfet	-suidigfetar

357

§ 189. Secondary Future. (Only compositional forms, § 174, la.)

Sg.l. 2. 3. PI. 1. 2. 3.		-leicfinn -leicfeda -leicfed -leicfiTnmis -Uicfide -Uicfitis	-suidigfiTiTh -suidigfeda -suidigfed -suidigfimmis -suidigfide -suidigfitis
§190.	Non- compositional Preterite.
Sg.l.	scarsu	Uicsiu	?
2.	scarsai	leicsi	?
3. rel. PL 1.	scarais scaras scarsaiTnmi	lecis leces UicsimTni	suidigistir suidigestar ?
rel.	scarsaimme	Uicsimme	?
2.	?	?	?
3. rel.	scarsait scarsaite	Uicsit leicsite	suidigsitir suidigsetar

358 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

§ 191. Compositional Preterite.

Sg.l.	-scctrus	'Uc{i)us (§ 62)	-suidigsiur
2.	-scaraia	-lecis	-suidigser
3.	-scar	-Uic	-suidigestar
PL 1.	-scarsam	-Idicsem	-suidigsemmar
2.	-scarsaid	-leicsid	-suidigsid
3.	-scarsat	-Uicset Subjunctive	-suidigsetar
§192.	Non-compositional Present.
Sg.l.	scara	lecea	suidiger
2.	scarae^	lece	suidigther
3.	scaraid	lecid	suidigidir
rel.	scaras	leces	suidigedar
PI. 1.	scarTnai	leicmi	suidigmir
rel.	scarmae	leicTne	suidigmer
2.	scarthae	Uicthe	suidigthe
3.	scarait	Ucit	suidigitir
rel.	scardae,scaraite Uicde, lecite	auidigetar
§193.	Compositional	Present.
Sg.l.	-scar	-Uic	-suidiger
2.	-scarae	-Uce	-suidigther
3.	-scara	-Ucea	-suidigedar
PI. 1.	-scaram	-Uceiii	-suidigmer
2.	-scaraid	-Ucid	-suidigid
3.	-scarat	-lecet	-suidigetar
§194.	. Preterite. (Only compositional :	forms, § 174, la.)
Sg.l.	-scarainn	-Ucinn	-suidiginn
2.	-scartha	-Idicthea	-suidigthea
3.	-scarad	-Uced	-suidiged
PL 1.	-scarinais	-leicmis	-suidigmis
2.	-scarthae	-leicthe	-suidigthe
3.	-scartais	-Uictis	suidigtis

ACCIDENCE 359

Imperative

§ 195. (No distinction is made between compositional and non-compositional endings.)

Sg.2.	scar	leio	suidigthe
3.	scarad	Uced	suidiged
PI. 1.	scaratn	Uceini	suidigmer
2.	scaraid	Ucid	suidigid
3.	scarat	Ucet	suidigetar

PASSIVE

(On the relative forms see § 173, 2.)

Indicative § 196. Non-compositional Present. Sg. 3. scarthair Uicthir suidigthir

PI. 3. 8cartair,searaitirUictir,lecitir suidigtir

Compositional Present.

General form -scarthar -leicther -suidigther

PI. 3. -scartar,-scaratar -leicter,lecetar suidigter

Imperfect (Only compositional forms, § 174, la.)

General form -scarthae -leicthe -suidigthe

-scartais -leictis -suidigtis.

§ 197. Non-compositional Future. Sg. 3. (See § 187.) leicjldir suidigfidir

PI. 3. Uicjitir suidigfitir

Compositional Future

General form -Uicfider -suidigfider

PI. 3. -Uicfiter -fetar -suidigfiter -fetar

Secondary Future (Only compositional forms, § 174, la.) General form -Uicjide -suidigfide

PL -leicfitis -suidigfitis

360 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

§ 198. Non-compositional Preterite Sg. 3. (and rel.) scarthae leicthe suidigthe

PI. 3. (?) (?) (?)

Compositional Preterite

General form -scarad -leced -suidiged

PI. 3. scartha -leicthea -suidigthea

Subjunctive

§ 199. Non-compositional Present Sg. 3. scarthair Uicthir suidigthir

PI. 3. scartair,scaraitir Uictir, lecitir suidigtir

Compositional Present

General form -scarthar -leicther -suidigther

PI. 3. -scartar, -scaratar -leicter, -Ucetar -suidigter

Preterite (Only compositional forms, § 174, la.)

General form -scarthae -Uicthe -suidigthe

PI. 3. -scartais -leictis -suidigtis

Imperative

§ 200. (No distinction is made between compositional and non-compositional endings.)

General form scarthar leicther suidigther

PI. 3. scartar leicter suidigter

Passive Participle] § 201. scarthae Uicthe suidigthe

Participle of Necessity § 202. scarthai leicthi suidigthi

ACCIDENCE

361

PARADIGMS OF RADICAL VERBS

§ 203. melid ' grinds' ('/„ verb, § 175, i.)

As the complete paradigm cannot be restored with certainty, some

	Present Indicative	Imperfect
non Sg.l. 2. 3.	-compositional 7nelim{7)i) ^ *meli(l) Tnelid	compositional {-hiur) (-bir^) -meil	only compositional -melinn ? -meled
rel.	meles
PI. 1.	TnelTYiai	-Tnelam,	-meilmis
rel.	melmae
2.	meilte (§ 84 b.)	-melid	?
3.	melait	-melat	-me(i)ltis
rel.	Tneldae, -toe

Note 1. — Occasionally the ending -u is found, e.g. biru 'I carry,' Uagu ' I go.'

Note 2. — Many verbs have -i also in the compositional form, e.g. ar-rethi 'thou assailest'; the i in -bir 'thou earnest' (0. C. -*bere, fr. I.E. *bherei) is due to the influence of the 1

e-Future

;. -biur. Secondary Future

Sg

non-compositional

compositional -tnel -Tnelae -mSla

1. Tnela

2. mdae

3. melaid rel. melas

PI. 1. mJlmai

rel. melmae

2. mdtae (§ 84 b.) -melaid

3. melait -melat rel. mAldae, -tae

-mdaTTi

^Preterite non-compositional Sg. 1. ?

2. ?

compositional

-miult

-m,eiU

only compositional

-TYielainn -'inelta (§84 b.) -melad

-mdm^ais

-Tneltae (| -Tneltais

84 b.)

Perfect

contracted forms -ru-mult -ru-mj{a)iU

362 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

3.

rel.

PI. 1.

rel.

2.

3. rel.

(hirt)

-melt

-ru-malt

meltae

? -meltaTnmar -ru-maltmar

TneltamTYiar

? -meltaid -ru-7naltaid

? -meltar, meltatar -ru-7nalt(at)ar

meltar, meltatar

Present Subjunctive

non-compositional

Sg.l.

2.

3.

rel,

PI. 1.

rel.

2.

3.

mela

onelae

m^elaid

melas

melm^ai

melmae

meltae {\

melait

compositional -mel -melae -mela

Past Subjunctive

only compositional

-onelainn -melta (§84 b.) -melad

-melam

-melmais

84 b.)

-melaid -melat

-meltae (\ -meltais

84 b.)

rel. meldae, -tae

Imperative

(No distinction is made between compositional and non-compositional endings.) Sg. 1. PI. 1. melam

2. vieil 2. melid

3. meled^ 3. melat

Note 3. — The ending -ad appears occasionally instead of -ed (fr. *-e-to) through influence of the 3. pl. {-at, fr. *-ont).

Note 4. — From tiagu *I go,' comes a 1. sg. ipv. tlag with the sense of ' I will go.'

PASSIVE

(On the relative forms see § 173, 2.) Present Indicative Imperfect

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg. 3. melair -melar -meilte (§ 84 b)

PI. 3.

'melair meltair

-melar -meltar

-7Yie{i)ltis

ACCIDENCE

363

e- Future Secondary Future

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg. 3. meltair (§ 84 b) -meltar (§ 84 b) meltae (§ 84 b)

PI. 3.

mdtair

■meltar

Preterite

non-compositional compositional

Sg. 3. mlethae -mleth

PL 3. (?) -mletha

-TTieltais

Perfect

contracted forms -ro-Tnlad -ro-malta (§67)

Present Subjunctive Past Subjunctive

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg. 3. meltair (§ 84 b) -meltar (§ 84 b) -meltae (§ 84 b) PI. 3. meltair -meltar -meltais

Imperative

(No distinction is made between compositional and non-compositional endings.)

General form (3. sg.) melar PI. 3. m^eltar

Passive Participle Participle of Necessity

mlithe mlithi

§ 204. caiiid ' sings ' {e\o verb, § 175, i).

In the Present and Imperfect Indicative Active, as well as in the Present and Past Subjunctive Active, it is inflected like melid (§ 203). In the 1 sg. compositional pres. the non-com- positional canaim{m) is used besides the regular -cun (fr. *-caun).

Reduplicate	id Future	Secondary Future
non-compositional	compositional	only compositional
Sg. 1. cechna	-cechan	-cechnainn
2. cechnae	-cechnae	-cechnatha
3, cechnaid	-cechna	-cechnad
rel. cechnas

364 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

PI. 1. cechnairami (?) -cechnam

rel. cechnairriTne (?)

2. cechnaithe (?) -cechnaid

3. ceehnait -cechnat rel. cechnaite (?)

Reduplicated Preterite

-cechnaimTnis (?)

-cechnaithe -cechnaitis

compositional

-cechan -cechan -cechain

Perfect

contracted forms

-roichan -roichan -roichain

■cechnamTnar -roichnammar

non-compositional

Sg. 1. cechan (?)

2. ?

3. cechain rel. cechnxie

PI. 1. cechnaimTnir (?)

rel. cechnammar 2. ?

3t cechnaitir

rel. cechnatar

The Present and Past Subjunctive as well as the Imperative Active are inflected like melid.

-cechnaid -cechnatar

-roichnid -roichnatar

PASSIVE

(On the relative forms see § 173, 2.)

In the Passive the Present Indicative and Subjunctive, the Imperfect, and the Past Subjunctive and Imperative are inflected like melid.

Reduplicated Future

non-compositional compositional Sg. 3. cechnaithir -cechnathar

PI. 3. cechnaitir -cechnatar

Secondary Future

only compositional -cechnxiithe (?) -cechnaitis (?)

Preterite non-compositional compositional Sg. 3. cetae -cH

PI. 3. (?) -c^ta

Perfect

contracted forms -ro-chet -ro-cheta

ACCIDENCE

365

Passive Participle

cete

Participle of Necessity

ceti

§ 205. guidid ' prays' (§175, 3).

In the Present and Imperfect Indicative Active it is inflected like an vverb (Idcid) except in the compositional 3 sg. pres. ind. (-guid fr. ^g'hodh-i-t ; of. § 173, 1).

In the non-compositional 1 sg. pres. ind. the form guidiu ' I pray ' occurs beside the regular guidiin(m).

s-Future Secondary Future

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg.l.

2.

3.

rel.

P1.1.

rd.

2.

3.

rel.

gigsea

gigsi

gigis

giges

gigsimmi

gigsimme

gigestae

gigsit

gigsite

-gigius -gigis

-9^9

-gigsmn 7

-gigsed

-gigsem

-gigsimmis

-gigsid -gigset

-gigsitis

a-Preterite (§ 178, 3b.) non-compositional compositional

Sg.l.

2.

3.

rel.

PI. 1.

rel.

2.

3.

rel.

gdd (?) ?

gdid

gdde

7

gddaTnmar

7

7 gddatar

-gdd -gdd -gdid

-gddammar

Perfect

contracted forms -ro-gad -ro-gad -ro-gaid

-gddid -gddatar

Present (s-) Subjunctive Past Subjunctive

non-compositional compositional only compositional Sg. 1. ?^ -ges8 -gessinn

2. gessi -geiss ?

/

366 A CONCISE OLD lEISH GRAMMAR

-ge -gessed

3.	geiss
rel.	gess
PI. 1.	gesmai
reL	gesmae
2.	7
3.	gessait
rel.	gestae

-gessain -gesmais

7

-gessid

-gessat -gestais

Note 1. — The only example I have of the non-compositional 1 sg, is tiasu, pres. tlagu ' I go.' Perhaps the other verbs had the ending -a as in the s- future (§177, 2).

The Imperative Active is inflected like lecid.

PASSIVE

(On the relative forms see § 173, 2).

The Present Indicative, the Imperfect and the Imperative are inflected like lecid.

s-Future Secondary Future

non-compositional compositional only compositional Sg. 3. gigsithir -gigsethar -gigeatae

PI. 3. gigsitir -gigsetar -gigsitis

Preterite Perfect

non-compositional compositional contracted forms Sg. 3. gessae (?) -gess ?

PI. 3. (?) -gessa

2

Present Subjunctive Past Subjunctive

non-compositional compositional only compositional Sg. 3. gessair -gessar -gestae

PI. 3. gessaitir -gessatar -gestais

Passive Participle Participle of Necessity

ge{i)8se ge(i)ssi

ACCIDENCE

367

§ 206. renaid 'sells' {-na- verb; § 175, 4).

Present Indicative Imperfect

non-compositional compositional only compositional Sg. 1. renaim(7n) -renairMjn) -renainn

2. renai -renai -renta

3. renaid -ren -renad rel. renas

PL 1. renmai rel. renmae

2. rentae (§ 84 b)

8. renait rel. rentae, -dae

-renam

-renaid -renat

-renmais

-rentae (§ 84 b) -rentais

Reduplicated Future non-compositional compositional

Sg

1. 2. 3.

rel.

PL 1.

rel.

2.

3. rel.

rire 7

rires rirmi (?) rirme (?) rirthe (?) ririt rirte

-ririu

-rire

-riri

-rtrem

-ririd 'riret

Secondary Future

only compositional

-rirthinn (?) -rirthea (?) -rired

-rirmis (?)

-rirthe (?) -rirtis (?)

Reduplicated Preterite non-compositional compositional

Sg. 1.

2.

3.

rel.

PLl.

rel.

2.

3.

reL

2

?

rir (V) rire

1

7

1

7 rertar, -dar

-rer (?) -rer (?) -rir

-rertar, -dar

Perfect

(Of contracted forms I have no examples.)

368 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

	Present Subjunctive	Past Subjunctive ^
non-compositional	compositional	only compositional
Sg.l.	?	-reu	-r'ieinn (?)
2.	viae (?)	-viae	?
3.	r'ieid (?)	-r'ia	-r'iad
rel.	r'ias (?)
PI. 1.	reimmi (?)	-r'iam	-remTYiis (?)
rel.	reiTnme (?)
2.	reitke (?)	-r'ieid (?)	?
3.	rmi (?)	-riat	-retis
rel.	reie

The Imperative Active is inflected like scaraid.

PASSIVE

(On the relative forms see § 173, 2).

Present Indicative Imperfect

non-compositional compositional only compositional Sg. 3. renair -renar -rentae (§ 84 b)

PI. 3.

rentair

-rentar

-rentals

Reduplicated Future Secondary Future

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg. 3. rirthir -rirther -ririhe (?)

PI. 3. rirtir (?) -rirter (?) -rirtis (?)

Sg.3. PL 3.

Preterite non-compositional compositional rithae -rith

(?) -ritha (?)

Perfect

(Of contracted forms I have no examples.)

^ The subj. stem r'ia- is a later formation, due to the influence of cria (fr. crenaid ' buys ') ; there are still traces of the old subj. stem em- (inflected like the subj. of melid), formed from the full root *per[d) (of. § 176, i,note.). But em- has a dififerent meaning, e.g. ro-era ' may he grant,'

ACCIDENCE 369

Present Subjunctive Past Subjunctive

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg.3. PI. 3.	rethir retir	-rether -rethe -reter (?) -retis
	The Imperative Passive is inflected like melid
	Passive Participle rithe	Participle of Necessity rethi (?)

§ 207. gainithir 'is bom' (deponent verb, § 175, 3). (On the relative forms, see § 173, 2)-

Present Indicative Imperfect

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg.l. 2. 3. PL 1. 2. 3.	gainiur -gainiur gainter (§ 84 b) -gainter (§ 84 b) gainithir -gairiethar gainimmir -gainemmar gainte (§ 84 b) -gainid gainitir -gainetar	-gaininn 1 etc. The inflexion is the same as in active verbs. (Of. guidid, § 198.)
	Reduplicated Future	Secondary Future
	non-compositional compositional only compositional
Sg.l. 2. 3. PI. 1. 2. 3.	gigner -gigner gignither -gignither gignithir -gignethar gignimmir -gignemmar gignithe -gignid gignitir -gignetar	-gigninn etc. (§ 173, 4).
	Reduplicated Preterite	Perfect
	non-compositional compositional	(Of contracted
Sg.l. 2. 3.	? -g4nar ? -genar gdnair -gdnair	forms I have no examples.)
VOL.	IX.	2a

370 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

PL 1.	?	-gdnammar
2.	?	-genaid
3.	?	-gdnatar

Present Subjunctive Past Subjunctive

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg. 1. genar -genar 2. gentar (§ 84 b) -gentar (§84 3. genaithir -genathar PL 1. genaimmir (?) -genammar 2. gentae (§ 84 b) -genaid 3. genaitir -genatar	-genainn > b) etc. (like melainn)
Imperative
Sg. 1. PL 1. 2. gainte (§ 84 b) 2. 3. gained 3.	gainem, -emmar gainid gainetar

The Passive of deponent verbs is formed exactly like that of active verbs of the same class.

Thus, e.g. do-7)ioinethar ' thinks ' : compositional 3. sg. pres. ind. pass, do-mointer (fr. O. C. *to-man-i-toro) like fo-gaibther (0. C. *vo-gah-i-toro) fr. the active fo-gaib ' finds.'

§ 208. THE SUBSTANTIVE VERB
Indicative Mood
Present		Imperfect
Sg. 1. (atytdu,	-to	-biinn
2. -tai		7
3. 'td		-bith
PL 1. -taam		7
2. -ta{ayid		7
3. -taat		•bitis

As the relative form the impersonal j^i^, {feil, fel, fail) and jile

ACCIDENCE

371

{fele) are used ; -fil (but not file) is also used after the particles and conjunctions mentioned in § 53, 2,c,d, e, except before an infixed pronoun expressing a dative relation (e.g. ni-m-thd ' I have not,' but ni-nn-jil 'I am not'), further in answers and (archaic) in order to bring forward emphatically any part of a sentence. In composition {for-td ' is upon,' do-es-ta ' is wanting,' etc.), only -td can be used.

Note 1. at-ta has no contracted (§181 footnote) forms; after the particles and conjunctions mentioned in § 53, 2, be, the preverbal preposition ad- is always dropped (§ 210, note 2).

Note 2. There is also a non-compositional 3. sg. tdith, which is in poetry and sometimes in prose used with suffixed pronouns.

Consuetudinal Present

non-compositional compositional relative

Sg. 1. hiuu -biu

2. ? -bi

3. h'iid -hi his

PI. 1. bimmi -hiam bimme

2. ? -hiid (?)

3. Hit -b'iat bite

Imperative

Sg. 2. bi PI. 1. hiid

3. bith 2. but

Future (cf. § 174, 3, note.) Secondary Future

non-compositional compositional only compositional

Sg. 1. b'ia ? -beinn

2. biae -b'iae (?) ?

3. bie{i)d -b'ia -biad rel. bias

PI. 1. he(iymmi -hiam, -bemmis

2. be(i)the{^) -bieid ?

3. b%e{i)t -b'iat -hetis reL be(i)te

372 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

	Preterite ^	Perfect
	non-compositional compositional	contracted forms
Sg.l.	? -bd	-ro-ha
2.	? -U	-ro-ba
3.	boi -boi	-ro-b{a)e, -ra-h(a)e
rel.	hoie
PI. 1.	? -bd'minar	-ro-bammar
2.	? -baid	-ro-baid
3.	hdtar -hdtar	-ro-batar, -ra-batar

Subjunctive Mood Present

non-compositional compositional contracted forms

(with -ro) Sg. 1. heu (beo) -bdu (-beo) ?

2. bee ? ?

3. beith held, heth -he -roi-b

bed rel. hess

PL 1. he{i)')nmi -hem -ro-bam

2. be(i)the -beith, -beid -ro-b{a)ith

3. belt -bet -ro-bat rel. hete

Past Subjunctive Sg. 1. -heinn PI. 1. -bemmis

2. -hetJia 2. -bethe

3. -heth, -bed (contracted : ro-bad) 3. -hetis (contracted :

-roi-btis)

PASSIVE (Impersonal Forms)

Present Indicative : (at)-tdthar ; rel&tiYe: filter. Consuetudinal Present: non-compositional hithir; composi- tional -hither.

^ The 3. sg. is from I.E. *bhove, the other persons are formed from I.E. stem *bhvd-.

ACCIDENCE

373

Preterite and Perfect: non-compositional hothae-, composi- tional -hoth.

Present Subjunctive: non-compositional hethir; composi- tional -bether.

Participle of Necessity : buithi. I 209. The Copula.

Present Indicative
non-compositional	compositional
Sg. 1. 2. 3. rel. PI. 1. 2. 3. rel.	am (fr. *esmi) at (it) ia as ammi {armnin(n)) adib (idib) it ata [at)	I.	II.
ni-ta -da ni-ta -da ni ni-tam -tan -dan ni-tad -dad ni-tat -dat	-da -da -d, -t, —, ■(d)id -dan -dad •dat

Note 1. — The compositional forms in the first column are used after the negative ni 'not,' after c<mi 'ia notr and sechi 'whosoever is' (3. pi. also sechi-t).

In negative relative clauses in the 3. sg. ndd, in the 3. pi. nafat are found ; under the conditions mentioned in § 28, the 3 sg. shows the forms nanf, nan{d), nat, ndt, ndich, ndch, nach, in the 3. pi. the form nandat.

Note 2. — The compositional forms in the second column are used after a relative which includes a preposition (also after i" ' in which '), after the conjunctions mentioned in §53, 2d, the interrogative particle in and in the relative first and second persons after an eclipsing (§ 28) no-.

The a of the relative preceded by a preposition is changed to i when preceded by a consonant.

Examples of the 3. sg. are : arndid, arin ' for which is ' ; diandid, diant 'to whom is'; in{n) 'is he?'; lassin{n) 'with whom is'; condid, conid '80 that is,' etc.

374 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

Note 3. — With ce (cia) 'thougli' and ma 'if the copula appears in the 3, sg. as cesu (ciasu), ceso (daso), masu, maso (with negative : manid, canid) ; in the 3. pi. as cetu, ceto, 7)iatu.

For the Consuetudinal Present the shortened forms of the substantive verb are used, e.g. ni-bi, ni-pi 'he is not wont to be.'

Imperative

PI. 1. ban (badn Wb. 5 d 22)

2. bad, bed

3. bat

Sg. 1.

2. ba

3. bad, bed, pad

Future

non-compositional compositional

Sg. 1. be ?

2. ? -ba

3. bid, bith -ba, -pa rel. bes, bas

PL 1. be7nm% bimmi ba(7n)mi

2. ? ?

3. bit -bat, -pat rel. beta — ^

Preterite (and Imperfect)

Secondary Future

Sg. 3. -bad, -pad PI. 3. -btis, -ptis

Unlike other verbs there is also a non- compositional 3 sg. bed.

non-compositional Sg. 1. ba-sa

2. ?

3. (and rel.) ba PI. 1. ?

2. ?

3. batir, batar

rel. batar

compositional

-b-sa, -p-sa, -sa, -b -b-sa, -sa -bo, -po, -bu, -pu bovimar, bwnnmar

7

-btar, -ptar, -tar, -dar ni-rii-btar beside

con-narbtar

negative Perfect

ni-r-b-sa ni-r-b-sa ni-r-bo, ni-r-bu ni-r-boi7imar 1

Note 4. — The compositional forms of the preterite and the com- positional perfect-forms are also used after ce {da) ' though.' -sa is the emphasising pronoun. On the elision of the vowel of to- in the forms

ACCIDENCE 375

of the perfect see § 77. The b (p) is dropped (§ 103) after eclipsing particles (§§ 28, 30), e.g. a {r)romtar (ro-m-htar) * when they have been,' otc.

Present Subjunctive non-compositional compositional

Sg. 1. ba -ba, -jpa

2. ba		-ba
3. ba rel. bes, has PI. 1. ?		•b, -p, — , -dib, -dip (-bo, -po, -bu, -pu) -ban
2. bede 3. ? rel. 6e^e, beta.	bata	bad (-baid) -bat, -pat

Note 5. — In the 3. sg. the usual form is -h, -p. The form -dib, -dip is found after ara^ ' in order that ' (a(i)rndip beside arim{p)), i" ' in which,' the interrogative in {indip beside iin{b), imp) and cd^ 'so that, until'; also after na (nadip beside nap, nab), robo, nipo, etc., are rare beside the regular rop, nip, etc.

ceni 'though not,' mani 'if not,' ara" 'in order that* are shortened to cin, main, a{i)r'" (ar"*) before syllabic compositional forms.

Note 6. — With ce (cia) ' though ' and ma ' if ' the copula appears in the 3. sg. as cid (cith, ced, ceith), mad, in the 3. pi. as cit, mat. But with the interrogative ce (cia) the copula appears in the 3. sg. as dp, cib (' whosoever it be,' etc.).

Past Subjunctive non-compositional compositional

Sg. 1. ? -bin, -benn

2. ? -ptha

3 (and rel.). bid, bed, bad -bad, -pad, -bed

PL 1. bemmis, bimmis -bim(m)is

2. ? ?

3. betis, bitis -btis, -ptis, (-dis, -tis)

Note 7. — Unlike other verbs the past subj. of the copula has also non-compositional forms, ara'" 'in order that,' mani 'if not' are shortened to a(i)r"*, main. The b (p) is dropped after eclipsing particles (§§ 28, 30, 103), e.g. com,tis (co m-btis) 'so that they might be' ;

376 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

by the side of armad (ara^+had), airmtis, occur forms like arhed, ardis (see p. 10, footnote).

Note 8. — With ce (cia) ' though ' and ma ' if,' the copula appears in 3. sing, as cid, mad, in the 3. pi. as matis.

Miscellaneous Paradigms of Radical and Irregular Verbs

§ 210. (Where not otherwise stated, only the 3. sg. has been given.)

ad-ci, -aicci 'sees' (§ 181), 1. sg. ad-ciu, pass, ad-cither, -accastar; subj. ad-cethar, -accathar, sg. 1 ad-cear, -accar, pass. ad-cether, -accastar; past. subj. ad-ceth; fut. ad-cichi, pass. ad-cichestar ; preterite cou-accae, cf. § 174, 4; perf. ad-con-dairc; pret. pass, con-accas, -accas; perf. pass, ad-cess, -accas (§ 179).

ad-fet (§ 84 d, note) 'relates,' pi. ad-fiadat; subj. ad-fe (§ 176, 1), pi. adrfessat ; ro- subj. (174, 2 e) 1. sg. ad-cdns, -4c{i)u8 (§ 62 note), pfiss. -ecestar; fut. ad-fi (§ 177, 2), pi. ad-fessat; perf. ad-c^aid, -dcaid ; pret. pass, ad-fess ; perf. pass, ad-coas.

aingid 'protects,' -anich; imp v. 2. sing, ain; subj. -a-in, pi. -amsei(§ 176, i); fut. § 177,2, note 2; pret. -anacht (§ 178, 2), pass, -anacht

henaid 'strikes, slays,' -hen (§ 175, 4); subj. -h'ia, end. -he (§ 176, 2); pret. -hi, end. -h{i), pi. -heotar (§ 178, 3, note), pass. bith'y part. pass, hithe, part. nee. bethi.

herid ' carries,' -heir, pass, -herr, -herar ; ro- present (§ 174, 2 b), ro-uc{c)ai, -ruc(c)ai ; subj. -hera ; ro- subj. (§ 174, 2 e) -ruc{c)a ; fut. -hera; pret. -foer^, pass, -hreth; perf. ro-u'ic(c), ro-uc, -rue, pi. -rucsat, pass, ro-ucad, -rucad. Cf. note 1.

hongid ' breaks ' (§ 175, 2), -hoing ; subj. -&o, pi. -6osai ; fut. 1 sg. 6i&sa, -bihus (§ 177, 2) ; pret. hehaig, pass, -hocht

-cuirethar ' throws, puts' (-i- verb, § 173, 1), imperative 2. sg. cuirthe, cuire, pi. cu-iWc?; pres. subj. -corathar (176, 2); perf. -corastar; the future tense and the ro- forms (§ 174, 2) as well as the non-compositional forms of the other tenses are supplied from fo-ceird. The cpd. do-cuirethar, when used in the sense of ' takes to himself, invites,' has a future 1. sg. do-cuirifar and a perfect do-rochuirestar.

ACCIDENCE 377

ccm-ic(c) • is able,' -cwmaing, [S. pi, con-ecat, -cumcat (fr. *cumngat, -p. 10, footnote) ; subj. con-i, -cwmiai), pi. -cuimset', fut. 1 sg. con-icub, -cumguh; sec. fut. con-icfed, -cumcaihed; pret. and perf. (§ 174, 3) con-dnacuir, -coiTnnacuir. (Only ad- cumaing ' it happens ' has the active inflexion in the pret. ad-comnicc.)

do-heir ' gives,' ' brings,' -tabair, is inflected like herid. In the sense of 'brings' it has a ro- present (§174, 2b) do-uccai,-tuccai ; ro- snhy -tucca ; perf. do-uic, -tuic(c), -tuc, pi. do-ucsat, pass. -tuc{c)ad, -tuiced. There is also an imperative tuic (2. sg.) beside the regular tabair. Cf. note 1.

In the sense of 'gives' it has a ro-present (§ 174, 2b) do-rati; ro- subj. do-rata, -tarta ; perf. do-rat, -tar at, pi. do-ratsat, -tartsat and -tartisset, pass, do-ratad, -tardad.

do-gni 'does,' -denai (§ 181), ro-present do-ronai, -dernaiy 1. sg. do-gniu, -denaim; impv. 2. sg. ddnae; subj. do-gn4, -d4na\ ro- subj. do-r6na, -derna; hit. do-gina, -dignea] pret. do-geni, -digni; pass, do-gnith, -ddnad; perf. do-rigni, do-rigeni, -deirgeni, -deirgni -derni (§ 181), pass, do-ronad, -demad ; part, nee. deinti, dAntai.

do-ic{c) 'comes,' -tic{c), pi. do-ec(c)at, -tec(c)at; subj. do-i, -ti, pi. do-isat, -tisat; fut. do-icf(e)a, -ticf{e)a; pret. and perf. (174, 3) do-dnaic{c), -tdnaic{c). Cf. note 1.

do-te(i)t ' comes,' pi. do-tiagat is generally inflected like te(i)t ' goes,' save in the 2. pers. impv, (sg. tair, pi, toi^ 1 ^^-^^ • • • becomes tai . . . (§ 110) in contracted forms, e.g. do-tiag 'I come' (fr. Ho-tegil, older *-(s)teigho) : -taig, do-te{i)t 'comes': -tait, etc. In the future the contracted form of do-rega, do-riga is -terga, -tirga through influence of the reduplication-vowels of other verbs. Cf note 4,

do-tuit falls, -tuit, pass. tuiter\ subj. do-toth, -toth (fr. *-to- tud-s-t), pi, do-todsat, -todsat; fut, do-tdeth, -tSeth (fr. *-to-ti- tud-s-t) ; pret. do-cer ; pref. do-rbchair, -tbrcha{i)r. Cf note 3.

fo-ceird 'throws' (cf. -cuirethar) ; subj. fo-ceirr-, ro- subj. -raZa; fut. fo-cicherr, -foicherr (§ 110); pret. /o-c(i^r(Z (§§ 118, 178, 3 b). pass, fo-cress; perf ro-Z(i, -ra^ae, pass, ro-laad, -ralad.

378 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

fo-gaih 'finds'; subj. fo-gaha; fut. fo-gdba', pret. and perf. (§ 174, 3) fo-fuair, -fuair, pass, fo-frith, -frith. Cf. note 2.

Tnidithir 'judges' (§ 175,3); subj. 1. sg. messur, 2. messer, 3. ffiestir, -mestar, 1. pi. messimir, -messamar, 2. meste, -messid, 3. messitir, -messatar, pass. sg. ')ness{a)ir, -messar, rel. mestar, pi. messitir, -m,essatar; the fut. is identical with the subj. except the 3. persons sg. miastir, miastar- (act. and pass.) ; pret. -midair, pass. -Tness, part. pass. me{i)sse, part. nee. me(i)8si.

ro-cluinethar 'hears' -cluinetJiar; subj. ro-cloathar; fut. ro- cechladar, pass, ro-cechlastar ; pret. co-cualae (fr. * -tcu-1dov-e), pass, co-closs (-cloth) cf. § 174, 4; perf. ro-cualae, pass, ro-closs (-cloth). Cf note 2.

ro-fitir 'knows, knew,' pres. and pret. 1. sg. ro-fetar, 2. -fetar, 3. -^<ir, 1. pi. -Jitemmar, -fetammar, 2. -^i^cZ, 3. -fitetar -fetatar, fetar, pass, ro-fess; consuetudinal pres. ro-finnadar ; impf. ro-finnad; im-pv. finnad; subj. and fut. go exactly like TTiidithir (ro-festar, ro-fiastar, etc.); part. nee. /ssi Cf note 2.

saigid 'makes for,' -sai^r, pi. -segat; subj. -sci, pi. -sdsai; fut. -e?a, pi. -sessat, pret. -s'iacht.

t6it ' goes,' -;ie('i)i ; in the other persons appears the stem teg- tia^- (§ 122); ro- pres. (§ 174, 2) -dichet; impv. 1 sg. iiagf (§ 196, note 4), 2. eirg(g), 3. ie^, 1 pi. tiagam, 2. erg(g)id, 3. tiagat, pass, tiagar; subj. (cf § 198, note 1) ie'-is, -<^, pi. i^asa< ; ro- subj. and fut. do-coi (fr. Ho-lcom-vedh-a-t), -decha, -dich, -dig, pi. do-coiset, -dichset ; past. subj. -te(i)sed; past, ro- subj. and sec. fut. do-coised, -dichsed; fut. -regra, -rigra (inflected like an a-subj.), sec. fut. -regad, -rigad; pret. luid, pi. lotar, pass. ethae; perf do-coid, -dechuid, 1. 2. sg. do-c6od (-coad), -dechud, 3 pi. do-cotar (du-cuatar), -dechutar, pass, do-cdas.

tongid 'swears' (§ 175,2), -toing; subj. -M, pi. -<o'sa<; fut. 2. sg. -tithis ; pret. -tethaig ; perf do-cuitig.

Note 1. — In compound verbs, as e.g. ro-icc 'reaches,' do-iec, do-uccai (see dobeir), ro-uccai (see berid), do-adbat ^ shows,' fo-accaib 'leaves,' etc., where the verbal stem beginning with a vowel is preceded by do (fr. *to), ro- or fo-, the contracted forms are often used in principal and relative clauses (except when there is a relative -n- ; § 28) instead of

ACCIDENCE 379

the uncontracted forms, e.g. tdn(a)icc sam • summer has come,' ani riecu a less ' that which I need ' (also do-dn{a)icc, ro-iccu).

Note 2. — Some verbs, as e.g. ad-dgathar ' fears,' ro-fitir, ro-cluinethar, fo-fuair (see fo-gaib), have no contracted (§ 181 footnote) forms, the preverbal preposition being dropped after the particles and conjunc- tions mentioned in § 53, 2 be.

Note 3. — The uncontracted forms of some verbs have been altered by the influence of the corresponding contracted forms. Thus, e.g. *do-til (fr. *to-tud-s-t), 3. sg. pres. subj. of do-tuit has been altered to do-toth by the influence of the contracted -toth (fr. *-td-tud-s-t). Similarly the final -t{t) of do-tuit {*to-tud-i-t gives regularly *do-tuid) has been taken from the contracted -tuit. On the other hand the vowel of -tuit is due to the influence of the uncontracted form. (*-tb-tud-i-t gives regularly -*toit; §110, note).

Note 4. — Tho quality of the diphthong in -tait, etc. (fr. *to-te- one expects *toi-, § 110) is very peculiar.

The Preposition

§ 211. Preverbal and Simple Prepositions.

1. ad- (*ad) * to, up to.'

(a) Under the stress (§ 53, 2) ad-, liable to various changes before consonants (§§ 94, 109, 112, 2). Under the influence of auo'- the form aud- occasionally appears.

(b) Before the stress (§ 53, 3) ad- ; occasionally as- is sub- stituted, e.g. as-roilli ' deserves ' besides the regular ad-roilli.

ad- occurs only in compounds.

2. air- {*pre) 'for, on account of (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress (§ 53, 2) air-, before -7^0- : air- or ar-, before -fo- and -uss- : aur-, e.g. aurlara ' ready ' (air-fo-lam).

(b) Before the stress (§ 53, .3) ar-, in relative sense ara-. In prepositional use (with dat. and ace.) ar.

3. aith- (*ate) ' re '-.

(a) Under the stress: aith-, aid-, occasionally ath-, ad- (§ 55 II. exception).

(b) Before the stress : ad-, before infixed pronouns at- ; aith- occurs only in compounds.

380 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

4. amal ' like ' (older amail, § 81), with ace. (see § 160).

5. cen ' without,' with ace. (see § 160).

6. cenmithd, cenTnathd {cenmd) ' besides, except,' with ace.

7. c^t- (^/cTjita) ' with:

(a) Under the stress : cet-.

(b) before the stress : ceta-, cita-. cet- occurs only in compounds.

8. CO ' to, up to,' with ace. (see § 160). In compounds ad- is used.

9. coTTi- {*1com) ' with ' ;

(a) Under the stress : cotti-, liable to various changes before consonants. (§§ 103, 107, 108).

For coTTi-: cuon- is often found (§ 116); in late compounds the -m is regularly preserved ; coTn-imm- gives coimm- (§ 110).

(b) Before the stress : con-, for which cot- is substituted before infixed pers. pronouns.

In prepositional use (with dat.) co", cu\

10. di-, de- (*cZe) 'from' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : d4,-, di- (§ 125, note), de- ; with following -fo-: dii-.

(b) Before the stress : do-, du-, occasionally di-, (de-). In prepositional use (with dat.) di, de, seldom do.

11. echtar (*efcs-tris) ' outside,' with ace. It occurs also in nominal compounds.

12. er- {*perd) 'for, on account of (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : er-.

(b) Before the stress : ar-, in relative sense ara-.

In prepositional use (with dat. and ace.) ar. See further below, 22, note.

13. ess- {*eL) ' out of (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress: ess- (seldom ass-), liable to various changes before consonants (§§ 97, 109).

(b) Before the stress : ass-, for which ad- is substituted before infixed pers. pronouns ; hence ad- is sometimes used instead of

ACCIDENCE 381

as- and vice versa. Even under the stress ad- may appear for ess-, e.g. -aparr ' is said ' beside regular eperr (0. C. *ek{s)-ber-ro). The form aasa- appears occasionally in relative and non-relative use.

In prepositional use (with dat.) a, before proclitic words as, e.g. as mo . . . ' out of my ' . . ., etc.

14. etar-, eter- (*entris) 'between, among' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : etar-, before vowels etr-,

(b) Before the stress : itir- (§ 81, exception 2), iter-, eter-, etar-, etir-.

In prepositional use (with ace.) iter, itar, etir, eter, etar.

15. fiad ' in presence of,' with dat. (see § 160).

16. fo- {*upo-) ' under ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress: fo-,fu-,fa- (§ 116); before a following vowel : /-. In late formations contraction is regular.

(b) Before the stress : fo-, fu- ; before vowels occasionally /-. In prepositional use (with dat. and ace.) fo, fu.

17. for- {*vor, an analogical transformation oiver, fr. I.E. *uper) 'upon '(see § 160).

(a) Under the stress: for-, seldom fur- (§ 116).

(b) Before the stress : for-, occasionally fur-, far-.

In prepositional use (with dat. and ace.) for, occasionally far.

18. frith- {*vrt) ' against, towards (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : frith-, liable to various changes before consonants (§ 93), in later compounds the -th is regularly pre- served, frith-ess- gives fress-, frith- ess-ind- : freisn- ; fress- spread analogically to other forms.

(b) Before the stress: friss-; before infixed pers. pronouns frit-, only before the rel. 3. sg. m. and n. friss-.

In prepositional use (with ace.) fri.

19. iar- iarm- {*eperoin) ' after ' ;

(a) Under the stress : iarm-, iar-,

(b) Before the stress : iarmi- (iarmu-, iarma-) In prepositional use (with dat.) iar^.

382 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

20. imh-, imm- {*mhhi) ' about ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress: i^nb-, im(m)- (§ 103), before s: imp- (§ 88).

(b) Before the stress : im{m)-, in relative sense imme- imma-. In prepositional use (with ace.) im{'m).

21. in- {*eni), en- (*en), ind- ' in ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : in- remains unchanged ; en- is liable to various changes before consonants (§§ 104, 107, 108.); it appears occasionally as in- under the influence of in- {*eni); ind- appears before most consonants as in- (§ 104), before s as int- (§ 88).

(b) Before the stress : in- ; before infixed pers. pronouns ad-, only before the rel. 3. sg. m. and n. ass- ; hence ad- and ass- are sometimes used instead of in-, e.g. ad-greinn ' pursues,' beside in-greinn, etc.

In prepositional use (with dat. and ace.) i«.

22. ir- {*eru, fr. I.E. *perd) 'for, on account of;

(a) Under the stress : ir-

(b) Before the stress : ar-

In prepositional use (with dat. and ace.) ar.

Note. — Compounds which have er- (12.) are older than the change of final -6 to -u (§ 118), hence the -6 of *perd has been treated like old o in the interior of a word. In those compounds, however, which were formed at the time when *per6 had already become eru (iru § Hi), the preposition appears as ir-. The forms er-, ir- (with u- coloured r), air- have frequently fallen together and may interchange in the same word.

23. is {*ped-su, a locative pi. of the I, E. *ped-s ' foot ') ' below,' with dat. (see § 160).

24. la (arch, le) ' with, by,' with ace. (see § 160).

25. 6, ua ' from, by' (see § 160) and uss-.

(a) Under the stress: before vowels uss-, oss- (§ 117); before l,n,r: 6, ua ; before other consonants u, o without any effect upon these. As this u, o looks like aspirated /u, fo, an / has

ACCIDENCE 383

often been prefixed to it, when not preceded by an aspirating preverbal preposition (§ 18), e.g. ni-tuissim (*-to-u . . . -sem-et) ' he does not create,' but do-fuissim ' he creates ' (instead of do-uissim). In later compounds appears the form uad-.

(b) Before the stress : ass- or ad-, before infixed pers. pronouns ad-.

In prepositional use (with dat.) d, ua.

26. oc * at ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress: oc-, e.g. ni-ocman ' he does not touch' (the m through influence of com-).

(b) Before the stress : oc(c)ik-, e.g. ocu-ben * touches.' In prepositional use (with dat.) oc(c) (uc, ac).

27. ds, lias ' above,' with dat. (see § 160).

28. rem- 'before' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : reTn-.

(b) Before the stress : remi-, in relative use also reme-.

In prepositional use (with dat.) re", ri", Ha".

29. ro- (see § 174, 2).

(a) Under the stress: ro-, ru-, ra- (§ 116), before vowels r- only with the prep, uss- (fr. *u . . -) (2.5) it is contracted to ro-; between consonants we have -ar-, -or- (fr. r: §§59, 66-71).

(b) Before the stress: ro-, ru-, before vowels occasionally r- through influence of the stressed form.

ro- occurs only in compounds.

30. sech, ' past, beyond ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : sechm-,

(b) Before the stress : sechmo- (sechmi-).

In prepositional use (with ace.) sech.

31. sechtar {*s{o)-efcstris), ' forth from,' with ace.

32. tairm-, tar, dar, ' over ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : tairm-, tarm-,

(b) Before the stress : seldom tarm,i-, regularly tremi-, trimi' (34).

In prepositional use (with ace.) tar, dar (§ 80).

384 A CONCISE OLD IRISH GRAMMAR

33. to-, do- {Ho) ' to ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : to-, tu-, ta- (§ 116), before vowels t-, only with the prep, uss, *u . . . (25) it is contracted to to-, tua- ; similarly to-fo-, to-for- give to-, tua-, tor-, tuar-. In late com- pounds the form do- appears.

(b) Before the stress : do-, du- (§ 80), before vowels occasionally t- through influence of the stressed form.

In prepositional use (with dat.) do, du.

34. trem-, tri, tre * through ' (see § 160).

(a) Under the stress : trem- {tre-).

(b) Before the stress : -tremi-, trimi-, in relative use also treme-. tris-gataim ' I transfix ' is due to the influence of friss- (18).

In prepositional use (with ace.) tri, tre,

§ 212. Compound Prepositions.

Some examples are: ar bdaih 'in presence of; ar chiunn and ar chenn 'in front of; ar chuit 'with regard to'; fo bith, fo hithin 'because oV; i n-arrad ' with' ] i n-dead, i n-diad, and i n-degaid^, i n-digaid ' after,' tar 4isi^ ' instead of.'

Note. — All compound prepositions govern the genitive ; the genitives of personal pronouns ( = possessive pronouns) are inserted after the first preposition, e.g. di rdith Di ' for (instead of) God/ i n-a dead 'after him,' ar do chuit ' with regard to you.'

CONCLUSION OF GRAMMAR.

Dr. Pokorny's Concise Old Irish Grammar will be published immediately in book form by Messrs, Max Niemeyer, Halle A. S., and Messrs. Hodges, Figgis & Co., Ltd., Dublin. Price 5s. net.

It will be dedicated to Professor Ernst Windisch, who has done so much to further Celtic scholarship. Ed. C.R.

GADELICA

A Journal of Modern-Irish Studies

Edited by THOMAS F. O'RAHILLY

The aim of GADELICA is to do for Modem Irish what has been, and is being, done so successfully for the older forms of the language by such periodicals as ^riu, the Zeitschriftfiir Celtische Philologie, and the Revue Celtique.

Scholarly investigation in the wide field of Modern Irish {i.e. Irish from about the year 1600 to the present day) has hitherto been handi- capped owing to the want of a journal such as GADELICA. Only a small part of the vast MS. literature of Modern Irish has as yet seen the light, and much of what still remains unpublished is of prime importance from the literary, historical, and philological points of view.

Inasmuch as Modern Irish and the Gaelic of Scotland are essentially the same, no serious student of Scottish Gaelic can afford to be without GADELICA. A feature of GADELICA which will be appreciated by Scottish readers is that nearly all the Irish in it is printed in the ordinary roman type.

GADELICA publishes:—

(a.) Modern Irish Texts from MSS., both Prose and Verse, accom- panied by Introductions, Notes, and (when necessary) English Translations.

(&.) Original contributions dealing with the Modern Irish Lan^ua^e, or with its Literature, including such subjects as dialects, grammar, idiom, etymology, metrics, biography, bibliography, and topography.

(c.) Folk-SOn^S, Folk-tales, and such Hke matter, taken down from oral narration j and studies upon these.

{d.) Catalogues of small collections of modern MSS., whether in pubhc or in private hands.

{e.) Reviews and NoticeS of books and periodicals in, or con- cerned with. Modern Irish.

' Carpers will no longer have it to say that Ireland is without a scholarly journal of modern Gaelic studies. . . . The contributors are trained scholars of recognised ability and accuracy, and some of them have won a reputation far beyond Irish shores.' — An Claidheavih Soluis,

Annual Subscription (four numbers) 6s. 6d., post free. Single Numbers, 2s. 6d. each.

HODGES, FIGGIS & CO., LTD.

104 GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN.

GUTH NA BLIADHNA

Leabhran raitheil da=theangach

Is e ciispair an leabhrain so cuisean cudthromach an la'n diugh, a tha chum tairbhe nan Gaidheal a dheasbud. Tha sin ga dheanamh an da chuid an Gaidhlig is am Beurla nan Sasunnach. Air a chur am mach uair san raithe, agus is i a' phris bhliadhnail 5s., no $1.24 saor leis a'phost. Faodar gabhail-ris a theann ri ruith uair sam bith de'n bhliadhna a thogras neach.

CUID DE BHEACHDAN A' CHLO

* Guth na Bliadhna has the saving grace of never being dull.' — Oban Times.

' Fascinating reading. . . . We hope that this Magazine is being supported by the public as it deserves to be.' — Highland News.

' The articles throughout are of great interest and brilliantly written.' — Aberdeen Journal.

' Has won for itself a high position amongst Scottish periodicals.' — Glasgow Herald.

' The Editor of Guth na Bliadhna has enlisted the services of a body of con- tributors of marked ability. They are doing yeoman service in forming public opinion.' — Dundee Advertiser.

'As stimulating as a glass of Highland Stingo on Ben Mac Dhui.' — Professor Rhys in Manchester Guardian.

' Guth na Bliadhna is, I have no hesitation in saying, superior to all the Gaelic periodical literature at present being published. It is impossible not to recognise and admire the virility of its articles.' — Stirling Sentinel.

'Always supremely interesting and stimulating.' — Aberdeen Free Press.

' A really excellent periodical of its class.' — Highland Leader.

' A most courageous periodical.' — Andrew Lang in special article in London Morning Post.

' All who are interested in the extension of the Gaelic influence, both in Scotland and Ireland, will find much suggestive material in this magazine.' — Athenceum.

' Brilliant articles. . . . No one interested in the Celtic Revival can afford to ignore the claims of Guth na Bliadhna^ — Casket., Autigonish, Canada.

' The leading organ of Celtic opinion in Scotland. The pity is we have not its like among ourselves.' — An Claidheamh Soluis.

' Should be read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested by all Gaels.' — Fife- shire Advertiser.

'Our brilliant and able contemporary.' — Tablet., London.

' Crammed full of Gaelic interest — interest for the many as well as for the Celtic elect.' — Argyllshire Herald.

'Should be attentively read by all Gaels who have the real interests of the movement at heart.' — Buteman.

'Sumptuously printed and elegantly got up, this sprightly, yet edifying, periodical is that rare thing nowadays : a credit to those who are responsible for its production.' — Greenock Herald.

' Though we do not agree with the opinions expressed, it is impossible to shut our eyes to the fact that this periodical is conducted with outstanding ability.' — Northern Chronicle.

Air a ceur ah hach ie ALASDAIR MAC LABHRAINN IS A MHIG,

360 SRAID EARRAGHAIDHEAL, GLASCHU.

wm-^i^'^i-^:::

to

O

> >

t

o

-P

(0 O

O

University of Toronto Library

DO NOT

REMOVE

THE

CARD

FROM

THIS

POCKET

Acme Library Card Pocket LOWE-MARTm CO. LIMITED