The Celtic review

Vol. VII. No. 27.

THE CELTIC
REVIEW

Consulting Editor: PROFESSOR MACKINNON
Editor: MRS. W. J. WATSON

(MISS E. C. CARMICHAEL)

OCTOBER 1911

Page

Who Was Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn ? Rev. A. Maclean
Sinclair, 193

The Gaelic Version of the Thebaid of Statius— continued.
Professor Mackinnon, 204

The Mabinogion as Literature — ^ Miss E. J.
Lloyd, 220

Helgebiorn the Heathen— continued. Alice Milligan, . . 249

MacEwens and MacSweens. Niall D. Campbell, . . 272

Book Reviews, 284

Note, 288

All communications for the Editor should be addressed —

The Editor, The Celtic Review, c/o Messrs. T. & A. Constable, 11 Thistle St., Edinbuigh.

All communications regarding Advertisements and the supply of Copies, etc., should

be addressed to Messrs. William Hodge & Co,, 12kBank Street, Edinburgh.

2s. 6d. net.

Prepaid Subscriptions

8s. per annum,

post free.

EDINBURGH: WILLIAM HODGE & CO., 12 BANK STREET

LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE, W.C.
DUBLIN : HODGES, FIGGIS & CO., Ltd., 104 GRAFTON STREET.

Now Ready, Demy 8vo, 369 pages, fully
Illustrated. Price 5s. net.

THE TRIAL OF

SIMON, LORD LOVAT

OF THE '45

EDITED BY

DAVID N. MACKAY, Glasgow

DEDICATED BY KIND PERMISSION TO LORD REAY, K.T.

' When we say that this volume is edited by Mr. David N.
Mackay, whose volume on the Appin murder in the Scottish Series
of Notable Trials was in many ways the best of that Series, we have
said enough to lead readers to expect an interesting and a carefully
compiled book, and they will not be disappointed. Mr. Mackay
knows his period, and he knows the Highlands and Highland
history, so that he was admirably equipped for the task he set
himself. And in a sense it was no easy task, for so much has been
written of " Simon of the '45," and his motives have been subjected
to much examination and criticism, that the mass of material
which any one attempting to arrive at a true understanding of the
man has to wade through, is bewildering. This task, however,
Mr, Mackay has successfully accomplished, and the result is that
his introduction is an excellent summary of Simon's career, and
places both the man and his actions in their true perspective/ —
Inverness Courier,

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW
WILLIAM HODGE AND COMPANY

THE CELTIC REVIEW

OCTOBER 1911

WHO WAS MAIREARAD NIGH'N LACHAINN ?

Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair

In 1881 I stated in Clarsach na Coille that Mairearad Nigh'n
Lachainn was born in Mull, that her mother was a Maclean
and her father a Macdonald, and that she resided in Mull,
and lived to an extreme old age. In 1898 I stated in the
Maclean Bards that the common belief is, and has been
for a long time, that Mairearad was a Maclean, but that it
is certain that there was a tradition current among some
Argyllshire people in 1816 to the effect that she was a
Macdonald. I did not know what she was, but I was
slightly more in favour of the Macdonald theory than the
Maclean theory. I have lately spent hours and days study-
ing Mairearad's poems and the genealogies of the Macleans.
The result is that I have come to the conclusion that
Mairearad was a Maclean both by her father and mother.
I have no doubt at all that that was the case.

The Macleans of Morvern

Alexander Macdonald of Islay and the Glens of Antrim
married Catherine, daughter of John Maclan of Ardna-
murchan, and had by her James, Somhairle Buidhe, Meve,
Mary, and others. James married Agnes, daughter of the
Earl of Argyll, and had by her Angus, who married Mary,
daughter of Hector Og of Duart. Angus had by his wife
James, Mary, and others. Somhairle Buidhe was the
father of James of Dunluce, father of Ranald, first Earl of
Antrim.
Hector Mor of Duart married Mary, daughter of Alex-
vol. VII. N

194 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ander Macdonald of Islay and the Glens, and had by her
Hector Og, John Dubh of Morvern, Marion, Mary, Janet,
and others. Marion was married to Norman Macleod of
Harris, and Mary to Donald Macdonald of Sleat. Janet
ran off with Allan Macdonald of Moydart, and had a large
family by him. Lachlan Mor was born in 1557, and was
slain at Gruinnart in 1598. He left Hector Og his successor
in Duart, Lachlan Og of Torloisk, and a daughter, who was
married to Hector Odhar Maclean of Lochbuie. Hector
Og, son of Lachlan Mor, married Janet, daughter of Colin
Cam Mackenzie of Kintail, and by her had Sir Lachlan of
Duart, Finvola, and others. Finvola was married to John
Garbh of Coll. Sir Lachlan married Mary, daughter of
Sir Rory Mor Macleod, and had by her Hector Roy, Allan,
Isabel, Mary, and others. The fiery Sir Hector Roy was
slain at Inverkeithing in 1651. Sir Allan died in 1674.
Isabel was married to that great general and statesman,
Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, and had John, Allan, and
four daughters. Mary, second daughter of Sir Lachlan,
was married to Sir Lachlan Mor Mackinnon, by whom she
had one son, John Og.

John Dubh • of Morvern handfasted with Margaret,
daughter of Hector Beag, the poetic and scholarly laird
of Coll, and had two sons by her, Lachlan and Donald
Glas. He married Mary, daughter of John Gorm Camp-
bell of Lochnell, and had by her Allan of Ardtornish. He
was put to death by Angus Macdonald of Islay in 1586.
Allan of Ardtornish was a man of ability, energy, and
influence, and was well off. He married Una, daughter of
John Maclan of Ardnamurchan, and had by her Hector
of Kinlochaline, Charles of Ardnacross, Margaret, Janet,
and others. Hector was the first Maclean of Kinlochaline,
and the third chieftain of the Macleans of Morvern. He
married first, Janet, daughter of Lachlan Og of Torloisk,
and had by her John and Lachlan. He married, secondly,
Margaret Campbell, widow of John Cameron of Lochiel
and mother of the famous Sir Ewen. He had by his second

WHO WAS MAIREABAD NIGH'N LACHAINN ? 195

wife at least one son, Ewen. John, second of Kinlochaline,
must have been born about 1630. He was wounded at
Inverke'ithing in 1651, appointed a Justice of the Peace
in 1656, and was living in 1681.

The following lines will be found at p. 183 of vol. i. of
the Maclean Bards : —

Gur h-e mheudaich mo chradh

'Liuthad latha '& a bha

Mis' is tus' air an traigh j

Gur h-ann againn a bha na treun laoich.

Beart nach V iongantach learn

Thu bhi uasal is t' ainm.

Lamh thu dh' iomairt nan arm ;

'S ogha dh' Ailein nan lann 's nan steud thu.

'S car thu dh' Ailein nan ruag,

'Chreach a Chdrca da uair ;

Cha robh athadh 'na ghruaidh

'Nuair a chaidh e air chuairt do dh' Eirinn.

Is gur car thu 'Mhac-Leoid,

'Mhic mhic Ailein mhic Eoin,

Dh' Eachann Euadh nach h-'eil beo

Dha 'm biodh taileasg air bord na feile.

Iar-ogh' dileas mo ghradh

Do dh' Iain Dubh a bha 'n laimh ;

Sliochd nan Iarlachan ard,

Fear do choltais gu brath cha l&r dhomh.

Gur a cairdeach mo luaidh

Do Chlann Ddmhnaill nam buadh.

Mhic mhic Ailein nan ruag,

Ghabh na fir dhiot cead buan nach b' eibhinn.

Fear bu tighearnail gnaths ;
Beart bu dligheach sud da, —
Bha mi romhad air tir
Nuair a thug iad thu dh' I na cleire.

Tha do cheile fo leon,

Is do dhilleachdain og'

Gun aird, no gun doigh,

Mu na lochanaibh mor' bMn dh'eug thu.

The words in italics are not in the poem. I have inserted

196 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

them merely to make the verses quoted read as if they were
a poem by themselves, instead of being parts of a poem.

The genealogical statements in the poem clearly show
that it was composed about John of Kinlochaline. The
words c fear bu tighearnail gnaths,' a man acting the part
of an honourable and friendly laird, confirm this view.
Then the fact that the person referred to lived ' mu na
lochanaibh mor,' about the great lakes, establishes beyond
the possibility of doubt that the subject of the lament was
the proprietor of Kinlochaline.

Cumha do Lachainn Mac Gilleathain

Let us now consider the statements in the poem which
is given at p. 180 of vol. i. of the Maclean Bards. It is
entitled ' Cumha do Lachainn Mac Gilleathain.' It is taken
from John Maclean's Collection, and is there described
as ' Oran do Lachainn Mac Gilleathain, do'm bu cho-
ainm Lachainn Mac Iain Diuraich, le Mairearad Nighean
Lachainn.'

Gur h-e mis' 'th' air mo leonadh

Mu dheibhinn na h-6igridh !

An am dol do 'n taigh-dsda

Gum bu learn na fir 6ga : —

Tha mo dhiubhail 'na fheoil fo na beistean.

Mo cheist ogh' bhrath'r mo sheanar,

'S e tha mis' an diugh 'gearan ;

'S e mo dhith 'thug thu Chana ;

Bu tu sgiobair na mara,

Ged nach d'thainig thu fallain no gleidhteach.

Och, mo thruaighe do mhathair !

'S daor a cheannaich i phairtidh,

Nuair a bhristeadh do bhata,

'S a bha bloigh air gach traigh dh' i : —

Bha mo dhiubhail mu'n charn gun chead eirigh

Och, mo thruaigh' i 's thus' Eachainn,

Le do mhoch-eirigh mhaidne

Ri siubhal gach cladaich,

'S nach d' f huaras leat Lachainn ;

Og ur a chuil chleachdaich mar theudan.

WHO WAS MAIEEAEAD NIGH'N LACHAINN ? 197

Mur bhith dhomhs' bhith dg, leanabail,

Is nach h-eol dhomh do sheanachas,

Bheirinn umad Ian iomradh ;

Ach cha b' fhuilear dhomh aimsir

'Chur do ranntachd, dig mheanmnaich, ri 'cheile.

Gur a cairdeach mo run-sa
Mhac-Gilleathain nan luireach,
Leis an eireadh na fiurain,
Is do dh' Iarla sin Antruim,
Marcach allail nan curs-each a Eirinn.

Tha do sheanachas ri 'labhairt

Ri Murchadh na Maighe,

'S ri Mac Fhionghain an t-Sratha,

'S tu ro dhileas thaobht'athar

Do Chlann Eoghainn o'n leathad le cheile.

Tha do chairdeas ri 'rusgadh

Ri tighearna Mhuideart,

Ri Mac-Neill o na tiiraibh

Aig am biodh na fir lira,

'S gur dearbh charaid mo run do Shir Seumas.

Gur a h-ogh' thu do dh' Ailein

'Thug an long o Mhac-Cailein

Ris an oidhche ghil, ghealaich

Is a luchd innt' 'chrodh ballach,

Ged nach b' ann gu cr6 earraich a gheumraich.

1 Gur a h-ogh' thu do dh' Ailein ' is what is in the manu-
script from which I copied the poem. When I published
the poem I was slightly under the impression that the sub-
ject of the poem was Lachlan, son of Hector, son of Charles
of Ardnacross, son of Allan of Ardtornish. Under this
impression I changed ' ogha ' to ' iar-ogh.' Of course ' iar-
ogh ' might have sunk down to ' ogha,' but ' ogha ' would
never have risen up to ' iar-ogh.' I know now that ' ogha '
is correct.

The Lachlan of the lament was a son of Hector Maclean,
and was drowned whilst going to the Isle of Canna. He
was a good boatman and an experienced hunter, and was
a good deal older than Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn. His

198 THE CELTIC REVIEW

father had been searching for his body morning after morn-
ing, but did not find it. He was closely related to Maclean
of Duart and the Earl of Antrim. He was also related to
Murdoch of Lochbuie, Mackinnon of Strath, the laird of
Moydart, Macneil of Barra, Sir James Macdonald of Sleat,
and Lachlan Odhar Maclean in the Ross of Mull. He was
very closely related by his father to the Clan Ewen of the
declivity or mountain slope. He was also a grandson of
the Allan that captured the provision ship which belonged
to Argyll.

Allan of Ardtornish was born about 1574, and was a man
of war from his youth. He appears on record as bailie of
Morvern in 1594. We find him charged in 1622 with
harbouring outlaws. About the ship taken from Argyll
I know nothing. It is certain, however, that the Allan
who captured it — the Allan of the poem — was Allan of
Ardtornish.

Hector of Kinlochaline was a son of Allan of Ardtornish,
son of John Dubh, son of Hector Mor of Duart and Mary
Macdonald. Mary was a sister of Somhairle Buidhe,
father of James of Dunluce, father of the first Earl of
Antrim. Murdoch of Lochbuie was the son of the only
daughter of Lachlan Mor of Duart, son of Hector Og,
brother of John Dubh of Morvern. John MacKinnon of
Strath was the son of Sir Lachlan Mor MacKinnon and
Mary Maclean, daughter of Sir Lachlan of Duart, son of
Hector Og, son of Sir Lachlan Mor, son of Hector Og,
brother of John Dubh of Morvern. John of Moydart died
at Eriska in 1670. He was the son of Donald, son of Janet,
daughter of Hector Mor of Duart. Gilleonan of Barra was
the son of Margaret, daughter of Allan of Ardtornish. Sir
James Mor of Sleat was the son of Sir Donald, son of
Gilleasbuig Cleireach, son of Mary, daughter of Hector
Mor of Duart. Sir James became lord of Sleat in 1643,
and died in 1678. The Ardgour MS. tells us that Hector
of Kinlochaline had ' John his successor and Lachlan, who
died without issue.' It is beyond all doubt that Lachlan

WHO WAS MAIREARAD NIGH'N LACHAINN ? 199

was the subject of Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn's lament for
the Lachlan who was drowned.

Ogha Bhrath'r mo Sheanar

Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn describes the Lachlan Mac-
lean who was drowned — Lachlan, son of Hector of Kinloch-
aline — as ' ogh' bhrath'r mo sheanar ' — the grandson of my
grandfather's brother. If we cannot find out from these
words who Mairearad was we can never find it out.

In my account of Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn in the
Maclean Bards, I stated that there was a tradition among
some Argyllshire men in 1816 to the effect that Mairearad
was a Macdonald. My present belief is that there was
never such a tradition in existence. The belief that she
was a Macdonald was not a tradition, or a thing handed
down from one generation to another ; it was simply an
inference from certain statements in Mairearad' s poems ;
but it was not a correct inference.

Dr. Maclean of Grulin collected a large number of
excellent Gaelic poems about 1768. Mary, his daughter,
was pronounced by Dr. Johnson in 1773 to be the most
accomplished lady that he had met in the Highlands.
Mary gave her father's manuscript collection to John
Maclean, the poet, in 1816. John Maclean took it with
him to this country in 1819. Dr. Maclean's Collection and
John Maclean's Collection are both in my possession. At
p. 1 14, Dr. Maclean describes Mairearad as Nighean Lachainn
mhic Iain mhic Lachainn ann am Muile. It is probable
that she was born in Mull, and certain that she lived either
there or in Morvern for a long time.

In one of the poems ascribed to Mairearad the following
lines occur : —

'S nach robh mi 'chdir cinneadh m' athar
Bho na dh' fh6gradh Clann Ghilleathain
As an dtithaich 's as an cathair.

* Cinneadh m' athar ' may be correct ; it is possible, however,

200 THE CELTIC REVIEW

that it is a mistake for cuideachd m' athar. But whether
it be a mistake or not, the words quoted mean nothing
more than that Mairearad had not been in Mull since the
Macleans of Duart had fought for the Stewarts at Sheriff-
muir in 1715.

According to Turner's valuable collection of Gaelic
poems, ' Gur h-e mheudaich mo chradh ' was composed
about Eachann Mac Iain Diuraich. It is certain that it
was composed about John of Kinlochaline. According to
John Maclean, ' Gur h-e mis' th' air mo leonadh ' was
composed about ' Lachainn Mac Gilleathain, no mar cho-
ainm Lachainn Mac Iain Diuraich.' It was composed, as
I have shown, about Lachlan, son of Hector of Kinloch-
aline. As the one poem was believed in 1813 to have been
composed about Eachann Mac Iain Diuraich, and the
other poem believed in 1815 to have been composed about
Lachainn Mac Iain Diuraich, it is pretty certain that
Mairearad was looked upon as being closely connected
with the Macleans of Jura — that in fact she belonged to
the Jura family.

Lachlan Og Maclean of Torloisk had Hector of Torloisk
and John Diurach. Hector of Kinlochaline married Janet,
daughter of Hector of Torloisk, and by her had John of
Kinlochaline and the Lachlan who was drowned on the
way to Canna. Mairearad Nigh 'n Lachainn describes
the Lachlan who was drowned as ' Ogha brathar mo
sheanar,' — the grandson of the brother of my grand-
father. Lachlan was the son of Hector, son of Lachlan
of Torloisk ; Mairearad, then, must have been the
daughter of Lachlan, son of John Diurach, who was
a brother of Hector Og of Torloisk. It is admitted
by all who know anything at all about Mairearad that
her mother was a Maclean, and that she belonged to a
prominent family. It may be regarded as fairly certain
that her mother belonged to the Macleans of Morvern. I
feel confident that the poem on p. 261 of the first volume
of the Maclean Bards, and also the poem on p. 268, were

WHO WAS MAIREARAD NIGH'N LACHAINN ? 201

composed by Mairearad. In both of these poems the
descendants of Allan of Ardtornish by Una Macdonald
are referred to. We have thus some ground for suspecting
that Mairearad' s mother was a granddaughter either of
Lachlan, son of John Dubh, or of Allan of Ardtornish, who
was John Dubh's lawful representative.

Mairearad's lament for_ Colonel Allan Maclean in 1772
contains the following stanza : —

'S car a dh' Iarla nam pios thu,
A bha 'n He ri strdiceadh,
Lachainn Mor a bha priseil ;
Sin chuir mi ga d' shior fheoraich.
C'ait a bheil iad an Albainn,
No thall anns an Olaind,
Leithid cinneadh mo mhathar,
Mach o ardan Chlann Domhnaill ?

Donald, first Maclean of Brolas, was the son of Hector
Og of Duart, son of Lachlan Mor of Duart. Mairearad
Nigh 'n Lachainn was the daughter of Lachlan, son of
John Diurach, son of Lachlan Og of Torloisk, son of Lachlan
Mor of Duart. She was thus specially interested in
Lachlan Mor, not only because he was chief of the Mac-
leans and a distinguished warrior, but because he was her
great-great-grandfather. The last stanza of the poem does
not imply that Mairearad was an old woman in 1722 : what
it implies is that she looked old through grief for the loss
of the friends who had been called away by death and the
evils which had befallen the Macleans. She was born
probably about 1660.

Mairearad's mother may have been born as early as
1640, but probably not earlier. It may be regarded as
certain that she was living when Mairearad referred to her
in 1722. It is altogether likely, however, that Mairearad's
father was not living then ; he may, indeed, have died
when Mairearad was quite young.

Where Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn was living in 1722
no one can tell. It is probable, however, that her mother

202 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

was living with her. It is possible that Mairearad' s hus-
band was a Macdonald, and that he lived in Moydart or
Ardnamurchan. But to whatever clan her husband may-
have belonged, it is certain that Mairearad had relatives
in Moydart and Ardnamurchan, as well as in Morvern,
Ardgour, and Kingerloch.

The following lines in the lament for Lachlan Maclean
formed a serious difficulty in trying to determine who
Mairearad Nigh 'n Lachainn was : —

'S tu ro dhileas 'thaobh t'athar

Do chlann Eoghainn o 'n leathad le 'cheile.

The Macleans of Ardgour were the only clan Ewen
with which Lachlan could possibly be connected. But the
words, ' ro dhileas 'thaobh t' athar ' — very closely related
by your father — made it impossible to connect him with
the Macleans of Ardgour. The fact is that Clann Eoghainn
is a mistake for Clann Iain. Lachlan's paternal grand-
mother, Una Macdonald, was a daughter of Mac Ian of
Ardnamurchan.

In ■ Gaoir nam Ban Muileach,' which was composed in
1716, Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn states that she was
without a clan-head either by her father or mother — ' Gun
cheann-cinnidh thaobh athar no mathar.' Had she been a
Macdonald she could not have made such a statement as
that. The Macdonalds had practically two chiefs in 1716,
Domhnall a Chogaidh of Sleat, and Alexander Dubh of
Glengarry, and could take their choice of them.

I am glad that the Macdonalds began to claim Mairearad
Nigh'n Lachainn as one of their great poetesses. If I had
not seen that claim put forth, I would never have gone to
the trouble of trying to determine to what clan she really
belonged by her father. I know now that she was a Mac-
lean both by her father and mother.

I do not know where Mairearad was buried. I feel
confident, however, that if her grave could be pointed out
with certainty, it would not remain very long without a

WHO WAS MAIREARAD NIGH'N LACHAINN ? 203

suitable monument. She did all she could for the Mac-
leans, and should not be forgotten by them.

One of Mairearad Nigh'n Lachainn's poems contains
the following stanza : —

Mur a deachaidh mi 'm mearachd,
Bu tu dalta mo sheanar
'S nighean Euairidh 's na h-Earadh ;
Cha b' e anaghlas a bhainne a dh'61 thu.

As Sir John was born in 1670, and Mairearad about
1660, ' nighean Ruairidh 's na h- Earadh ' could not have
been the wife of Mairearad' s grandfather. Charles of
Ardnacross was Sir John's foster-father ; at all events, he
had charge of Sir John in 1674. Nighean Ruairidh was Sir
John's nurse, and lived at Ardnacross. She was a Macleod
woman from Harris. I am under the impression that my
mother told me that Mairearad' s mother was a daughter of
Charles of Ardnacross. Of course my mother must have
got this information, or rather traditional assertion, from
her father. We know that Charles of Ardnacross had a
natural son ; it is possible then that he had also a natural
daughter. Captain Alexander Cameron, in Belfast, Prince
Edward Island, purchased a copy of Mackenzie's History of
the Camerons, and gave it to his father to read. The first
time he saw his father afterwards he asked him how he liked
the History of the Camerons. The reply was : ' O Alasdair,
cha robh na Camaronaich ro dhiadhaidh idir ' — 0 Alex-
ander, the Camerons were not very godly at all. I am
afraid that the same thing could be said of all the Highland
clans, so far as the fighting days of old were concerned.
At any rate, I can believe that Charles of Ardnacross had a
natural daughter. He may, however, have had a legitimate
daughter who was the mother of Mairearad. But be that
as it may, it is altogether probable, indeed on the borders
of certainty, that Mairearad was his grand-daughter.

204 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE GAELIC VERSION OF THE THEBAID
OF STATIUS

Professor Mackinnon

(Continued from page 121)

GAELIC TEXT

Dala imorro Polinices mic Eidip. Ro bai ar sibal acus
ar sechran sechnon na crichi urairde 1 Echionda. Et o ra
bai Polinices ac triall acus ac tindsceadal ar each(t)ra acus
ar indarba as a tir acus as a talmain, is ann sin imorro
tangatar imraiti imda ingantacha ar menmain do'n milig sin.
Uair ua trom acus ua tendius mor leisium a fhat 2 acus a
an(s)adaileacht co cend na bliadna sin no co roissead in
rigi do. Ua subach acus ba so-menmnach e ind 2 arra fecht,
an tan d'airberead da oidh 2 acus da aire an rigi do rochtain
do ; ua h-irnascada 2 udmalla comairle in curad sin uair ni
fitir 2 ca crich 2 no ca cinel is in domuin i cindfedh a coim-
etecht 2 ri re na bliadna sin 3[a n-ingnais a tire, uair ni
rabatar mic rig no ro-fhlatha aicci ris a cinnfedh a comarle,
ni rabatar din in tan sin amus na h-6clach re h-urgaird-
iugud seta na sibail ac an fir sin re h-ed na bliadna sin.
O ro cinnestar immorro]3 Polinices a atharda 4alaind
aichnid 4 da f hacbail acus indsaigid in tire anaichnig 4 aneoil,
is ed sed ro gabustair roime ar fat na Grecci gart-gloine do
chathrachaib ingantacha Inaich 5 in rig Grecda sin acus da
bruigib dath-glasa Dane acus cos in cathraig clain colaig
co m-Meicinib. Acus is and sin ro fhacaib-sium da eis na
h-uamanna bruthmara baichecda 6 acus tulcha togaide
tonn-glasa na Tiauanda. Et as a h-aithli sin imorro tainic-
sium roime sech in sliab so-reid so-imthechta Chitheron
acus sech cairrgib mora mi-chluacha Sciroin. Acus in

1 comairde. 2 MS. indistinct. 3"3 Eg. inserts. 4 Eg. omits.

5 Eg. ansuaichnidh. 6 baicedachdha.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 205

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Now as to Polinices, the son of Oedipus.1 He was
travelling and wandering throughout the high Theban
lands. And when Polinices was about to leave his own
country and land as an outcast many strange thoughts
passed through the mind of the warrior. The length of
time (his fate ?), and the inactivity until the year expired
when he should attain to the kingship were a cause of
sadness and impatience. At one time he would be joyous
and elated when he kept before his mind that he would soon
be king ; (at another) the mind of the hero was un-
hinged and unsettled, for he knew not in what country or
among what people his lot might be cast during that year,
[away from his own land, for there were not sons of kings or
princes known to him to share his counsels, nor was there at
the time a hired soldier or warrior to cheer his journey and
travel during that year. Moreover when Polinices resolved]
to leave his own beautiful, well-known native land, and to
make for an unknown, strange country, the way he took was
to fare forward throughout the length of the sunny fields of
Greece to the unknown strange cities of that Grecian king,
Inachus, and to the green fields of the Danae, and to the
evil wicked city of Mycanae. He then left behind him the
fiery-fumed caves of Bacchus and the lovely green-covered
knolls of Thebes. Thereafter he proceeded past the smooth,
easily-traversed slopes of Cithaeron, and past the great rocks
of Sciron of evil fame. And that Sciron was a very bold

1 Th., i. 1. 312.

206 THE CELTIC KEVIEW

Chiroin 1 h-i sin ua latrann lan-chalma in araile carraic co
cuasta ar caetib na conaire. Acus is e bes do nid, gach
duine ro dringed 2 is in charraic ro furailead-sum poccad a
chos ar in dune. Acus in tan na bid ac (a) pocad, do bered
lua do co cured ri h-ed n-imcian uada h-e, cein no co tanic
Teis 3 mac Eig mic Neptuin da indsaig co roibe ac indmad a
chos. Is ann sin tucastar Teis tren-tairring cuici air acus
ro athchuir uada e is in muir mor adbail.

Dala Polinices imorro. Tanic side reime dar na bruigib
sciamhda Seillacda4 acus sech cathrachaib taeb-gela insi
comaird comreid Corinthon. Is and sin imorro tanic
dered d'un lo acus tosach do'n aidchi, co ro ergedar retlanna5
suaichinti solusta inna h-aidchi imdorcha acgairbi imm an
esca n-adfuar n-aigreta. Acus ro uatar imorro eoin acus
ethaide acus cethra caithmecha in talman in a suan acus in
a sir-chotlad co m-midmedon 6 aidchi. Is ann sin ro f alchait
retla ro-glana na firmaminti foluamnigi o nellaib imdorcha
imdaib uscidib,7 acus ro hoslaicit uamanna aibli acgarba 8
Soil, ard-rig na n-gaeth,9 in tan sin, co ro thocaib inn ainb-
thine (gai)rb gaimreta a tuasan acus a tomaithium os aird
tre chomtroit na n-gaeth n-garb 9 n-gluair m-bruthach
m-bres-madmannach dar bragaid a chele tre chethar airdib
na cruindi, uair ba samalta co thaidmitis acus co n-gluais-
fidis fraigthi 10 f othamla na firmaiminti as a sligthib acus as a
slaedraigib. Is ann sin ro erig in gaeth in n-eas n dianid
comainm Auester co h-ainbthenach aduathmar, co ra druit
acus co ra dluthaid dorchadu n-dermair dar dreich thalman
uile, co ra chruad-crithnaigseatar snaitheda saignen-tened
taidlighi tres in n-dilind n-dilauing 12 n-dimoir n-ometa 13
ro ferastair an uair sin, co m-fualraigthi fir-doimne14 na
coillti niamda Neimegda, acus comdais locha lan-aidbli
lind-fuara aird acus inada na h-Erchaidi 14 i crichaib tirmma
tartmara Tenair, co ro linastra do la thuile srotha acus

1 Sciroin. 2 tegedh. 3 Tes. 4 Scellacda.

6 lanna. 6 co m-medhon. 7 uscib. 8 Eg. omits.

9~9 omits. 10 Eg. omits. n an das. 12 n-difulatwj/.

13 Eg. omits. 14~H MS. indistinct.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 207

robber (living) in the hollows of a certain rock by the
paths of the road. His custom was to order every man
who came to that rock to kiss his feet. And while doing
so he used to give a kick to the man which sent him
a very long distance from him. (This went on) until
Theseus son of Aegeus, son of Neptune, came the way
and was washing his feet. Theseus then gave the robber
a mighty pull towards him, and thereafter flung him into
the great vast sea.

As to Polinices, however. He fared forward over the
fair fields of Scyllaeum, and past the white-walled cities of
the high level island of Corinthus. Then indeed came the
end of day and the beginning of night.1 The well-known
bright stars shone around the very cold, icy moon in the
dark, very rough night. And the fowls and birds and
prowling quadrupeds of the earth were in slumber and deep
sleep till midnight. Then the very bright stars of the
fluttering firmament were hidden by many very dark watery
clouds. At that time the vast and very rough caves of
Aeolus, the high King of the Winds, opened so that a rough
winter tempest arose, loudly tumultuous and threatening
through the contention of the rough, blustering, furious, and
roaring winds at each other's throats over the four airts
of the globe, and it looked as if the base walls of the firma-
ment were to be loosed and removed from their places and
foundations. Then arose the tempestuous, terrible south
wind named Auster, when very great darkness covered
and overspread the whole surface of the earth. Shafts of
flashing lightning quivered through the unbearable, huge,
dreadful (?) flood (of rain) which then fell. The very depths
of the gleaming woods of Nemea became foul pools ; the
plateaus of Arcadia in the territories of dry, arid Taenarus
became huge, cold lakes ; and streams and rivulets were
swelled by rushing torrents which broke down woods and
forests and overturned rough-topped, hard, heavy, im-
movable rocks. Thus the woods and groves of the sunny

1 Th.. i. 1. 336.

208 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

sruthana, co m-breisdis 1 leo na feda acus fiduada, co
n-tudustis leo x na cairgi cend-garba cruaidi troma tuindi.
Cid tra acht ro brisit feada acus fidnemeda na Greci gart-
glaine ; ro dluigid acus ro dian-scailit na coillti croma
craeb-glasa, comdar moigi reidi ro-glana an inada da n-eis.
Ua h-ingnad acus ua machtnugud mor re Polinices na
slebti cend-mora cairgecha ac brisiud acus ac breasmannugud
ris 2 na buindeadaib diana dileann tictis ar a 3 trethan acus ar
a 3 tonn-gail as na sleibtib soineamail sir-ardaib sin. Ua
h-ingnad acus ua h-aduathmor leis dan na treba acus na
tigi acus na cethra caithmecha craesacha do lot acus do
lathrugud tres in fuasnad n-doninde n-dermair sin. Et is
ann sin tanic remi Polinices co dian acus co dasachtach gan
sliged acus gan lan-soillsi acus gan lan-eolus. Acht cheana
ua ferrdi leseam duibi acus dorchacht na h-aidchi sin, uair
ua h-ecal acus 4 ua h-uruamun leis toir acus tinol da beith ac
a brathair ar a cind .t. Etiocles ; acus dan ua ro-nar les
gan lucht caemsa acus coimidechta re h-urgairdigud
n-imthechta, re h-imguin acus re h-imbualad 5n a fharrad.
Ua h-e 5 imorro samail in tren-fhir sin do Tiabandaib do sil
calma 6 Chathim mic Agenoir ar setaib na sligid sin amal
bis stiuraigi con a luing luchtmair lan-moir ar lar in mara
garb-fhuair gemreta, gan rind acus gan retlaindd'(f)aiscin re
h-imluad n-imthechta a sin, acht seastan acus seiseilbi in
lera 7 longaig lan-adbail 'g a buaidread acus 'g a bad-brisiud
co n-a fitir ca cuan na ca calad-port cus a rachad. Acus is
ann sin tanic remi Polinices, acus ua th-i 8 tresi acus tairpigi
na imtiged-som 9 in n-oidchi co cruithed acus co cumscaiged
na railig remra ro-ardda ac tairring a sceith moir mileta tres
na coilltib clithir-diamraib, acus co m-brised na feda acus
na fualascada da ucht acus da urbruindi re h-agairbi a
imtheachta re h-ingargi na h-uaire sin, cein no co facaid in
t-soillsi suaithnid solusta. Acus is and bai in t-(s)oillsi
sin is in tur rigda ro-ard is in chathraig dianid comainm
Larisa ann sa Greic bic. Acus ua 10 soillsi ar ar silleastair-

1 Eg. omits. 2 les. 3~3 Eg. omits. 4 no. * i.

6 Eg. omits. 7 ina lear. 8 i. 9 no imcedh-sun. 10 ua h-i.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 209

fields of Greece were destroyed, and the bending, green-
boughed forests rent and shattered so that these places there-
after were open, bare plains. It was a matter of wonder
and deep concern to Polinices to see the great-topped rocky
hills a-breaking and crashing against the fierce and violent
torrents which came down with commotion and wave-roar
from these grand lofty hills. It was a cause of wonder and
terror to him to see the dwellings and the houses and the
devouring, wide- jawed quadrupeds overturned and destroyed
by that furious and violent tempest. Polinices proceeded
on his way vehemently and recklessly without road, in
the dark, in an unknown country. However, he preferred
the blackness and darkness of that night, for he feared and
much dreaded that his brother Etiocles might with a party
be in pursuit of him. Besides, he felt ashamed that he was
without comrades and companions to cheer his way, and to
fight and smite by his side. On the paths of this journey
indeed, the mighty Theban of the bold stock of Cadmus, son
of Agenor, felt like the steersman of a well-equipped, very
large ship in the open sea on a rough, cold, wintry (night).
He sees neither star nor constellation to direct his course, but
the roar and fury of the wide, ship-bearing sea confusing and
threatening to overwhelm him, while he knows not (where
to steer for) shelter or roadstead. Polinices fared forward,
and such was the force and impetuosity of his march that
night that he shook and moved thick, very tall oaks by the
blows of his great warlike shield in the recesses of the forest,
and broke before him by the force of his breast and chest
brake and brushwood in the rush and fury of his movement
at that time. At length he saw a conspicuous, brilliant light
which came from a royal lofty tower in the city of Larissa in
little Greece. The light which he then looked upon was from
a precious flaming gem which shone by day and by

VOL. VII. o

210 THE CELTIC REVIEW

shim ann sin lee 1 logmar lasamuin ua comsolus la acus agaid
bai i comecar in tigi ro-aird rigda sin.

Et is and sin tanic-seom remi 'na rem ro-retha d'indsaigid
na cathrach Larissa lam cle re templaib uaisli Iunaindi
batar is in catraig uraird aibind i Prosinna, acus lam deas
re gaethlaigib lethnaib Lerna. Acus is and sin tanic-sium
remi an nund dar doirrsib urarda uraibni oslaicthi na
cathrach sin, acus ro f egastair ime ur lara2 f airsingi fiadnacha
na cathrach sin. Et ro leceastair a chorp cubaid comfhata
co h-aimneartach adlesc 3 re lar acus re lan-talmain a
h-aithli atchis4 na h-aidchi sin re h-ursaind in tigi re h-
ursaind na (na) cathrach rigda sin i cubachail chruaid
cumaing, acus ro chotail ann.

Is and sin imorro tarastair in t-ard-ri uasal airegda
Adraist is in chathraig leathan-gloin lan-alaind il-Larisa.
Et ua h-e in t- Adraist 5 cian-aesta com-aimserda sin ua
h-aird-ri uar6 gasraid glan-moir Grec. Uair arbithin is
amlaid ro bai in ri soim so-cenelach sin acus bunad chenel a
mathar acus a athar Ioib mac sona 7 saidbir so-chenelach 7
Satuirn. Acus ni raibe imsnim aireochais 8 in rig sin acht
gan immad cloindi aigi genmotha da ingin namma. Acus
ua fiumaccu firena forgligi na h-ingena gle-glana geanmaidi
sin. Acus is ar a n-inmaine 9 na n-ingen sin do roindi-sium
idbarta aidbli atmara do Apaill co n-indisead do na fir ris i
faeidfidis na h-ingena sin. Acus adrubairt Appaill riseom,
tre f hir-f aistine do denam do, commad muc adbul eccendais 10
allaid acus commad leoman leatarthach lan-fergach uad
cleamnada do. Acus nir thuic Adraist in faistine sin, acus
ni mo ro thuicsetar a fhilig nach u a fir eolaig.

As si sin imorro oes acus fuair tanic Tid trom tren tach-
rach mac Oenis .1. mac rig cuanna cath-buadach Calidone.
Acus as ead ro imluaid side as a thir acus as a thalam cus
in cathraig cuanna comdaingin cetna, — feacht n-aen do
deachaid d'fiadach acus d'(f)ian12-choscur ri a derbrathair

1 leg.

2 ar.

3 aidhlesc.

4 fhaictis.

6 aird-righ.

6 ar.

7-7 Eg. omits.

8 ar oireachas.

9 ar inmaine.

10 Eg. omits.

11 naid.

12 do'n fhian.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 211

night in the near neighbourhood of that very lofty royal
house.

He then went forward in very swift course to the city
Larissa, having on his left the noble temples of Juno which
were in the lofty, pleasant city of Proshymnse, and on his
right the wide marshes of Lerna. He went on and passed
through the high, beautiful and open gates of the city and
viewed around him its spacious and conspicuous buildings.
And he stretched his shapely, tall body on the floor and
ground, exhausted and tired after the fatigues of that night,
against a pillar in that royal city in a hard, narrow cubicle
and slept there.

Now 1 the noble, revered high King Adrastus dwelt
then in that spacious, clean, and very beautiful city Larissa.
That very aged Adrastus was at the time high king of the
great and bright people of Greece. For so it was that the
descent of that rich, noble king was by both father and
mother from Jove the happy, powerful, nobly-born son of
Saturn. The only subject of serious concern to him in
his government was the fewness of his children, his family
consisting of two daughters only. The very beautiful,
chaste maidens were dignified, righteous, surpassing. It
was because of his love for his daughters that he made
vast and costly sacrifices to Apollo, (in the hope) that the
god would inform him what husbands these maidens
should wed. Apollo told him, after making true prophecy,
that a huge, untameable wild boar and a mangling,
furious lion would be his sons-in-law. Adrastus did not
understand this prophecy, and neither did his poets nor
sages.

Now2 that was the time and hour when the sturdy,
mighty, contentious Tydeus, son of Oeneus, the graceful
and victorious king of Calydon, arrived (on the scene).
And this was the reason why he came from his country and
land to the same pleasant, strong city : on one occasion

1 ThM i. 1. 390.

212 THE CELTIC REVIEW

uoden * .1. ri mac murnech mor-gradach Ioeinius1 .1. re
Meliager. Acus da rala doib tore adbul allaid ro bai ac
inrad in tire acus in talman do marbad. Acus as e ro
cet-gonastair h-e 2 .1. Tid mac Oenius, acus is leis ra te 3 a
choscur acus a chomaideam re Meliager. Acus tuc [Melia-
ger] a chroiceann in tuirc allaid sin da bann 4-leannan
ban-gaiscid^ ro bai is in t(s)elca sin .1. da Aithleannda.5
Acus a d'ehonnaic imorro Tid sin ra fiarfaid da brathair m
da Meliager, t cid ma tucais croiceann in tuirc is a cet-guine
ro commaidius da t' leandan (acus) me da marbad acus da
mugugud, acus is aire sin thucas di.6 As a h-aithli sin
imorro ro erich Tid do chosnum in chroicind ris in n-ingin.
Acus ro fer-sum comlund n-athlum re h-Athalannda.
Acus ro claeidead in n-ingin ann sin, acus rue Tid in croicend
leis. O d'chualaig imorro Meleger in gnim sin ro gab fearg
7 acus f uasnad 7 mor e, acus tanig remi da digail sin ar Thid.
Acus ro thoit Meleager ra brathair amlaid8 sin .1. re Tid, conid
indsin ro h-echtrad acus ro h-indarbad esin. Acus da rala e
is in n-aidchi 9 ghairb gemreta 9 cetna d'indsaigid na cathrach
Larissa. Acus ua toirrseach Tid 10 re h-imnead na h-aidchi
sin, uair ua piseda n fuardo oigreta (a) etach 'na imtimchell,
acus na shildis 12 tromchetha falcmara fleochaid as a folt
acus as a edgud.13 Et tanic reme an nunn d'indsaigid an
innaid ir-roibe Polinices, acus ro triall-som anad ann san
inad sin. Ar sin ro airig u Polinices sin acus adrubairt,
• Cia do ber in n-eicin 15 acus in n-imluad 16-sa orumsa a
drasta ? ' Is ann sin adubairt Tid, ' Erig,' ar se, ' acus
f acaib damsa in n-ait acus in n-adua in atai, co n-dernaind-sa
suan acus sir-chotlad ann.'

Cid tra acht ro gabastar confad cotnuthach cosnumach,
acus fearga fir-mora fiadnacha na milead sin, co n-dernad
coibnius na coicele in n-ait 17 nach n-aen inad in n-aidchi
sin. Acus ua cumair comraid acus imacallma iat in uair

1-1 Eg. omits. 2 ro cet-gon e. 3 ro thaeth. 4 leannan.

5 MS. Aithseannda no Aithleanndda ; Eg. Aithlenna. 6 e. 7~7 Eg. omits.

8 ann. 9"9 Eg. omits. 10 e. u pisidi. 12 no thsilldis.

13 etach. , 14 ihi&rfaig. 15 theigin. 16 t-imluad-s.a. 17 na.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 213

he and his brother Meleagar the cherished and greatly
beloved son of Oeneus went forth on a hunting expedi-
tion. They chanced to kill a huge wild boar which was
ravaging the land and country. Now it was Tydeus who
first wounded the boar, and to him and not to Meleager
belonged the victory and triumph. But Meleager gave
the hide of the wild boar to his lady-love Atalanta, an
amazon who took part in the hunt. When Tydeus saw this,
he asked his brother Meleager, c Why have you given the
hide of the boar which I first wounded and triumphed over
to your sweetheart ? It is indeed because I killed and
destroyed the animal that you have given it to her.'
Thereafter Tydeus went to contend with the girl for the
skin. And he quickly fought with Atalanta, vanquished
the girl, and took the hide away with him. Now when
Meleagar heard of this deed, anger and great passion seized
him, and he proceeded to take vengeance on Tydeus.
(In the conflict) Meleager fell, whence it was that Tydeus
was banished and exiled. And he came on the same wild,
winter night to the city Larissa. Tydeus was in sad plight
from the trials of that night, his clothes about him were
cold, icy fragments, and heavy, thick, wet showers fell from
his hair and raiment. He proceeded over to the place
where Polinices was, purposing to rest there. When
Polinices observed this, he said, ' Who is it that violently
disturbs me at this time ? ' Then Tydeus said, ' Go,'
said he, ' and leave to me the place and abode in which you
are, that I may slumber and sleep there.'

Now envious and jealous fury and very great manifest
anger seized hold of these warriors, so that there could be
(no) commerce or comradeship between them in the same
place or abode that night. And their speech and words
were few. Then ardour and anger, wrath and fury, heat and

214 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

sin. l Is ann sin x ro gabsatar bruth acus borrf ad, brig acus
barann, att acus anmini na curadu sin re chele, co ra
chuirset na cuingeda calma comlaind sin i n-etaigi in
n-en fhecht acus a n-en aball dib do chum in comraic
sin.

Polinices, imorro, ua h-airddi acus ua h-airegda, ua
rigdu acus ua ro-chalma, ua datu acus ua denmaigi e ana
gach duine, acus ua trichtach in tren-fer sin in tan sin.
Tid, imorro mac Oenius, in tren-fear calma Calidone, da2
fear bee, baile beoda bruthmar borrfadach, alaind eccendais
anmneach, mer murnech mor-menmnach. Is ann sin ro
gabastair in tuir thalchar Tiauanda .t. Polinices, sleig
lethan-glais lan-moir, co crunn datta deig-remra is in dara
laim do, re sadud acus re srainiud a escarat uad, acus
cloideb leathan lan-fhada lan-adbul, re h-airleeh acus re
h-imbualad,3 is in laim araill. Tid, imorro, mac Oenius,
ro gab a cath-arm cath(a) 4 acus comraic acus com-
laind in n-uair sin. Acus ger ba lugudais acus do-
airddi in gilla sin, ua bailci acus ua bunatu e an na5
each fer.

Cid tra acht ba setre(ch) sir-chalma serig na tresa troma
tren-bemeann do bereac each dib uar a chele, cumma
samalta ri tenid tricheam-ruaid 6 laindrigda7 lasamnachta
na n-arm acus na n-ilf aebar 8 re frasugud na f ola f ordeirgi
re9 corpaib acus cnesaib acus9 cendaib na milead mor
adbul sin. Acus ba tend in tuargain do bertis ar a n-indib
acus ar a n-ochtaib da n-gluinib comnarta comfhillti10 i
cliabaib acus i compraib a chele, comdais salcha sleamna
na sraiteda sin re siliud acus re snigi u a crechtaib na curad
sin. Acus ro shinset-sum al-lama adannta aindsclecha
do chrechtnugud acus da chruad-choscrad chuirp a
chele.

Acht ata ni chena. Ro bad aicmeil eisinill 12 do'n fhir

1 Eg. omits. * fer bee bedgha. 3 h-imluad.

* a arma catha. 5 na. 8 trenruaidh.

7 lonnraigh. ■ MS. fhilfaebar. 9~9 Ed. omits.

10 Eg. omits. « Eg. adds na fola. 12 theismill.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 215

passion against each other possessed these champions, and
the brave fighting heroes threw off their clothes for the
combat at one and the same time.

Now Polinices was taller and more stately, more regal
and surpassing brave, more handsome and shapely than
any other man ; and very active the mighty man was at
that time. Tydeus, son of Oeneus, the mighty, brave
Calydonian, on the other hand, though short in stature was
sturdy, vigorous, fiery, passionate, handsome, merciless,
renowned, lively, courageous, high-spirited. Now the stout
Theban lord Polinices gripped in the one hand a broad-grey
very large spear with a polished, very thick shaft, which he
used for thrusting and warding off his foes, while in the
other he seized a broad, very long and very large sword for
attacking and smiting. Tydeus, son of Oeneus, again, took
at the same time his battle-weapon of fighting and conflict.
And though that warrior was smaller and less tall, he was
sturdier and stouter than any man.

Howbeit, impetuous, strong, and stout were the heavy
mighty-striking onsets which these two made on each other,
so that the flashing gleam from their weapons and many
blades looked like very red fire as the deep red blood flowed
from the bodies and skins and heads of these great mighty
warriors. And with their very strong knees locked in each
other, powerful were the blows which they delivered on the
waists and breasts, the chests and bodies of each other,
so that the ground around became slippery and foul with
the dropping and flowing of blood from the wounds of
these champions. And they stretched forth their eager,
puissant hands to wound and mangle each other's
bodies.

But 1 one thing. That combat would have been a feeble

1 Th„ i. 1. 428.

216 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

thuachell1 Tiauanda sin in comruc sin a. do Polinices, acht
muna chluinnead in ri uasal Adraist in nuall n-anuaii2
n-anaichnid sin na curad comrumach a comruc a sitgal acus
a setfeadach na tren-fher sin ac tachar. O t' cholaig 3
imorro in ri sonnach senorda .1. Adraist sin, ro h-adanntait4
lochranna loindearda loindreacha lasamna, acus sutralla
suaichinti solusta ; acus tanic reime as in grianan glan-solus
ir-roibi. Acus atchonnaire na firu aduathmara agarba
anachinti, acus a gnuis letarthach 5 lan-derg co m-braenaib
fola fordeirgi forro. Is ann sin adruairt Adraist riu gen
droch ciall do denam, acus do fhiarfaid, ' Ca dasacht ar
atathai,6 a occu ailli eehtarda, acus ga di-f hoillsigud dermair 7
do ber oraib comruc acus comlonn do denam sin n-aidchi ;
acus cid on,' ar se, ' in ar girra in lae lib do ber oraib troit
acus tachar do denam a drasta ? Et indisig dun can as
tangauar, no cuich sib fen, acus ca iret 8 tegthi, acus ca
fath ar n-debtha. Acus ro fheadar-sa,' ar se, ' is daine
suarca sochenel sib.' Is and sin ro fregradar in oen fhect,
acus in n-oen aball do : 'A dei d'a n-adramaid,' ar siad,
'cadaisiu9 duind.' Acus10 ar sin ro labair Tid: 'Tanac-sa
imorro,' ar se, ' a crichaib na Calidone, acus tuc an agaid
mi co nigi so. Acus ro b' ail lim ait acus inat ar teichead
na doinindi do fhagbail sunn. Acus ni fhetar cia an duine
so,' ar se, 'nar leic dam in innad11 i n-ar triallas anad,12
uair is e fen tanic ar tus ann. Acus ro findf a tussa,' 13 ar se,13
k in ua sonairt so-chenelach misi tre m'gnimradaib goili acus
gaiscid. Acus dan,' ar se Tid, ' is e Oenius ri na Calidone
m'athair.' Et14 ar sin ro labair Polinices mac Edip: 'Is
lor lim fen mo sho-chenelaigi,' ar se, ' acus met mo men-
man.' Acus is ed uadera dosum gen ainm a athar d'indsin
na d'aisneis ar met a chuil acus a chorbaid, uair ua nar
leiseom a indsin in chuil h-i sin.

Is and sin ro labair in ri cendais cian-aesta Adraist :
' Leigid as ua(r) feirg acus uar fuasait, acus tait 15 limsa do

1 thua^chell. 2 adhbai?. 3 chualaig. 4 acus ro adhanntit.

6 gnuisi letardha. 6 atai. 7 Eg. omits. 8 cara. 9 cret fataisiu. 10 Eg. omits.
nint-inad. ia Eg. adds ann. 13~13 Eg. omits. 14 Eg. omits. 15 tegaid.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 217

reprisal to the luckless Theban Polinices had not the noble
King Adrastus heard the terrible, strange cry of the con-
tending champions, their shouting and panting as the stout
men fought. When the powerful, aged King Adrastus
heard them, he kindled brilliant, gleaming, flaming lamps
and conspicuous, bright torches, and went forth from the
well-lighted bower in which he was. And he saw the
terrible, fierce, strange men, with their faces gashed and
covered with drops of deep-red blood. Adrastus spoke
to them, and urged them to stay their fury and asked,
1 What madness possesses you, ye handsome foreign
warriors, and what great undivulged cause makes you
fight and quarrel by night ; and,5 said he, ' is it indeed that
you find the day too short that you quarrel and fight now ?
And now inform us whence came you, and who you are, and
what distance you have come, and what is the cause of your
quarrel. For I know,' added he, ' that you are peaceable,
nobly born men.' Both then replied at one and the same
time. ■ The gods whom we worship,' said they, * know who
we are (?).' Thereafter Tydeus spoke. ' I for my part
have come,' said he, ' from the country of Calydon, and
night brought me thither. And I desired to get a place and
station to escape the storm here. But,' added he, ' I do
not know who this man is who would not permit me to rest
in the place to which I came, for it is he that first came
to it. You can ascertain,' he continued, ' whether I am
powerful and of noble birth by my deeds of valour and
heroism. Besides,' concluded Tydeus, ' Oeneus, King of
Calydon, is my father.' Then Polinices, son of Oedipus,
spoke and said : ' I am myself satisfied with my high
lineage and "the greatness of my spirit,' said he. What
prevented him from telling and declaring the name of his
father was because of his great sin and wickedness, for he
was ashamed to speak of that sin.

Then 1 the gentle, very aged King Adrastus spoke.
1 Cease your anger and wrath, and come with me to my

1 Th., i. 1. 467.

218 THE CELTIC REVIEW

m' thig,' ar se, 'co consnaidmmer 1 uar comand2 acus uar
caridrad. Acus is doig comma fearrdi beias uar comann
deued do denam daib. Uair is iad so da fher3 dec rop
ferr comaltus acus comand is in bith, .i.3 Achilles acus
Patrocolus, acus Orestes acus Pilades, acus Nisus acus
Eorialus, acus Castur agus 4 Pollux, acus Teis 4 acus Pira-
thous,5 acus Polinices acus Tid.' Tangadar-som aroen re
h-Adraist ann sin ar n-a n-etarscarad da 6 comrue acus da
comlunn d'indsaigid in tigi rigda ro-aird. Acus ro bai
Adraist ac fegad na fer sin ar sin. Acus adchonnairc
craicenn leomain barr-gloin buidi-mongaich mir-moir mi-
rathmair 7 mallachtaich im Polinices. Tid, imorro, mac
Oenius, is amlaid ro bai side acus croicenn tuirc adbail allaid
immi, acus a fiacla cruaidi croma il-leanmain in croicind sin.
Et o t'chonnairc Adraist sin ro thuigestair in firinde
faistine do roigne Apaill do, — comad muc adbul allaid, acus
comad leoman lonn letarthach lan-adbul bad cleamnada do.
Acus rue Adraist a altugud buidi do na deib comad iad na
curaid sin uad cleamnado do, arbithin na croiceann ro
uatar umpu. Is ann sin ro gabastair-sun al-lama deasa 'n a
deisi sin, acus rue leis iat is in teach fa diamra acus ua
derride is in rig-dun.

1 consnaidmdar. 2 Eg. adds acus bar comlond. 3 Eg. omits.

4-4 MS. omits. 5 Taesisius acus Pirathos 6 don.

7 Eg. mirathmar mor.

THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 219

house,' said he, ' and we can cement your comradeship and
friendship. For it may well be that your comradeship
will be all the closer because of your quarrel. For these
are the twelve men who have been the closest friends and
comrades in the world — Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and
Pylades, Nisus and Euryalus, Castor and Pollux, Theseus and
Pirathous, and Polinices and Tydeus.' Both accompanied
Adrastus then to the royal, lofty palace, after being separated
in their fight and conflict.1 And Adrastus was ever looking
at these men. He saw a lion's skin of clean pile and tawny
mane, very large, of evil omen, accursed, covering Polinices.
Tydeus, son of Oeneus, on the other hand, thus he was,
with the hide of a huge wild boar round him, having its
hard curved teeth clinging to the skin. When Adrastus
observed this he understood the truth of the prophecy
which Apollo made to him, that a huge wild boar and a
fierce, devouring, very large lion would be his sons-in-law.
Then Adrastus gave thanks to the gods that these champions
were to be his sons-in-law, recognising them by the skins
which covered them. Thereupon he took their right hands
in his own, and brought them privately and secretly into
the royal castle.

1 Th., i. 1. 490.

/

220 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE

Miss E. J. Lloyd

[Continued from p. 174)

The stories connected with Don contain allusions to
Arvon, Eifionydd and, Ardudwy, and, in the account of
Gwydion's journey with the swine from Dyfed, we get
allusions to places such as Mochnant, Elenydd, Mochtre,
Creuwyrion, and many other places which were on his route.
The story of Blodeuwedd, Gronw Pefr, and Llew Llaw
Gyffes are topographically connected with Trawsfynydd
and Blaenau Festiniog. The topography of the Llyr cycle
is much more extensive, for there are references to characters
which belong to this cycle in place-names, that extend over
the whole of Wales. It is not impossible that there may
have been certain traditions connecting Llyr with the intro-
duction of Christianity into Britain, for there is a church
dedicated to him in Ceredigion, between Lampeter and
Aberaeron, namely Llanllyr. The epithet ' bendigeit '
applied to Bran is also suggestive of this. Legends concern-
ing Branwen or Bronwen are connected with the northern
part of Wales, thus Twr Bronwen was the old name for
Harlech, and one of the mountains of the Berwyn range
was called Cader Fronwen. There was a tumulus in
Anglesey, near Llanddeusant, which was known as Bedd
Bronwen, and which, on being opened, was actually found
to contain urns ; and in the Mabinogi, where there is given
an account of Branwen' s death, there are references to
Glan Alaw and Aber Alaw in Anglesey. The legends
connected with Bran have a close connection with the
region around the Dee. A part of Powys was called y Fran
Fro, and a part of Gwynedd Bro Beli, showing that the
stories once extended over a considerable area. The account
of the marriage of Branwen and Matholwch contains refer-

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 221

ences to Aberffraw and Talebolion in Anglesey. Aberffraw
was undoubtedly an important place at this time. In the
account of Bendigeitvran's visit to Ireland, the topo-
graphical allusions are very vague, the districts referred to
being unfamiliar to the scribe. The legend of the enter-
taining of the head of Bendigeitvran contains allusions to
Harlech and to the island of Gresholm in Pembrokeshire,
showing that the account is that of a voyage. The account
of the flight of the man and woman from the iron house in
Ireland is an attempt to explain certain place-names in
Wales containing the word ' Gwyddel,' such as Gwyddel-
wern ; but, as Sir John Rhys has pointed out, ; gwyddel '
in these cases often means nothing more than brushwood.
In connection with the Llyr cycle there are also references
to places in England — Oxford, Kent, and Hereford are
mentioned in Manawyddan, in the account of the way he
and Pryderi go there to work at various trades during
the time Dyfed was under a magic spell. Another element
in these stories is the explanation of certain triads which
are woven into the tissue of the story, and this very pro-
bably goes back to a remote period. We get a triad at the
very beginning of Branwen, which says that she is one of
the three chief ladies of the land, and a second triad in
connection with the seven men, who were left to look after
the island during Bendigeitvran's absence in Ireland.
Caswallon, by wearing a magic covering, which made him
invisible, was able to kill six of the men, and the seventh,
Caradog, broke his heart through grief, and, according to
the triad, he was the third man to die in that way. The
burying of Bendigeitvran's head in London was one of the
three good concealments of the Island of Britain, for as long
as the head remained buried, Britain could not be invaded ;
and another triad states that it was the ' third evil disclosure '
when it was brought to light. The Mabinogi of Branwen
does not explain this triad, but Geoffrey tells us that Arthur,
feeling it an insult to himself that the safety of the country
should depend on anything but his own skill and valour,

222 THE CELTIC REVIEW

had the head exhumed, and it was thus the English came
to Britain. In the same story we have another triad men-
tioned, and it is quite possible that the whole story is an
explanation of it. The triad states that the blow given
to Branwen was one of the three grievous blows of this
island, owing to the calamitous results which ensued.
Pryderi tells Manawyddan that he is one of the three gentle
knights of the land, and later we are told that he is also
known as one of the three gold-shoemakers. In the Mabin-
ogi of Math it is said that the blow with which Govannon
killed his nephew Dylan was one of the three fatal blows.
We find here also a reference to the triad about the gold-
shoemakers, but it is in connection with Gwydion, and not
Manawyddan, that it is quoted. The third faithless house-
hold is said to be that of Gronw Pefr, because they allowed
him to suffer death, rather than take their lord's punishment
upon themselves. We therefore see that the Mabinogi are
made up of local legends, explanation of triads interwoven
with traditions concerning ancient gods and goddesses.
Magic is the chief machinery of the stories, and whenever a
new episode is required, magic helps to form the plot — the
Four Branches abound in instances of this. Thus we get
a magic spell laid upon Dyfed, and this is the main topic of
the Mabinogi of Manawyddan ; and again magic and witch-
craft form the chief subject-matter of the Mabinogi of Math.
It is quite possible that some of the characters embodied
here were originally historical, but history and mythology
have been so fused as to make one indistinguishable from
the other.

The Dream of Maxen is the next in order in the Red Book,
and as found there it is not very old. Both this story and
that of Lludd and Llevelys seem to be supplementary to
Geoffrey's narrative, and the Dream of Maxen is closely
linked with the Gwynedd recensions of the Four Branches,
for in some genealogies Maxen is represented as the father
of Peblig and Baglan, the saints of the two parishes in
which Carnarvon stands. The plot of this story is very

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 223

simple when compared with the elaborate scheme of the
Four Branches. The story opens with the account of a
dream which the Roman Emperor Maxen had, in which
he saw a surpassingly beautiful maiden. After searching
high and low for her without success, it was at last decided
to follow carefully the directions of the dream, and thus the
searchers were led to Britain, where they found Elen
Luyddog — or Elen of the Hosts — the object of their quest.
The remainder of the tale is very prosaic and colourless in
comparison with the picturesque opening of the story. We
are told how Maxen, with the aid of British warriors, re-
took Rome from the usurper, who had taken advantage of
Maxen' s absence to gain the throne for himself, and also
how the men of Britain, who had come to Maxen' s aid,
occupied the land of Brittany. All of this seems a rude
collection of traditions, combined with vain attempts to
explain such names as Caer Fyrddin, Ffydd Elen, Cadair
Faxen, and Llydaw. We evidently find in this story a
fusion of history, legend, and literary invention, and no
doubt the beautiful dream at the beginning is the work
of imagination. The character of Maxen, however, is
founded on the life of Maximus, a historical personage, who
served in the Roman army in Britain, and was made
Emperor by his fellow-soldiers in 383 a.d., and who subse-
quently crossed to the Continent to claim in earnest the
Empire of the West. He met with success at the outset,
but at Aquileia, in 388, he was defeated and slain. Gildas,
who writes about 560, mentions this, but he says nothing of
Elen, nor of the occupation of Brittany by Maxen's followers.
In another connection, when speaking of the opposition of
the English, he says that many of his fellow-countrymen
had to take to flight over the sea, but he does not mention
the country they sought refuge in. According to the best
authorities, Brittany was occupied by Brythons from 450
to 550, and as there was a good deal of intercourse between
that country and Wales, the Welsh naturally began to make
surmises as to the way their kinsmen had settled in Brittany.

224 THE CELTIC REVIEW

On learning that the men who crossed with Maximus never
returned, they concluded that they were the first Brythons
to settle there, and by 800 Nennius states this supposition as
an absolute fact. The next task was to find wives for these
men; and two plans were suggested, the one being that
found in the Dream of Maxen, and the other being that
given by Geoffrey in his Historia Regum Britanniae. In
Maxen Wledig we are told that on conquering Brittany
the men were killed, but the women preserved ; the con-
querors being careful to have their tongues cut lest they
should corrupt their language, and this is given as the ex-
planation of the name Llydaw, meaning ' half-silent.' This
legend is found on the margin of a thirteenth century manu-
script of Nennius. Geoffrey's account of the way these
men found wives is that they were sent over from Wales
by Dunawd, the Earl of Cornwall, at the request of Cynan.
This is merely a transplantation of the legend of Saint
Ursula, who set out to sea with eleven thousand virgins to
accompany her, and who were all cruelly martyred by the
Huns. Geoffrey adopts this legend, and tells how the
daughter of Dunawd (whose name is Ursula, according to
one version), accompanied by eleven thousand noble ladies,
and forty thousand of lower rank, set out for Brittany, but
none of them reached a safe harbour, some being drowned,
and others murdered by pagans. The names Elen Luyddog
and Ffyrdd Elen are among the oldest elements of the
story. Sir John Rhys thinks that we have here a legend of
one of the goddesses, and he is of opinion that she is a
goddess of dawn; but it has been suggested also that,
owing to the frequent association of her name with the
roads along which the armed hosts of Rome passed, she
may well have been a goddess of war. Sir John Rhys
compares the Dream of Maxen to an Irish story known as
the Vision of Angus. In this story Angus saw a beautiful
maiden, of the fairy species, with whom was a company
of a hundred and fifty maidens, whom she turned into
swans every other year, and it was in the form of a swan

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 225

that Angus won Caerabar, the lady of the dream. Sir John
Rhys suggests that these correspond to the host of Elen ;
and the fact that the swans of Caerabar were yoked together
with a chain of silver may be the explanation of the triad
which calls the host of Elen one of the three silver hosts —
' Arianllu ' ; and it is quite possible that they were originally
regarded as priestesses of the goddess to whom they belonged.
In course of time the goddess Elen was confused with
Saint Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, and the
fabled discoverer of the Cross of Christ, and this will help
to explain her connection with Caernarvon, as a certain
Constantine is said to have been buried there. It is natural
to ask how a character like that of Elen, who was in all
probability at one time a Celtic goddess, came to be con-
nected with a stranger like Maxen. Sir John Rhys suggests
that Maxen Wledig has been substituted in the legend for
Myrddin Emrys, and the prominence given here to Caer
Fyrddin gives support to this theory ; and it is quite
possible that the highest fort in Arvon, where Maxen and
Elen made their home, refers to Dinas Emrys near Bedd-
gelert, where legends concerning Elen flourish to this day.
The reason for the substitution of the two characters is due,
probably, to the misunderstanding of ' Leuyddog ' as mean-
ing an armed host, and, on searching history for one worthy
of Elen, they fixed upon the army of Maximus, and so Elen
and Maxen were wedded in the legend.

Lludd and Llevelys, as we have it, is doubtless a supple-
ment to Geoffrey of Monmouth's history. It tells how
Britain was annoyed by a race known as the Coranians,
who, like Math of the Mabinogi, were able to hear every
whisper throughout the country. Another annoyance
which the inhabitants of the island suffered was due to
a certain terrible shriek, which was heard every May Eve ;
the third annoyance being the disappearance of provisions
in the king's court, in a most mysterious fashion. There
has been a good deal of discussion as to who the ' Coraniaid '
of the story could be. Some are of opinion that they are

VOL. VII. p

226 THE CELTIC KEVIEW

the same as the Coritani, a tribe mentioned by Ptolemy
as dwelling between Trent and Norfolk ; but the name
Coritani would have yielded Cordain in Welsh, according
to the rules of philology ; moreover, it is not certain but that
the word for the tribe in Ptolemy should be Coritavi and
not Coritani. Another explanation of the name that has
been suggested is that it is a derivative of the Welsh ' cor,'
meaning dwarf, and that the Coraniaid are acordingly a
kind of pigmy race, possibly belonging to the fairies, popu-
larly known as ' Tylwyth Teg,' who are also given the power
of hearing whispers, just as in the case of the Coraniaid.
The method by which the country was rid of these Coranians,
by sprinkling over them water, in which certain insects had
been bruised, is very suggestive of a charm to destroy a
magical race of dwarfs. The plague of the terrible shriek
heard every May Eve was found to be due to the fighting
of two dragons ; and Lludd, through the advice of his
brother Llevelys, delivered the country from that pest by
causing a pit to be dug, and a caldron full of mead to be
placed in it, into which the dragons fell when they were
weary of fighting. After drinking the mead they slept,
and Llevelys was able to bury them in the securest place he
had in Snowdon, which was called Dinas Emrys from that
time. This account of the burial of the dragons is merely
an explanation or addition to the account of the finding of
them given by Geoffrey. In his Historia he describes the
difficulties encountered by Vortigern when attempting to
build a castle in the fastnesses of Snowdon, for what was
built in the day vanished during the night. Myrddin caused
them to dig under the proposed site of the castle until they
found a lake, in which were found two hollow stones, which
concealed two sleeping dragons. Upon their being re-
leased, they began to fight. This narrative was borrowed
by Geoffrey from Nennius. Thus the story of the burial
contained in Lludd is an attempt to explain how the dragons
came to be buried in the ground ; in fact, the attention of
the person who invented the story was so fixed on the ac-

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 227

count of the release of the dragons from their prison that
he made a mistake of several hundreds of years, by connect-
ing Emrys with the story of the burial, forgetting that
Vortigern and Emrys belonged to the period of the coming
of the English, whereas Lludd, the son of Beli, reigned
in the Pre-Roman period. It is quite possible that the
dragons spoken of here were regarded as symbols of military
power, for the Welsh of the seventh and eighth centuries
were familiar enough with the sight of two dragons opposing
each other on the battlefield, for we are told that the dragon
was the standard of the West Saxons, and of the English,
previous to the Norman Conquest. The account of the
mighty man of magic of the third plague belongs evidently
to the world of fiction. The Welsh had a great fondness
for triads, so a third plague was invented to complete the
series.

Kulhwch and Olwen differs considerably from the pre-
ceding stories by its primitive and somewhat unfinished
style of narrative. It also differs in having a love-story
as its principal episode, as the love episode in Maxen's Dream
is only an introduction to the story, whereas in the story of
Kulhwch it forms the main theme upon which the story
hangs. In this it is much more modern than the foregoing,
although in its setting it is far more primitive than any one
of the stories of the Mabinogion. The plot of the story is
quite a simple one. Kulhwch is told by his stepmother
that it is his fate that Olwen alone shall be his wife. He
is filled with determination to win her, but Ysbyddaden,
Olwen' s father, refuses to give her unless Kulhwch fulfils
certain conditions. The remainder of the story relates
how Kulhwch, accompanied by Arthur and his knights,
sets out in search of the various quests stipulated by
Ysbyddaden, the noticeable thing being that these adven-
tures are not undertaken solely for their own sake, but
with the direct object of winning Olwen, and in this the
story differs in a marked degree from the aimless encounters
described in the Romances. In this connection it may be

228 THE CELTIC BEVIEW

noticed that the Arthurian Legend, in some of its earliest
forms, is represented as ridding the country of certain pests ;
and as this type of story is an attempt to explain the be-
ginnings of civilisation, it must go back to very remote
times, and in all probability existed before Arthur, whose
name is post-Roman — Artorius — and so cannot be the name
of an old god. The obstacles he encountered are seen to
be partly monsters and partly persons, such as witches, and
the very primitive stage of the Legend found here may be
seen by the fact that Arthur is described as fighting with
witches, which is distinctly a pre-mediaeval touch, and there
is a trace of it even in Peredur, although this kind of
contest is not described in the period of chivalry. Corre-
sponding to these witches in Irish literature are fighting
women, described as possessing strong physical powers,
while the witches have strong moral, or spiritual power.
Arthur is here, as in some of the poems of the Black Book,
associated with genuine British characters, which figure in
Northern legend, proving that the Arthurian legend is not
taken over from Brittany, as some have tried to prove.
This connection with the North shows that the legend belongs
to the insular Celts, although, perhaps, it was developed
later in Brittany. The story of Kulhwch and Olwen, as
we have it, seems to be a collection of notes of the pro-
fessional story-teller, who may have branched off in
different directions, embellishing the long list of names
with interesting anecdote, touching up and explaining those
allusions which are almost unintelligible to us, and clothing
everything with life, beauty, and romance. The Arthur
described here, as in the Dream of Rhonabwy, is a purely
Welsh prince, having his court at Gelliwig in Cornwall,
which is described as a purely Welsh court, where Welsh
customs prevail, and which had not yet acquired the splen-
dour of the court at Caerleon described in the Romances.
Arthur himself takes part in the wonderful adventures
detailed in the story. Dr. Gwenogfryn Evans says in his
introduction to the White Book of Rydderch that the Arthur

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATUEE 229

described in Kulhwch and Olwen is an earlier and a more
majestic type than the Arthur of the Romances. He is
more of the great leader, more of the guiding power behind
the scenes. He has nothing about him of the later knight-
errant who seeks quarrels, and engages in trivial affairs.
Nothing is more marked in the Romances than the gradual
degradation of Arthur. The later the composition, the
more ordinary grows the great leader, till at last he is over-
shadowed by his leading knights. Much of the charm of
Kulhwch and Olwen is due to the pleasing way in which
the story is told. There is a suggestion that the writer
does not believe all that he wrote : it is not an unsophisti-
cated story. He is poking fun in a kindly way at the
marvels he enumerates, and he even parodies the gene-
alogies. Thus the long list of Caw's sons, whose names are,
by the way, mostly invented by him, is a parody on the
prominence given to them in the genealogies, where Caw
is represented as the father of very many of the saints of
Anglesey, and it is quite possible that the list of names like
Bwlch, Cyfwlch, and Sefwlch are meant as a parody of the
prominence given to Tudfwlch in the Gododin. There is
also found here a vein of cynicism, and a tendency to de-
preciate human nature. Thus we have it suggested that
Kelyddon only visited his wife's grave for the sake of seeing
whether the briar had blossomed, and learning that he was
at liberty to marry again ; and again we find it implied
that it was in the nature of things for a stepmother to ill-
treat her stepson, for this is given by Goleuddydd as her
reason for asking Kilydd not to marry again. Another
very marked characteristic of this story is the tendency to
exaggerate found here, and also the tendency to be over-
accurate in detail, and this gives the whole narrative a
touch of light and very pleasing humour. There are
innumerable examples of this in the story. Thus in the
description of Kulhwch arrayed in all his splendour, ready
for his visit to Arthur's court, we are told that he was
equipped with spears that were sharp enough to wound

230 THE CELTIC REVIEW

the wind, and swifter than the fall of the dewdrop from
the blade of grass when the dew was heaviest in the month
of June. Drem, the son of Dremidyd, possessed such
excellent sight that he could from Gelliwig in Cornwall
see a gnat at Pen Blathaon in North Britain, whereas
Sucgyn could actually drink the ocean dry, and Clust, the
son of Clustveinad, though he were buried seven cubits,
could hear the ant fifty miles off when it arose from its
nest in the morning. A good instance of very effective
precision is seen in the account of the finding of the flax,
where we are told that the full measure was obtained with
the exception of one flax-seed, which, however, the lame
ant is said to have brought before nightfall. In this way
the writer has woven into the narrative, in a most ingenious
manner, light, humorous touches, which give the story an
indescribable charm and fascination. In this story too,
weirdness is produced by the same means as in the Four
Branches, the tales in both cases being those of adventure
and magic, and their force resting on the description of the
unexpected. Magic is the chief machinery of these stories,
and in Kulhwch and Olwen it is quite unobscured, whereas
in the Mabinogi delineation of character is grafted on the
older type of narrative — that of adventure, and description
of the marvellous.

In the Dream of Rhonabwy, as in Kulhwch and Olwen,
it is the Arthur of the earlier type that is pictured, having
his court at Gellinwig ; but perhaps we see traces of
Geoffrey's influence in the fact that Arthur is described as
being ruler over large tracts of Europe, for the Dream of
Rhonabwy, though containing very old elements, is never-
theless from the point of view of composition the latest in
the collection. The story is a very prosy one, having no in-
genuity of plot, nor any of the finesse of the preceding tales.
We find here an allusion to the Medrawd incident of the
Arthurian Legend — Iddawc Cordd Prydein admitting that
he did his utmost to prevent reconciliation between Arthur
and him. There are several fanciful touches in the story,

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 231

for instance, the reference to the stone in Arthur's ring,
which enabled the person that looked at it to remember all
that happened, and the explanation of the confusion in the
ranks being due to those who were at the side of the army
rushing forward to see Kai, the splendid rider, and to those
in the centre retreating hastily from the fear of the horse
and horseman.

The Romances — Owain and Luned, Peredur, and Geraint
and Enid — are peculiar among Arthurian stories, because
they are found in Continental literature, both in French
and German. The relation between the Welsh and French
versions is very hard to explain, the difficulty being to decide
whether the Welsh is the original or a paraphrase of the
French, or whether both are from stories now lost. One
very strong argument in favour of the Welsh origin of these
stories, is the fact that in the Welsh version the personal-
and place-names are correctly given, and are known from
other sources to be right, whereas in the French versions
they are generally corrupted. The Romances are less
primitive than the other stories of the Mabinogion, nor
are they so obviously Celtic as the others, and so are not
as homogeneous from a literary point of view, for they
betray in a marked degree the influence of Norman ideas.
They do not contain such a good portrait of Welsh life as
the earlier stories, nor do they mirror ancient ideas and
customs to such a degree — they are much more artificial in
character, and they form an altogether new type of narra-
tive. We no longer live in the world of magic, where
human beings can take the form of animals, and where
gods and goddesses are indistinguishable from ordinary
men and women. In the Romances, the whole atmosphere
is changed, they reflect a different world ; here the purpose
and object of life are different. Here love and jealousy and
revenge are the themes, and tournaments are the order of
the day. A new element has evidently come in, driving
out the old machinery of the earlier tales. Magic and its
spells have disappeared, and arms and combats have taken

232 THE CELTIC REVIEW

their place, and there is no longer any of that peculiar,
weird, and mysterious fascination which formed so large a
feature of the Mabinogi and of Kulhwch and Olwen. Knight-
errantry and chivalry have entered, so witchcraft and
sorcery must disappear. One very marked feature of these
Romances, apart from their elaborate and somewhat in-
volved plot, is the place they give to delineation of character ;
and here it should be noticed that the female characters
are especially well described. In Owein and Luned, for
example, Luned is the most attractive character of the whole
story, her gentleness and great unselfishness being admir-
ably described throughout. Owain is not at all sym-
pathetically portrayed. He seems a somewhat fickle knight,
who is not over careful to keep his promises — an unpardon-
able offence in the Four Branches — nor does he seem over
eager to help Luned in her distress, in spite of the fact that
she had shown him such kindness, and had so charmingly
told him what faith she had in him. Kai is here described
as inclined to be officious, and very vinegary, and this is the
character given him in Peredur also, where his taunts drive
Peredur from Arthur's court. In the story of Geraint and
Enid, the chief character is Enid, and she wins the admira-
tion of the reader from the outset. Her sublime patience
and forbearance, in spite of Geraint' s churlish suspicion
and jealousy, is excellently described. Geraint' s treatment
of Enid is not quite in keeping with the prevailing chival-
rous ideas. Historia Peredur differs from the other two
Romances ; it is far more Welsh in feeling, and less in-
fluenced by the chivalry of Geraint and Owain, although
it bears traces of Norman influence, but not to such an
extent as to efface its Celtic tone. The introduction of the
account of Peredur contending with sorceresses is not in
keeping with the spirit of these Romances. It is more
primitive ; and perhaps the survival of this episode may
be evidence of the existence of an earlier version containing
more matter of this kind. The main interest of the story
centres around the development of the hero's character,

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 233

who from a clumsy and ignorant youth becomes the most
gallant knight in the land. Peredur arrived at Arthur's
court when a raw and inexperienced youth, absolutely
unskilled in arms, and quite unfitted for his knightly career
by his training, having been kept by his mother in the com-
pany of women, boys, and spiritless men all his life. After
leaving Arthur's court, where he had been insulted by Kai,
he proceeds to his uncle's castle, where he is given a few
instructions and advice. He is warned not to ask questions,
so when he sees the bleeding lance and head at the next
castle, he refrains from asking its meaning, and this brings
about the crisis of the story. Were it not for the advice
of the first uncle there would have been no ill-timed reti-
cence and no life-long quest. Afterwards Peredur is said
to have resided in the Castle of the Sorceresses of Gloucester
for three weeks, where he was trained in arms. It has been
suggested that this should come earlier in the story, for this
fact would explain Peredur' s wonderful prowess in arms
from the first, so that his uncle had only a few maxims to
teach him. It was the powers of magic that made him
such a wonderful knight. Without doubt, Peredur was
originally a pagan hero, although he was made later into
the Grail hero in Continental literature ; and the story in
its oldest form was probably that of a hero seeking to restore
a kinsman to health and prosperity.

As regards the general style of the tales may be noticed
the fondness for description shown here. On the appearance
of a new character in the story, a long and detailed de-
scription is given. The Welsh do not seem to have practised
art, either in the form of painting or sculpture, but they
certainly excel in verbal descriptions, as is seen also in the
poets, especially in the poetry of Dafydd ab Gwilym and
his imitators. We see clearly in the Mabinogion the fond-
ness of the Celt for brilliance and contrast of colours, and
for description by colour rather than by delineation of form.
Great prominence is given to beauty, and there is an evident
love of nature shown, and this is an unusual feature of early

234 THE CELTIC REVIEW

literature, where, as a rule, nature is regarded with fear
and terror. There is none of this in Celtic literature ; on
the contrary there is everywhere manifested a love of
nature and sympathy with her in her varying moods, and
this is all the more remarkable when we consider that there
is practically no appreciation of nature shown in contem-
porary literatures, for nature inspired only awe in the
mediaeval mind. In the Mabinogion even the animals are
regarded as men's friends, for it is to the Raven of Cilgwri,
the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd, and the Stag of Rhedynfre, that
Kulhwch goes for help in his difficulties. Nor is he dis-
appointed by them : they hasten to his aid.

The Mabinogion are especially valuable on account of the
light they throw on the virtues and qualities which were
appreciated by the Celts, and on the ideals of conduct which
prevailed among them. Sadness and melancholy seem to
have had a peculiar fascination and charm for the Welsh,
as there is a great deal of pathos in the Celtic temperament.
The unfortunate career and untimely death of Pryderi
endeared his memory to the Welsh, and the troubles which
befell Rhiannon soon won the sympathy of the susceptible
Celt. Nothing is more noticeable than the treatment of
women in the Mabinogion, even in the tales which do not
bear the stamp of chivalry. Great deference is paid to
women, their opinion is respected, and their advice sought.
Another noteworthy fact is the absence of cruelty from
these stories ; and the rare instances of cruelty which are
found in the Mabinogion may very well have been a Teutonic
and alien element. In the descriptions of the various
characters we get a good insight into the qualities and
virtues which the Celts appreciated, and the moral code
which they observed. That the compiler of these stories
had a splendid eye for artistic effect will be seen from the
way the different types of characters are balanced and
contrasted by him. Thus we get in the Four Branches, the
characters of Pryderi and Manawyddan contrasted, the
latter being described as a cautious and wary person, rather

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 235

given to cunning, and prudent in all his negotiations.
Pryderi, on the other hand, is more truly Celtic perhaps,
being impulsive and hot-tempered, and easily driven to act
rashly and thoughtlessly. The difference in their characters
is revealed in the way Pryderi wishes to resort to arms
immediately on learning that they were threatened by the
saddlers and shoemakers, and his impetuosity is restrained
by Manawyddan who points out the folly and futility of his
proposal. Rhiannon and Branwen are contrasted, though
not in the same story. Rhiannon is the perfect lady, who,
rather than condescend to wrangle with the women who
had wronged her, prefers to suffer in silence. Branwen, on
the other hand, has no scruple about sending a message to
her brother asking him to avenge her wrong, although the
punishment inflicted upon her was not nearly so heavy as
that which Rhiannon bore so quietly. From the Mabinogion
we see that justice, truthfulness, and straightforwardness
seem to have been qualities greatly admired by the Welsh.
Thus we see in the Mabinogi of Math, the justice and wisdom
of Math contrasted with the wickedness of Gwydion and
Gilvaethwy. Then again we see the stress laid upon the
faithfulness of Pwyll and Arawn when they exchange
territories for a certain period; and, moreover, we find
Teyrnon unhesitatingly deciding to restore Gwri, in spite
of the fact that it was greatly against his inclination to do
so, and thereby showing a keen sense of duty and apprecia-
tion of what was fitting. This approval and recognition of
what was right is seen also in the fact that the visitors at
Pwyll's court, as a rule, refused Rhiannon' s offer to carry
them. The Mabinogion lay great stress upon the import-
ance of keeping a promise ; for instance, we are told how
Pwyll submitted to great inconvenience rather than break
his word to Gwawl. But, after all, their code of morals
was rather a strange one, for although they were so scrupu-
lous over the sacredness of a promise, yet they sanctioned
the disgraceful and mean treatment which Pwyll dealt to
Gwawl, on the occasion of their second meeting at Rhian-

236 THE CELTIC REVIEW

non's court. The value placed on conversational power is
repeatedly emphasised in these tales ; thus Pryderi mentions
Rhiannon's skill in this direction when suggesting to
Manawyddan the advisability of marrying her. Wrong-
doing is everywhere in the Mabinogion harshly punished.
There are two very prominent examples of this in the Four
Branches in the case of Gwydion and Gilvaethwy, and in that
of Gronwy Pefr. All these considerations tend to show
that the ethics of the Mabinogion almost coincide with
modern ideas of morals, and so betray an advanced stage of
civilisation, and evince an artistic perception in the way
they embody these ethical ideas in picturesque and pleasing
form.

The Mabinogion are very important on account of the
light they throw on the social condition of Wales in the
Middle Ages, but from this point of view, and from that of
the light they throw on the religion of the times, the Ro-
mances, Owain and Luned, Peredur and Geraint and Enid,
which are practically identical in narrative with Chretien
de Troves' s Yvain, Perceval, and Erec et Enide, are by
no means so important as the Four Branches and Kulhwch
and Olwen, which give an excellent portrait of mediaeval
Wales. One very noticeable thing in the Mabinogion is the
importance placed upon rank. Thus in the encounter
between Pwyll and Arawn, we observe the deference with
which Pwyll treats Arawn when he learns his status, and
later when Pwyll visits Annwn in the guise of Arawn, he is
received and attended to by pages and two knights, and
we are told further that they sit at table in order of rank,
an allusion which is also found in the account of Branwen's
marriage feast at Aberffraw, given in the second of the Four
Branches. The sense of what is appropriate and fitting to
a person of rank is seen in an instance, already cited in
another connection, where Rhiannon considers it unseemly
that a lady of her position should argue with low and un-
principled women. The same idea is found in Kulhwch
and Olwen, where the men refuse to allow Arthur to engage

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 237

in trivial encounters. In the Mabinogi of Pwyll we see that
trial by combat was in vogue in Wales at the time when
the Mabinogion were written, for we are told that Pwyll —
in the guise of Arawn — fought with Hafgan for the posses-
sion of certain land, and after Pwyll is declared victor, the
nobles come to him to do homage, showing that the feudal
custom of paying homage had already penetrated into
Wales. It is noticeable that we find here freedom of choice
in marriage, inasmuch as Rhiannon refuses to marry Gwawl,
but it is quite possible that Rhiannon was a privileged
person in this respect, being, as we shall see later, in all
probability in the ancient forms of the story a goddess.
There is not the slightest indication in the Mabinogion that
there was a religious marriage ceremony at this time, and
it is interesting to note that it was evidently not the custom
for the wife to accompany her husband immediately after
the marriage ; for when Pwyll suggests his leaving for
Dyfed, Heveydd asks him to name a day when Rhiannon
should follow, and he evidently seems surprised that Pwyll
should desire her to accompany him, for he asks, ' Wiliest
thou this, Lord,' as if he were asking for something unusual.
Another strange custom mentioned in this connection is
that the bride should give gifts to those who visit her,
instead of the bride being the recipient of the gifts according
to the modern custom. The account of the nobles taking
counsel together to ask Pwyll to divorce his wife because
she was childless is an interesting indication of the way the
government of the country was carried on, as it proves that
the prince was not an absolute ruler, for Pwyll does not deny
their right to advise him in this way, nor does he deny that
they have a right to demand him to divorce his wife if she
remained childless. We find another indication that the
government was a limited monarchy in the Mabinogi of
Branwen, when Matholwch tells Bendigeitvran that he
sought advice from the council of his country, when wishing
to know how to rid the land of Llassar Llaesgyfnewit and
his wife. The reference to the use of poisoned arrows is

238

THE CELTIC KEVIEW

interesting, inasmuch as the custom is of pagan origin —
Gronw Pefr is said to have used poisoned arrows to kill
Llew, and they were also used by Ysbyddaden. It is
evident that burning was one of the modes of punishment
at this time, for the serving women of Rhiannon mention
this as the probable punishment they would incur should
their crime be known. It is noticeable that Rhiannon was
allowed to engage certain wise men to advise her in her
trouble. Towards the end of the Mabinogi of Pwyll, we
get an instance of the plan of giving a new and significant
name to a person on attaining some advanced age. The
name is generally due to some chance circumstance or
saying ; thus in the case of Pryderi, his name was altered
from Gwri, because by his restoration, Rhiannon was
relieved from her anxiety. There is an instance also in
Kulhwch and Olwen, where Goreu the son of Cystennyn
obtains his permanent name through a chance saying of
one of his comrades, and, in the Mabinogi of Math, Gwydion
has to undergo considerable inconvenience to get a name
for Llew, which he eventually obtains through a casual
remark of Aranrhod's, and it has been suggested by Sir
John Rh^s that this is a non-Celtic element in the Mabino-
gion. Though it is the foster father that formally gives the
name to the child — Pendaran in the case of Pwyll and
Gwydion in the case of Llew — yet it is the mother that
suggests the name in both cases. The name Pendaran
suggests a connection with the Druids, and perhaps it was
originally in virtue of his knowledge as a Druid that he gave
Pryderi his name. It is easy to imagine Gwydion as a
Druid too, for we already know him as an unexampled
magician. This leads us to surmise that perhaps originally
it was the Druid that gave the child his permanent name,
on the strength of his supposed knowledge of the char-
acteristics and attainments of a person. The reference
found at the end of the story of Pwyll to fosterage is
interesting on the account of the light it throws on social
history, as this custom helped to unite society together, and

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 239

cemented friendly relations between the ruling house and
the families of the chief nobles. There is an instance of the
friendly relations which existed among foster-brothers in
the Dream of Rhonabwy. When Iorwerth, the son of
Maredudd, was perplexed as to what course to take, on
finding that his elder brother failed to treat him properly,
he consults his foster-brothers, and they suggest a means of
deliverance. From the fact that Pryderi followed his father
on the throne we gather that the succession was hereditary ;
but in the Mabinogi of Branwen we have an allusion to the
Pictish succession, for we are told that Matholwch, in order
to make peace with Bendigeitvran promises that his own
son Gwern and Bendigeitvran' s nephew, shall rule after
him. He evidently considers this a concession on his part,
and suggests that Gwern could not demand this claim on
account of his being the son of the king, showing in all pro-
bability that it was the Pictish succession, which ensured
the accession to the son of the king's sister, that was in
vogue. Perhaps we get an instance of this in the case of
Gwydion and Math, for although it is not definitely stated,
it is nevertheless implied that Gwydion was Math's suc-
cessor, because there was a good deal of authority in the
hands of Gwydion. It may very well have been that Llew
Llaw Gyffes, the son of Gwydion's sister Aranrhod, was
Gwydion' s heir, according to the Pictish rule of succession,
and this would account for the great interest taken in Llew
by him. It is quite possible too, that we have an instance
of this rule in the case of Bran, for it may be due to a scribal
error that Penardim, Bran's mother, is given as the daughter
of Beli, and not as his sister, which would make the accession
of Bran regular, according to the Pictish rule. We find an
interesting allusion in the Mabinogi of Manawyddan to the
existence of trade guilds, which played a great part in the
history of trade in the Middle Ages, for we are told here that
when the shoemakers found that Manawyddan and Pryderi
were ruining their trade, they summoned together a council
and decided to kill them both. This is very interesting as

240 THE CELTIC REVIEW

showing the trade habits and practices of the Middle Ages,
when one who outsold the others might have his rivals
plotting against him. The importance placed on rank is
emphasised again and again here, as it is throughout the
Mabinogion, thus Manawyddan is repeatedly told how very
unbecoming it is for a man of his rank to condescend to
punish the mouse that has offended him. The story of
Math ab Mathonwy, which forms the oldest nucleus of the
Mabinogi, in all probability, reflects more primitive con-
ditions of life than the other three branches. We find an
allusion to a very old custom, namely that the king should
rest his feet on the lap of a maiden, whose sole office it was
to be his foot-bearer. In the Laws this office was held by
a man. We also find here the references to the custom of
giving hostages, and to the mode of deciding disputes by
single combat, for this was the way the dispute between
Gronw and Llew was decided. We find here, as elsewhere
in the Mabinogion, the great respect paid to the bards, and
the courteous way they were treated, being always sure of
admittance and welcome wherever they went, for this is
the form adopted by Gwydion and his companions in order
to gain admission into Pryderi's court and afterwards into
Aranrhod's. The bards evidently combined with their
purely poetic functions those of story-tellers also, for parti-
cular notice is given to Gwydion' s skill in story- telling
when he and Gilvaethwy went as bards to the court of
Dyfed. Interesting light is thrown upon the way a breach
of moral law, such as the offence committed against Llew
by Gronw Pefr, was regarded, death being the only com-
pensation that would be accepted. Another noticeable
thing is that the household of Gronw Pefr is blamed for
being unwilling to undertake his punishment in his stead,
showing that the lord of the household was a privileged
person, and could expect one of his followers to suffer in
his place, if occasion should demand it. Kulhwch and
Olwen also supplies us with a great deal of valuable infor-
mation concerning the social condition of Wales in the

THE MABINOGION AS LITEBATUKE 241

Middle Ages. There were evidently no scruples then about
taking another man's wife, for this was the way in which
Kilydd obtained his second wife — by killing her first hus-
band, King Doged. One of the most interesting allusions
found in this story is that to the ceremony which took
place when a young vassal became of age. It was cus-
tomary that he should then go to his overlord to have his
head shaved, and on that occasion he could ask any boon
he liked from his chieftain. Thus we find Kulhwch ap-
proaching Arthur for this purpose, and notifying Olwen
as the boon he desired. We also find here a charming
description of Arthur's court, where hearty welcome and
generous hospitality was offered to any weary knight who
desired to rest there, but admittance was not granted into
Arthur's presence when the feast had begun unless the
visitor were a king's son or a craftsman bearing his craft,
showing with what great respect trade was then regarded,
for it was in the guise of a tradesman that Kai is afterwards
described as entering Wrnach Gawr's castle. The hos-
pitality of the Welsh is admirably described, for we are told
that it was not until Kulhwch and his companions had
broken the edge of their hunger, and rested from the fatigue
of their journey, that Cystennyn and his wife ask their
errand. Another old custom which is mentioned here is
that the subjects of a particular prince should prepare a
feast for him, known as a ' gwest,' at the various points of
his journey when on a circuit through his domain. Another
interesting allusion is to ' agweddi,' and ' amobr,' the gift
of the bridegroom to the bride and to the bride's father
respectively. Ysbyddaden refers to a family council when
he tells Kulhwch that he will have to consult his kinsmen
and kinswomen before he can give Olwen to him.

It is thought that certain ideas found in the Mabinogion
are suggestive of paganism, and so their study from the
point of view of the light they throw on pre-Christian
religious ideas is exceptionally interesting and important.
Naturally we turn to look for these traces in the oldest of

VOL. VII. Q

242 THE CELTIC BEVIEW

the stories of the Mabinogion, and in those particularly
which embody local folklore and tradition, such as stories
which are explanatory of certain place-names. Thus we
can trace the route which Gwydion took when bringing the
swine from Dyfed, by means of the place-names containing
the word ' Moch.' The prominence given to swine here
and in the story of Kulhwch is very suggestive, for it is
known that the Celts had a god Moccus, the old Celtic
equivalent of the modern ' moch.' There are many in-
stances of stories to explain place-names in the Mabinogion,
and some of them may go back to very remote times. In
the Four Branches these names are connected mostly with
Gwynedd and Ardudwy, Dyfed and Gwent ; in Maxen
Wledig, and Lludd and Llevelys, they are connected with
Gwynedd, in Kulhwch and Olwen with Dyfed, Buallt,
Ewyas, Erging and Gwent. These place-name explanations
show a very marked interest in the sea. Maen Dylan, a
rock in the sea near Clynnog, is evidently connected with
Dylan Eil Ton of the Mabinogi of Math. There is also a
Maen Mellt off the coast of Lleyn, which is also a significant
name, as it is probably connected with Mabon ab Mellt,
whose name, however, does not occur in the Mabinogion.
Mabon is clearly the name of a deity who was seemingly the
son of the god or goddess of lightning ; so arguing from
analogy we might say that Dylan was also regarded at one
time as a god. The sea evidently formed a great part in
the religious conceptions of the Celts, for the name Llyr,
corresponding to the Irish Ler, meant in mediseval Welsh
1 the sea,' so that it is quite possible that originally Llyr
was regarded as the god of the sea, and was worshipped by
the Irish as well as the Welsh. The name Beli also was
associated with the sea, for it has survived in such a con-
nection in the expression 'Biw Beli' for the waves, and
' Gwirawt Veli ' for the brine and moreover in Maxen Wledig
we are told that Maxen conquered Britain from the sons of
Beli, and drove them upon the sea, with which they were
evidently connected in popular legend. There may be ele-

THE MABINOGION AS LITEBATUBE 243

merits of paganism in those myths which are explanatory
of games, such as that of ' the badger in the bag,' and also in
explanations of certain proverbial expression such as ' A
vo penn bit pont,' alluding in this case to Bran, who to
provide a bridge for his men to cross to Ireland, places
himself across the intervening space. There is another
reference to a fabulous bridge in Kulhwch and Olwen, where
Osla Gyllellvawr could form a bridge for all the hosts of
Arthur by merely placing his sheathed sword across the
river. These allusions to fabulous bridges are probably of
great antiquity, and possibly go back to a time when
the art of bridge-making was still in its infancy. Occa-
sional references to such a date as the first of May,
which was the beginning of the second half of the Celtic
year, probably have a religious significance. In Lludd
and Llevelys the terrible shriek of the second plague was
heard on this date, and in the Mabinogi of Pwyll we are
told that Teyrnon's mare foaled on the night of every
first of May. Again in the reference to the feud between
Gwythur and Gwyn fab Nudd, the allusion to the first of
May is probably an ancient feature. The ideas about
Annwn which are found in the Mabinogi are, no doubt
connected with religious conceptions. Annwn is the Celtic
paradise, whose inhabitants possess a higher civilisation,
and whence come the blessings of this world. The first, and
only, reference to Annwn is found in Pwyll, where we are
told of his encounter with Arawn, the King of Annwn,
where Pwyll himself actually resides for a period. From
the account given of Annwn here, we gather that it was
regarded as a counterpart of this world, and that it had
countries and kingdoms under the rule of different kings,
for Arawn has an enemy in Annwn — Havgan. The inhabi-
tants of Annwn are described as having the same pursuits
as the dwellers of the upper world, to which they apparently
have free access, and it is even possible for mortals such as
Pwyll to sojourn in the mysterious other-world of Annwn
occasionally. Perhaps the beautiful white dogs with red

244 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ears, which are described in the story of Pwyll, are those
known in folklore as Cwn Annwn. There is no suggestion
in the Mabinogion that the dwellers of Annwn had anything
necessarily to do with the spirits of the dead — thus the spirit
of Llew Llaw Gyffes is represented as taking the form of an
eagle, and it is quite possible that the conception of a spirit
taking a winged form was fairly common. This lower world
was not always regarded as being on the same plane and
of the same nature ; for instance, Caer Aranrhod is regarded
as an island, and in Kulhwch and Olwen Arthur is repre-
sented as going thither by expedition to the north. It is
quite possible that Gwydion and Math were originally in-
habitants of Annwn, just like Arawn, as they are evidently
gods who have deteriorated into magicians, and the same
may be true of Ysbyddaden Ben Cawr. Closely associated
with these stories of Annwn are the tales of change of form
by magic, which undoubtedly involve pre-Christian ideas.
There are very many examples of this in the Mabinogion.
Thus the household of Llwyd are turned into mice by magic,
and we are told of Gwydion and Gilvaethwy being changed
into three different animals, and afterwards regaining their
proper forms, and, in the story of Kulhwch, theTwrchTrwyth
and his company of swine were really men in that form.
Another very pagan idea which is found in Kulhwch and
Olwen is the idea that God creates by magic, nor is the
phrase a mere accident, for it occurs several times. Thus
the Blackbird of Cilgwri tells Kulhwch that the stag of
Rhedynfre had been magically created by God before himself.
Another idea which is evidently pagan is that the life of a
person depends upon an external occurrence which has no
apparent connection with it at all — that Math's life de-
pended upon his feet resting on the lap of a maiden is a
strange, magical idea. We have another instance in the
story of Kulhwch, where we are told that Ysbyddaden' s
death would come if his daughter Olwen married. In the
story of Rhiannon we, no doubt, have matter of a very
ancient kind, it being in all probability a story concerning

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 245

one of the Celtic goddesses. That Rhiannon's father should
be called Heveydd Hen is a sign of this, for the gods are
frequently designated thus in later days. By regarding
Rhiannon as a goddess, we get an explanation of what
seems so strange to the modern reader, namely, that
Rhiannon should seek Pwyll instead of waiting until he came
to seek her. Instances of goddesses wooing mortals are
not unknown in Celtic literature ; there is a parallel in Irish
literature where Con the son of Art is wooed by a goddess.
From the association of Rhiannon, as a rider, with a horse
— for it is on horseback that we first see her riding towards
Pwyll — it is possible that Rhiannon herself may have been
a deity, like Epona, in the form of a mare. That she should
have been punished for her supposed crime by being com-
pelled to carry the strangers who called at the castle, from
the entrance to the hall, adds evidence in favour of this
theory, and that Rhiannon's occupation during her im-
prisonment with Pryderi, at the time of the spell upon
Dyfed, should have been described as that of carrying the
collars of the asses about her neck, is additional proof of this
supposition. This may be the explanation of the connec-
tion between Gwri, Rhiannon's son, and the foal which
Teyrnon lost the night he found the boy, for in the early
versions of the story Gwri may have been represented as
a foal. It may well have been that the account of the mare
of Teyrnon which foaled every first of May was an attempt
to explain the growth of the summer, which may have been
represented as the rebirth of the spirit of vegetation from a
divine mare in the form of a foal, and it is quite possible
that in another form of the story Gwri was the son of
Teyrnon and Rhiannon, for names ending in -on are un-
doubtedly survivals of divine names from pre-Christian
times, the older form being -onos for gods, and -ona for
goddesses, so that the names Teyrnon — Tigernonos — and
Rhiannon — Rigantona — form a pair of this kind. There are
several examples of names of this formation in the Mabino-
gion, the most important being Gwydion, Govannon, the

246 THE CELTIC REVIEW

god of smiths, Amaethon, the god of husbandry, and many
others. In Kulhwch and Olwen we find the name Mabon
fab Modron, which is without doubt the name of a god, as
Mabon is found in its older form, Maponos, on an inscription
dedicated to the god Apollo. Modron comes from an older
form Matrona, which is known from its form to be the name
of a goddess, so that the whole name means the Great Son
of the Great Mother. Gwyn Gotybrion is another instance
of this kind of name, meaning Gwyn who dwells under the
water. Another name which is evidently of pre-Christian
origin is that of Sulien, which comes from an earlier form,
Soligena, which means one sprung from the sun. Another
name of similar formation is Morien, which stands for an
older Morigena, one sprung from the sea. Another type
of name that was originally that of a god, is that which
corresponds to a name prominent in Irish legend — Llyr
corresponding to Irish Ler has already been noticed. Mana-
wyddan corresponds to the Irish Manannan, and Nudd to
Nuada, of which the Welsh Lludd may be another form.
We get the prototype of this name on an inscription at
Lydney as Nodens or Nodons, and the corresponding form
Lludd probably goes back to a form Lodens or Lodens which
survives in the name of the place Lydney. The Welsh
Llew corresponds to the Irish Lug, which has a different
vowel gradation. Bran is also found in Irish legend. A
name like Bran is very suggestive, as it may well be an in-
stance of the survival of animal deities in the form of birds.
In a poem in the Black Book Bran is represented as the
son of Iwerydd, which is probably the mother's name, as
the father's name is given as Llyr in the Mabinogi. It is
quite possible therefore that Bran may have been the son
of Llyr, the god of the sea, and of Iwerydd, the goddess of
Ireland. Adar Rhiannon, which are mentioned in the
White Book of Rhydderch as having power to cause the
living to sleep and the dying to awake, may also be survivals
of animal deities. Gwalchmei — the hawk of May, and
Gwalchhaued, the hawk of summer, and Gwrgi, the Man-

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 247

dog, are also names of this type. It is more than probable
that fabulous creatures like Carw Rhedynfre, Cuan Cwm
Cawlwyd, and others whose names have become proverbial,
were at one time worshipped in Wales, and names like that
of Pryderi and Blodeuwedd, which had a distinct signi-
ficance when given, may have a religious bearing. The
idea of the interference with time by magic is evidently
a very primitive one. Thus we are told that Pwyll when
attempting to approach Rhiannon got no nearer her, how-
ever much he hurried, and the same idea is found in Kulhwch,
where the men fail to get any nearer to Ysbyddaden's
castle, in spite of their journeying towards it day and night.
To the same category belongs the idea of magical inter-
ference with the growth of children found in the case of
Pryderi and Llew. We get an indication in the Mabinogion
that there was a system in Celtic of grouping deities on the
basis of a matriarchal rather than patriarchal family. The
most conspicuous instance is the family of Don, members of
which have names which are undoubtedly survivals of the
names of gods, such as Amaethon, Govannon, and Gwydion,
all three of which are represented as the sons of Don.
Mabon, the son of Modron, is a name of this type, Modron
being the mother's name, and goes back to a form Matrona,
which is found in the name of the river Marne in Gaul.
The same phenomenon is found in Irish literature, as shown
by such a name as Conchobar mac Nessa, Nessa being the
mother's name. References to a certain power which one
person may have over the life of another by swearing a
destiny for that person are important, as they evidently
belong to an ancient system of ideas. Thus the whole story
of Kulhwch turns upon the destiny sworn him by his step-
mother. Instances are also found in the Mabinogi where
Aranrhod swears that Llew, her son, shall not have a name
until she gives it him, and again that he shall not obtain
arms except from her, and thirdly that she alone can give
him a wife. The references to ' Gwiddonod,' who are
evidently some kind of belligerent women, may allude to a

248 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

class of goddesses, who were not favourably disposed
towards mankind, although the epithets ' gorwen ' and
' gorddu ' given these witches sometimes seems, at any
rate, to point to their not being wholly of this kind. The
treatment of magic in these stories is important for the light
it throws on the early religion of the Celts. In Dyfed, the
great magician is Llwyd fab Cilcoed, and in Gwynedd,
Math and Gwydion are the chief characters of this type.
As the Welsh Llwyd fab Cilcoed is also found in Irish
legend as Liath mac Celtchair, and is portrayed there too
as a great magician, it is more than probable that we get
here a survival of belief in beings with superhuman, magical
powers. The belief in the existence of races of superhuman
acuteness, such as the Coraniaid mentioned in Lludd and
Llevelys, points to the fact that the Celts believed not only
in individual beings of superior powers, but also in tribes
and other social groups of this kind. The claims of Elen
of the Dream of Maxen to be considered as a goddess have
already been noticed.

Thus we see that the Mabinogion are of inestimable value
as literary production, inasmuch as they mirror not only
mediaeval ideas and customs, but also because they contain
traces of old Celtic thought in the numerous traditions of
gods and goddesses embodied in them. Their literary
value is also enhanced by the finished and elegant style of
the tales, and by the fact that the plot in most cases is
exceptionally good. That Wales should have a literature
such as this in the Middle Ages is a fact to be proud of ; and
not only should Wales be proud of it because of its own
intrinsic value, but also because of the marked influence it
has had over the imaginative literature of Europe.

HELGEBIOEN THE HEATHEN 249

HELGEBIORN THE HEATHEN
Alice Milligan

(Continued from page 164)

VII
IN THE LONG WINTER NIGHTS

The days shortened. Helgebiorn and the Hermit had now
long nights to sit together when no writing could be done.
The feeble flicker from the wick, fed by oil of the fulmar,
was not sufficient for the small fine writing of the Gospel
or the intricate ornamentation of its initial letters. Ere
only wrote in the clear daylight. When the hours of
darkness came, it was his custom to sit for a long time
silent in prayer and meditation. At such times he would
say to Helgebiorn, ' We will pray now and meditate ' ; and
the Viking, keeping the secret of his heathen ignorance,
sat quietly as if he prayed. He had much in his past life
to think over, and in those long, monotonous hours, when
he sat in the narrow cell, with hands clasped about his
knees, his eyes fixed upon the fire, he was far away in
thought, sailing over green seas, plundering, fighting,
feasting with the comrades of his warrior days again.
Instead of prayers he repeated passages from the sagas,
the Volsung, which relates of the love of Brunhild, and
Siegfried's forgetfulness ; and the Voluspa, telling of the
Gods of Asgard, the creation of the world of men, the
mystery of the ash Ygdrasil, of the horror of Hela, the
joys of Valhalla. His lips moved as he recited, but no
word was said aloud. Sometimes it was a song of his
own making that he murmured, for he had the Scald's
art, and had been famed at feasts for his skill in chanting.
When he tired of that quietness he would rise and
pace outside in the night, hearkening to the sea thunder
on the cliffs, and wind shrilling on the heath. If heaven

250 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

was not overdarkened, his eyes questioned the stars, that
shone so whitely in the unfathomable purple gloom. Moon-
silver on the sea made his thoughts fly out away to the
world edge, and he would wonder where Asgard of the Gods
lay, and how it could be found. He wondered, too, where
the birds had gone. To no better country surely, for they
would return to the seven rocks of Flannan when time
was for eggs and fledglings. The quivering stars in their
innumerable multitudes reminded him of those banished
bird-flocks. These, too, knew their season of coming and
going, and Ere the Hermit had a song — or psalm, as he
called it — which told how the one Lord ordered all. But
sometimes that quiet star-world was invaded. The auroral
lights of a sudden illumined the winter sky. Were there
giant hunters, invisible demon warriors riding along the
marshalled starry host of the firmament ? He saw white
lances shot hither and thither, lightning-bright sword
blades, whirling spectral shapes rushing across the zenith.
Then, like the rainbow bridge of Helmdall, there grew an
arch of ruby light, that went from sea to sea. The Viking
stood on the cliff edge very far from the hermit's cell, and
vaunted loud where Ere the Hermit could not hear. His
song told of the strife of the Gods of Asgard with the giants
of Jotunheim : —

1 In heaven on high
Is war a-waging,
From hands of hosts
The spears are springing ;
I see them leap,
I see them lighten,
I see them shake
Where shields are smitten.
Who are those hosts
On high in heaven ;
Out of whose hands
The spears are springing 1

These are the goodly
Gods of Asgard,

HELGEBIOKN THE HEATHEN 251

Who marched to meet
The Jotun Giants ;
Wakened to war
By Helmdall holy,
Who blows his horn
On Bifrost Bridge.

Lo ! Odin leads !
The lordly Aser —
The raven God,
The battle-rouser,
The sleepless-eyed —
Eides out in Sleipner ;
And fearless forth,
Behind All-father,
Comes Oku-Thor
For battle belted j
To heave through heaven
His mighty hammer.
And after him
All Gods of Asgard
Go forth to war
Against the Jotun,
Warned by the watchman
Ever wakeful,
Who blows his horn
On Bifrost Bridge.'

Such was the song that Helgebiorn sang on the cliff
edge facing the Northern Sea. When the auroral splendours
faded, he turned his face from the gloom and was glad
enough to crouch through the low door of the cell and see,
instead of frosty stars and wavering fires, the red glow of
Erc's hearth fire. Then there would be friendly talk, and
the frugal meal shared between them, and Helgebiorn
would at last forget his wondering about Asgard, and the
over-sea land, and think only what mystery of sorrow was
hidden in the heart of his companion, and he would try
to read the secret in his keen, blue, wistful eyes. Secrecy
and reserve and untruth on Helgebiorn' s part were like a
dividing curtain between them, and though they were thus
bound in companionship they were like strangers.

252 THE CELTIC BEVIEW

At the end of the winter Ere broke the silence and laid
bare his heart.

It was by white stones and shells set into the earthen
floor of the little church that he kept count of the passing
of the year and holy seasons : the paved portion was a sort
of rude calendar recording the period of his solitude, and
every morning when he knelt to pray he added a pebble or
shell to mark the coming of another day. Each Christmas
was marked by a star, each Easter Day by a cross, and
there were other rudely formed figures indicating certain
feasts and holy days. One day of February, when the sea
was blue and glancing under a cloudless heaven, Helgebiorn
came forth into the daylight, full of joy in life, and taking
in deep breaths of the keen air he went towards the church ;
there every morning he knelt with the monk, though not
truthfully adoring. This day Ere had knelt long on his
bare knees and was beating his breast. ' The season of
penitence has come,' he said, and all that day he fasted
from food. Helgebiorn wondered, but was discreet. He
ate salt sea-fowl secretly when he was out milking the goats,
for the hermit evidently intended that he should refrain
from preparing food.

' It is the season of penitence,' said Ere, when they were
alone that night together. ' At this time it is salutary
for us to confess our sins, not only to Him who knows all
secrets of the soul, but to our fellow men for our humbling.
No priest is here, nor will be till midsummer, to whom I
can abase myself for my sins ; yet by the will of the Lord
I have for the first time with me in my exile one to whose
human ear I can recount my faults in all humility. Per-
haps, dear companion of my solitude, thine own soul's
health shall benefit by my recital, and if thou too hast a
burden upon thy soul it will be good to declare it. This
is the season of penitence and prayer.'

Helgebiorn scarcely knew how to answer this touching
confidence, but seeing that he was at last to learn the secret
which had tantalised him, he assented simply and readily.

HELGEBIOKN THE HEATHEN 253

I Speak on, and I will listen.'

' The Lord will do the rest,' said Ere, and thus he
spoke.

■ Old memories and sinful thoughts have wakened in
my heart since your coming, dear stranger. Alone here
with the rock fowl and seals, busy with the writing of the
holy books, and at my simple toil, ambition and cruel
passions had fallen asleep. I do not blame you, good
friend. It is myself I now accuse, for I think that you
were sent for a trial to me, and to teach me that sin is hard
to tame, and must continually be striven against. I
thought the cruelty of my nature was vanquished utterly,
and now I have been tried and found wanting. In the
first days after your coming, when daily I attended that
broken arm, I envied you those limbs as of a mighty warrior ;
and this was my thought when I touched firm flesh or
knotted muscle, Here am I, a withered monk, who might
have been a chieftain of hosts with limbs like those.' He
sighed softly and beat his breast, as if envy still ruled
there ; but in Helgebiorn's eyes there was a flash of sym-
pathy, and he loved the old man better for this sin that he
deplored. The heart of a warrior beat under that priestly
gown ; they could be friends now, and would understand
one another well, though he had never guessed that this
could be.

I I have slain men in my time,' Ere went on ; ' sometimes
even yet I am very proud to think of the deed for which I
was banished here. I slew a Viking chief,' he said. Helge-
biorn flushed redly, but bit his lip to silence. ' Yes,' said
Ere, ' I took his life, as you shall hear, after I had vowed
myself to the way of peace. I should have sought rather
to save his soul, though that would have been hard enough,
seeing he had it in his mind to kill me and the priests my
brethren. However, slaying and battle was not my busi-
ness. I renounced it after the first days of my youth.'

1 Tell me about your youth,' said Helgebiorn.

6 1 am of a tribe of Southern Ireland, a princely tribe,'

254 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

said Ere. ' Words of pride ill befit me, yet I must speak
the truth. Ours was a famous fighting tribe of Clare in
North Mumha, namely the Dal-Cas. It is not lawful for
me to boast, otherwise I could tell you much, how they
took tribute and plunder and withstood the incursions of
the heathen. I was a soldier in my young days by my
father's side. I learnt to hurl a spear, to wield a sword.
I carried a round bright shield of riveted bronze. I remem-
ber the day that it was given to me. It had belonged to
my older brother before, but he was killed in battle. They
brought his shield to me, and I was glad to bear it. I went
to many battles on many plundering expeditions ; I fought
against the Danes and killed many. I must not speak of
it ; it is a sin. But at length the grace of God touched
my heart and I dedicated myself to the way of peace.
My round shield of bronze went to my younger brother.
I wonder if he bears it yet.

1 It was at the Church of saintly Flannan at Cill-da-lua
that I took the vows and joined myself to the sons of life.
Where the broad Shannon leaves the last lake before the
sea, that is where the church stands. There is good fishing
there. The church was of stone, beautifully fitted to the
very roof ; you may have seen it in your voyaging.' But
Helgebiorn did not answer. He had been more than once
at Cill-da-lua. His visits to churches were not occasioned
by piety.

' I was there some years,' said Ere, ' when a summons
came for a company of us to go away out of Ireland to
Alba and the Isles, where a need of priests was in spite of
Columcille's preaching. It was from Iona, indeed, that they
sent for us, not having a sufficiency of students there. The
fierce onslaughts of the Vikings had thinned the ranks of
the holy. It was not to Iona, however, that I was going,
I and a little band of my comrades from Cill-da-lua on the
Shannon, but to a new church that was a-building on
Eilean Mor in Gigha Sound. We travelled through Ireland
on foot, and on the outmost northern coast took boat and

HELGEBIORN THE HEATHEN 255

went there, crossing the wide Moyle in calm weather, and
coming by all sounds and waters to our destined island.
It is a fair spot, and there I spent happy years. The
church was made in the model of Flannan's church in
Ireland. We had men with us skilled to build it, and one
of them, Maelmuire, son of Conan, son of Cas, carved,
moreover, a shapely cross with curious figures out on the
green sward before the church. It was a usual place to
pray at. We had peace and happiness there for many a
year — going hither and thither to mainland or island,
preaching, baptizing, making peace between tribe and
tribe. We wrote many books, too, and accumulated some
treasure for the service of our church. Worldly goods we
had personally renounced. Maybe the fame of our golden
chalices went abroad, for at length the Viking's fleet came
to plunder us. I was cutting seaweed from a currach
among the rocks when the sea-dragons came in sight.
There was a great panic and flight, and many fled to seek
shelter or hide our treasure ; but the fighting blood and
the soldier's daring was in me. I must not boast, but I
am telling the truth now, I could not run to hide like a
rabbit in its hole ; but I crept ashore and hid in a crevice
of the rock near where I knew they must land. It is very
hard to land on Eilean Mor in Gigha. They came onward
with their swinging oars, and the long ships were brought
as near as could be. Then the Vikings plunged and swam
till they reached the rocks, or came ashore in small
skiffs.

' They came clambering one by one, and I kept hidden,
biding my time, for I had marked their leader and meant
to have his life, and so throw the band into confusion
and save our church. He came ashore at length, clutching
the long slippery weed and groping for foothold. Then I
leaped up with my hook for cutting weed, and, ere he knew,
had it in his girdle, and so twisted it and flung him from
the rocks. Then when his head showed above water I
slew him at a blow. Blood gurgled and stained the green

256 THE CELTIC REVIEW

waves where he sank. Hacon Sigurdson he was called, a
great Viking chief, but I sin in boasting of it.'

1 It was a great slaughter you made there,' said Helge-
biorn grimly ; ' but how did you escape ? '

' I swam away to another creek of the island and so
ashore and into hiding. A cry went up that Hacon was
killed, and all came running to the ships again.'

4 Surely they tarried to take vengeance,' said Helge-
biorn.

' They would surely have avenged him ; but ships were
seen across the sound. A chieftain of the Gael was coming
to our aid, and without their leader they cared not to meet
him. So they took ship and fled, bearing Hacon' s body
with them. After that my soul wandered from the way of
peace. I thought of battles and fighting ; my hand longed
to grasp the sword. I lamented that I had given away my
round shield to my brother, and was sorry that I had
become a monk at all. The other brothers became infected
by my unrest, and longed to hear stories of battle and poems
of exhortation to combat such as I had heard from bards
of Ireland. The strife of Cuchullin with Ferdia at the Ford,
the grim deeds of Conn of the Hundred Battles, and foolish
legends that were told of Fionn and the Fianna — all such
we Irish monks brought, I fear for little good, among the
people of Alba, and how could we be peacemakers any
more, who inspired rather to war ? I, being cause of this,
was at length banished, for I made full confession of my
sinful thoughts.

1 " Silence and solitude on an island hermitage remote
from men," thus my confessor decreed. He was an ex-
ceedingly holy man, and had lived ten years on far Saint
Kilda. There was a little company there, but I was to go
to solitude. " Ambition and hatred and desire to kill
shall not vex you there," he said ; and so I was brought
to this lonely rock, and here have dwelt solitary, twice seven
years, till your coming, and lo ! sin is not yet dead in my
heart. Surely the enemy of souls is strong.'

HELGEBIOKN THE HEATHEN 257

VIII

There was silence a short time in the cell after Ere
had finished his story. A flame leaped up from the red
smoulder of the fire, and lit the faces of the two men who
sat opposite one another. Helgebiorn, with his fair, sea-
bleached hair in long, matted plaits falling over his kirtle
of faded green, his face ruddy with exposure to sun and
wind, the beard which curled thickly on cheek and chin
had a gleam as of strand gold in it. His eyes, keenly blue,
were fixed with a steadfast expression on the face of his
companion. Ere, unaware of that eager, searching look,
had fallen into a reverie, gazing on the peat glow and the
flickering light. The lines of age and hollows of care
showed in shadows ; the long, brown hands clasped about
his knee, and the stooping shoulders bore evidence of the
wasting weariness which his never-ending manuscript work
brought upon him. His habitual expression of resignation
had broken down in the course of his recital. There was
sorrow in the eyes, and haunting regret, and yet courage,
which inspired him to dare all and bear all. This man
could have been a chief, a conqueror. He had marched
with men to war, and known the exultation of victory ;
yet had willingly renounced all, and spoke of his conquests
as folly, and his memories thereof as sin. Helgebiorn
could not understand, and longed to question him ; but
before questioning, must come confession. It was hard
to speak when he had lived a lie so long, yet without that,
true comradeship could never be between them. He
laughed at last, a hearty manly laugh, that waked the
Hermit from his meditation, and they looked into one
another's eyes. The moment for this confession had come,
and this was how he found words to reveal the truth.

4 Now this is a strange tale you are telling me, Ere of
Ireland, and not suited at all to my understanding, seeing
that I have never counted it a sin to slay men, and have

VOL. VII. R

258 THE CELTIC KEYIEW

indeed gloried in the number of slaughters, both of warriors
and priests, that I have made.'

' Priests ! Is it dreaming I am, or did I hear you say
it ? You have slain priests ? ' Ere had sprung erect from
his crouching posture. His eyes were wild in wonder.
Then he added, as if a solution had occurred to him, ' Did
the cruelty of your heathen masters compel you even to
this ; to raise your arm against God's servants ? '

! What I did was done willingly.'

Ere faltered as he asked, ' You told me you were a
captive.'

' I lied ; but will lie no more since you have told the
sorrows of your heart to me. I am a Viking, Helgebiorn,
son of Sweyn, in the fleet of the Jarl of Ore, next in fame
to the Jarl, and not many days before my coming here I
plundered both in Ireland and Iona.' He waited for a
look of hate and horror to grow in the eyes of Ere.

Instead, the Hermit clasped his thin, brown hands, and
murmured what seemed a thanksgiving. ' It is by the
intercession of Columcille that this has come. My prayers
are heard in heaven.'

Helgebiorn stared in great astonishment, and the gaze
of Ere fell on him as if he loved him more than ever. ' Ah !
I see you find it hard to understand,' said the Hermit, and
his smile was very gentle, ' that I should welcome you — a
heathen, the slayer of my kin and kind — more gladly than
when I thought you a Christian and Irish-born. But I
will show you how you come as a certain answer to my
prayers. I have been very lonely here, and 'tis sweet to
feel how that the Lord of heaven was nigh and inclined
His ear to hear me.'

' You would not then have killed me if you had known
when I lay helpless on the rocks there ? ' said the Viking.

c Ah no ! I was very ]onely here, and no man in all
the world could I think of as an enemy. Indeed, I was
even grieving at what you told me, that none of the Viking
band had escaped alive. Now, I rejoice that one was left,

HELGEBIOBN THE HEATHEN 259

and that I am granted the glory of apostleship. That was
my secret desire when I went to take upon myself the
burden of expiation ; but it was not decreed to me by my
confessor. The desire of the heart, even when it is a difficult
and righteous work, is not fitting for a penance ; instead,
there must be the setting aside of all self-will and the
acceptance as a duty of whatever is most salutary, though
distasteful ; so I was sent into solitude. It seemed to me
that my burden was harder to bear than that of Columcille
himself, who, for stirring up strife between two kings in
Ireland, was sent to preach to the heathen in Alba and the
Isles, and his abasement became his glory. I thought in
my heart that a fitting penance for slaying the Norsemen
would be that I should go and bring the Gospel to them,
and I dreamed of a time when my name would be dear to
generations of that people turned Christian, even as the
name of Patrick is loved in Ireland. Instead, I am here to
die alone, unknown, upon this ocean rock, my only duty
to pray and meditate. True it is that in the books I write
the faith will be borne to many isles and lands ; but I will
never look on the eyes of my disciples, or hear the voices
of those whom I have taught to praise Christ.

1 This was my continual source of sorrow, the origin of
my discontent ; so that my dedication and vows were
repented of, and I was grieving that I had ever left the
soldier comrades of my youth. In all such times of rebellion
against God's will I prayed for Columcille to intercede for
me ; for he, though a great saint, had a less grievous
burden to bear.'

His eyes filled with tears as he gazed on Helgebiorn,
and his voice trembled as with joy. ' Now,' he said, c by
your coming I am restored to the apostleship, and per-
mitted to bring the faith unto the heathen.'

Helgebiorn did not fully grasp the meaning of all that
was said ; but this he knew, and it was enough, that there
was to be friendship and not hate between them. The
fire faded low in its ashes ; the wind shrieked, and the sea

260 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

roared outside in the darkness ; the flap of goatskin at the
low doorway blew inward, letting the cold rain patter on
the heather couches. But the Hermit and his heathen
guest went to rest with contented hearts that night : the
one joyous that his prayers were heard in heaven ; the
other with a feeling of content not yet to be comprehended
by him, but there, in the wild winter far in the Atlantic
sea, the way of peace was opening out before his warfaring
feet.

IX

Spring came now, with white birds a-wing over sea and
islets, and gold of the trefoil blossoms thickly matted on
the thymy turf. There was fragrance on the sod, balm in
the air, and warmth in the sun gleam ; but Ere the Hermit,
on gladdest of days beat his breast, and knelt long nights
in prayer. Helgebiorn scarce could understand, though he
was told, for what Death and Passion this mourning was
made, but in reverence for the sorrow of his comrade
hushed his joyous chant, and went quietly about his work.

Then a morning came when Ere smiled once more, and
feasted cheerfully on all that was brought him, nay, very
hungrily, for his fasting had been severe, and to the other
watching him in wonder he made this explanation.

' He bore the burden of sins, and should we not bear
the burden of His sorrow ? He rose from the dead to give
us everlasting hope, and it is right that we should rejoice
at His uprising. It is Easter morning. Some day you
too will rejoice.'

But Helgebiorn, though he was yet ignorant of the
Christian faith, needed not that, nor anything to make
him joyful in the spring. It was in those days that the
desire for his roving life revived in him, and he threw off
former content like a chain of enchantment that had
bound him. ' Oh for a ship ! ' he sighed, ' and I to be sail-
ing in her. Not to Orkney would I go, to be outlawed by
the Jarl, or despised by false Grimhild, my wife that was ;

HELGEBIOEN THE HEATHEN 261

nor to Norway, whose king would give me captive to my
former lord ; nor to Ireland, to be a hired swordsman to
some kingling. No ; I would sail to the Iceland of the
north, or the sun-land of the south. I would sail — I
would sail *' He fell a-dreaming where he sat on a sun-
warm rock, with scattered weed drying on it for their
simple meal. His dreams were glorious of feasts in kingly
halls, where there was better fare than rock-fowl, or salt
fish and dried seaweed ; of mead-cups going round, and
Scalds' songs ringing in the rafters ; of Viking forays in
painted, high-beaked ships, and decks piled with plunder.
Yet in all his dreaming he never knew where he would
find a ship to bear him.

Ere knew by the far out-gazing look in his eyes that
his heart wearied for the old life of wandering, and that
his days of island life were numbered.

' With the midsummer I shall lose him, and if by then
he has not received the grace of baptism, my apostleship
is in vain.' So he thought, and prayed for heavenly help,
which alone could avail him. It was in those days that he
wooed Helgebiorn to tell him all that the Sagas recorded
about the Gods of Asgard, the creation of man, and the
end of all things. It served the old monk well that he had
himself been a warrior in his way, for he knew better than
to deride the warlike heroes whom the Norseman honoured
as deities. He even drew lessons of Christian truth from
the Saga narration, when Helgebiorn in dread and trembling
recited the lines which foretell the fall of Odin himself, in
the day of the doom of all things, when he must go forth
to fight the wolf Frefnir.

* Then Odin, though you call him All-Father, was never
lord and maker of the world,' said Ere, and he went on to
declare the power of the one God, Creator and Redeemer.
' Odin and the Aser were wise kings and heroes like the
De-daanans of Ireland, whom some in my own country
yet worship. Ye do well to honour them for ever, but
worship is not their due. Seeing they cannot save them-

262 THE CELTIC REVIEW

selves from Loki and the power of Hel and the doom of
Ragnarok, why should men cry to them ? '

So they argued and talked together in the evenings
when the book-writing was over, or when they walked along
the rocks, driving the goats at milking-time. Ere spoke
also much about the heroes of the Gael. He had been
silent about them long enough, and their names and the
fame of their deeds were dear to his lips. In slow and
faltering accents, for he had forgotten somewhat, he recited
the contest of Ferdia with Cuchullin at the ford of Ardee ;
where, by woman's wile working on warrior pride, friend
was incited to fight with friend.

Ere had a moral to draw from that, so the recitation
was permissible. Then he told more about Cuchullin, and
of his great nobility and gentleness of disposition, except
when the battle fury was on him. When Helgebiorn
heard that the Irish champion, in rage, was accustomed
to shut his eye and distort his countenance, he laughed
gleefully, and related how in the Sagas Odin the All-Father
is often called their One-eyed man. There were other
comparisons to be made, both between the Gaelic and
Norse legends and the Scriptural writings.

' Your traditions of Hel, and of the doom of Ragnarok,'
he said, ' are like to what we are taught about punish-
ment in the after life and of the world's end and the
judgment.'

Helgebiorn' s face grew grave. At times when he was
disposed to believe the Christian faith, it was because he
would fain have done away with the haunting horror of
the Norse idea of the end of all things ; but the Christians
had this fear to face also. He was sad that this should be
and was little comforted by what Ere added, ' There shall
be a new heaven and a new earth.'

' I know,' he said, ' the Saga says so too ' ; but the old
earth and the blue heaven above it were good enough for
him ; he did not care to think of them shrivelling in the
judgment fires.

HELGEBIOEN THE HEATHEN 263

So spring went by to summer time. Earlier sunrise,
longer evening light, warmer winds over the sea, these
were the signs of it instead of budding branches and
greening woods. Yet among the heath and silken grass
new blossoms were to be seen. The pale mauve of the
wild thyme and rosy clusters of the rock pinks, campions
with their white crowns, and spotted bladders. There
were calm days for fishing, and for ever the birds screamed
and roosted and nested on all rocks and cliffs of the seven
isles. Helgebiorn in the currach darted from isle to isle,
visited every cave, climbed every accessible rock, and
more than once the Hermit gave him up for lost, for he
stayed long days and nights away. Thus it was he satisfied
the desire for wandering that fevered the Viking heart.
Midsummer drew nigh and ' then he will go for ever and I
will be alone again.'

Ere sighed deeply and prayed more ardently than ever,
for Helgebiorn had not yet accepted the faith or received
the grace of baptism.

The hour of very early sunrise on midsummer morning.
Ere and Helgebiorn stood side by side looking eastward
over the sea. They awaited the coming of the Islanders.

4 It is their custom to start before dawn, for the nights
are clear. All day long they will be busy capturing the
rock-fowl. One night and the next day till after noon
they will abide with us ; then they will depart, and you
too, my friend.' Ere spoke very sadly and in a low voice ;
seeking in Helgebiorn' s face meantime for any sign of
reluctance to leave the island life ; but the Viking's gaze
was ardent and eager. He drank the wind of the dawn
through parted lips, and searched the sea edge for the
boats that were to come.

' It is long since I sailed on a ship,' he said. * It is very
long.' Then he raised his voice and sang lustily : —

264 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

' Deer of the Surf,
Swift Sea-sweeper,
Soon will you swim
Over the Swan Bath.'

But he stopped, for tears were streaming down the Hermit's
rugged cheeks. ' Ah,' he said, letting his grey beard sink
on his breast, ' ah, my comrade, I see you are glad to go
from me.' Helgebiorn did not say a word of denial, but
after that he sang no more.

6 It is not in a long-ship the fowlers will be coming,' said
Ere. ■ It is not a long-ship like the Vikings they have at
all ; but low, black boats, currachs of hide and also log
boats with many oars. Yet like Vikings they come to
plunder and slay. See, the white birds are sunning them-
selves, not knowing of their doom. Alas ! that the
shadow of death should darken this fair world. My grief !
my grief ! ' He was silent a while in meditation, then
went on resignedly : ■ Yet this must be. The Lord allowed
it. In His days on earth He went Himself with the fishers
— fowl they may have taken too and birds, even innocent
grey doves were sacrificed for Him when He was brought
as a babe to the Temple. Death after all is not the great
evil ; but to live unworthily. Life brings sorrow and
sin. Death if we fear it not gives peace and heavenly joy.'

Helgebiorn listened ; but in his mind pondered also
about the mystery of life and death, and all the time his
keen eyes swept the sea-line. Yet Ere it was, for he knew
where to watch, who first saw the boats. Like the backs
of a shoal of porpoises the dots of the rowing fleet appeared
very far away upon the sea. Then they came into the
sun-glitter and Helgebiorn flung out his brawny, sun-burnt
arms and cried, c Behold ! behold ! '

The birds seemed startled at last when that fleet of
boats drew near to the landing-place. From every rock
of the seven islands they seemed to rise, whitening heaven.
Their shrill cries drowned even the clamour of human
voices, as the boatmen shouted and shoved their boats

HELGEBIORN THE HEATHEN 265

hither and thither, and laughed or threatened when the
crush around the rock-ledge was too great. The boats
were fastened together like a flock of goats or leashes of
hunting dogs, and the stalwart islanders came clambering
up the cliff steps. They were slow in coming for many had
burdens to bear, and others not thus impeded had to help
their comrades. They were bringing offerings to Ere the
Hermit, in return for the liberty they were given to invade
his seclusion.

They laid their offerings at his feet, then knelt to ask
his blessing. Helgebiorn, who hid in shelter of a crag to
watch all, saw bags of corn and baskets of honeycomb,
green leeks and bundles of dried herbs. These were
emptied in a convenient place, for bags and baskets were
needed to bring back the store of eggs and feathers.

From one of the last boats the watcher saw a grave-
faced man, whom he knew by his garb to be a priest. He
greeted Ere reverently, yet not too humbly, and the burden
he brought was a quantity of the precious white vellum,
such as the hermit used. In exchange a number of written
books were ready : copies of the Psalms and Gospels,
hymns of the Church, too, and a record of the Miracles and
Visions of Columcille.

' It is a good year's work, my brother,' said the priest.
Corbal Mael Iosa was his name, from the Church of Rodil
in Harris.

6 Yes,' said Ere, ' it is a good year's work, but it was the
will of the Lord that in this year I should not be in solitude
or without help.'

Corbal the priest looked amazed. * Nay,' said Ere,
1 1 have not forgotten my vow, but a shipwrecked man was
sent to me. It was God's doing. He is here,' he added,
and pointed to where Helgebiorn crouched in shadow of a
rock.

He came out then and stood before the priest, looking
him in the face very confidently. Meantime Ere trembled,
and hurried, eager words came confusedly from his lips.

266 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

' He is a heathen, a Norseman from Ore. I have laboured,
may God grant it be not in vain, to teach him the path.
Had the time of his tarrying with me been longer, perhaps
that happiness would have been mine to baptize him in
the rock well there. That was my desire, brother Corbal ;
I grieve that I have not achieved it.'

' The gift of apostleship is not with all,' said Corbal
somewhat proudly. He had preached among the Norsemen
of the isle, and was famed for the number of conversions
he reckoned. ' How long has the man been in your
company ? ' he asked. Ere hung his head as if ashamed
to acknowledge it. ' A year, or short of it only one month.'

Corbal shook his head, ' If in that time you have not
convinced him, and he alone under your influence, I fear
either that he is unregenerate utterly, or you have not the

gift.'

Helgebiorn looked from one face to the other swiftly,
and understood the sorrow and humility of Ere, and the
complacence of the other cleric. Then he spoke out boldly
on behalf of his friend. ' It was no later than the season
which you call Eastertide that he knew me not to be of his
faith, and therefore it is only since then that he had me
under instruction.'

Erc's sad face brightened with a smile. ' That is the
truth, brother Corbal, it was only then that I knew. In the
year much might have been done, but for my ignorance.'

' A strange thing,' said the other somewhat sternly,
' a very strange thing that you could be so long in
ignorance. You are surely lacking in discernment. It is
as I have said, all have not the gift.' Again the look of
complacence, which now spurred Helgebiorn to retort : —

' Not so strange his ignorance since I took pains to
deceive him.'

1 And wherefore ? '

' It seemed to me that it would not be pleasant for us
living together thus on the island, if it had been known that
I was a heathen, a slayer of many priests.' There was a

HELGEBIOKN THE HEATHEN 267

grim gleam of merriment in his eye as he surveyed Corbal's
grey pate. ' Yes,' he said, ' I slew many in my time.'

' And for slaughter of my fellowmen and glorying in
it I was banished,' said Ere. ' One way of expiation was
destined for both of us ; but now you go from me, I lose my
only disciple.'

' Though he leaves you,' said Corbal, ' he may yet be
won to the faith ; I have baptized many among the
Norsemen.'

Ere looked with envy on the successful apostle. ' I
commit him to you,' he said humbly. * God grant you the
joy that was denied me.'

They turned then to watch the fowlers, who had formed
in procession to make their Deisul or sunward progress
around the Teampul.

Their cloaks and head-coverings had been laid on the
stones, for it was their custom to go through the ceremonial
in that manner.

The priests went to the church door to bless them
passing, Helgebiorn stood alone apart from the procession
to watch all. They went slowly, heads bowed in reverent
prayer as they passed the door and had a glimpse of the
altar ; then in the clear summer air their hymn rang out,
and this was what they sang :

1 To Columcille, shepherd of the island herd,
To Peadar who walked to meet the Lord o'er the liquid sea,
To Eoin who dwelt in the lonely desert with beast and bird,
We pray that our going across the waters safe may be.

We invoke the protection of Muire the gentle Mother-Maid,

We invoke the protection of Michil, whose sword makes the fiends

to flee,
As we row from crest to hollow by wind and tide dismayed,
We invoke the protection of the Three in One, who are One in

Three.'

This was the song of the islanders as they made their
sunwalk round Teampul Flannan on Eilan Mor. They

268 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

sing it, or one such, in many of the Hebridean isles to this
very day.

Then as Ere and Corbal went together to inspect the
books that were written, and to arrange for the work of
the next year, the processionists broke into knots and bands
and went away to the rocks of every part of the island to
catch the sea-fowl. Helgebiorn went with one party,
and they did not know but that he belonged to some boat's
company. The story of his shipwreck had been told only
to Corbal.

They took long ropes with them many fathoms in
length and of great strength.

Soon around every cliff the sea-birds haunted, men were
dropping down like spiders in their threads, or clambering
from rock to rock. The birds were chased into the crevices
and caught by hand, or snared into nets drawn in front
of their customary roosts. There was a great shouting
and flapping of garments to frighten them so that they
rose on wing and were entangled. There are easier ways of
killing these birds practised on many coasts. In Aran of
Ireland the fowlers come by ropes into the caves on the
cliff face, and wait there till at night the birds come to
roost ; then in the darkness they are killed by the score by
the hidden enemy, and in the morning the rope is again
dropped to haul him up with his prey. Ere, however, had
made two inviolable laws of protection for the birds of his
island. None might kill or wound them by the cast of a
stone, and after sundown they were not to be killed in any
way whatever. Thus cruelty was not practised, and the
chase gave a fair chance to the prey. They were killed
when caught as swiftly and painlessly as might be in the
hands of their captors.

Helgebiorn went among the most daring of them,
dropping over the dizzy cliff face fathoms deep on the
slender rope. It was joy to him to swing there between
sky and sea, and he felt as if he himself were a winged
creature.

HELGEBIORN THE HEATHEN 269

At last evening came and the late sunset, but among
the highest stars even till midnight the roseate flush
glowed on. Daylight scarcely dies in the northern summer
of the isles, and before sunset has faded sunrise blazes
forth. In the brief warm night of June the sturdy rock-
fowlers couched and slept on the heather, having supped
on oaten cake and other food from their wallets. There
were three, however, who did not sleep for one single
minute of that short night. The two clerics talked to-
gether, and Helgebiorn, wrapped in his mantle, lay awake
and thought of all that might be.

Corbal had told him news which opened a way for him
into the world again.

Hervar and Humli, sons of Sweyn, whom he had seen
last feasting in friendly wise with the Jarl of Ore, had
become his bitter enemies. The occasion of their quarrel
had been nothing less than the flight of Helgebiorn, whom
the Jarl suspected to be concealed somewhere in their
territory.

' Now you can go to them,' said Corbal, ' and be sure of
a friendly welcome. They are in alliance with the Christian
chief of the Gael who protects me.'

Helgebiorn saw that he might again come to power and
wealth if he chose. He might even go into battle against
the Jarl and so have revenge. He was astonished that he
did not feel more joy at the prospect, but indeed anger
had died in his heart during that year of peace, and he had
quite forgotten the cause of their quarrel. Yet he rose at
morning fully determined to take service with the sons of
Sweyn.

It was a day of windless calm, and not difficult to
manage the boats. If there had been wind in the night
and surf on the rocks, it would have been necessary to carry
them up the cliff some way for safety.

The fowlers were early awake and busy fastening
together their bundles of dead birds, their bags of feathers
and eider down, their stores of eggs. Helgebiorn went as

270 THE CELTIC REVIEW

usual to milk the goats, but found Ere busy at that work
before him.

c This will be my morning duty henceforth,' he said,
then with a sad smile he handed the Viking the wooden
vessel to quaff from. *■ A cup at parting,' he said, ' and
here is oat bread and some honey. You will be hungry
rowing over the sea ; it will be night before you reach
the Long Island.'

Helgebiorn took the gift and said nothing.

1 Come the last time to the Teampul,' Ere continued.
' Bow your knee with me as in the first days when you
pretended to have the faith.'

They went there and saw all the islanders in long
procession doing their sun-walk bareheaded and chanting
as before. The priest Corbal stood in the doorway ; but
Ere pushed past him and right up to the altar. Helgebiorn
going too, knelt before him.

' What is this ? ' said Corbal, looking from the sun-
shine into the gloom.

' I give him my blessing ere he goes. My prayers he
shall have for ever. He was my only disciple.'

Then all went in a crowd together to the cliff edge,
and there was a headlong scramble to where the boats
lay swaying on the tide. The descent was swift, as the
ascent had been difficult. Helgebiorn was the last to go.

Corbal Mael Iosa, the priest, sat in a long boat with
eight rowers. The books that Ere had written were piled
about him. ' Here,' he called to the Viking, and pointed
to an empty seat. c There is room for you by my side.
Perhaps in our journey over the sea you will learn more
than in your long year in Eilan Mor. It is not every one
who has the gift of apostleship.' Ere winced at that boast
of the proud cleric. ' Alas,' he said, ' and I thought that
it was through the intercession of Columcille you were sent
to me.' Helgebiorn stood on the rocky ledge. The priest's
boat rose and fell on the tide below him. Ere looked down
from a thyme-tufted crag as he spoke. ' It was there I

HELGEBIORN THE HEATHEN 271

found you ; it is here I say farewell to you. Alas, and your
coming seems like yesterday.'

Helgebiorn remembered all, ay more than Ere was
speaking of, for he thought of drowned Creevin and seemed
to feel the last wild clinging of her arms. Then clearly as
a present vision his dream stood forth. He remembered
how he had seen her rising from the water beckoning to
him, and how in sleep he had murmured, ' My ship shall
anchor here.' He had said it waking too. ' It was like a
vow, a bridal vow, and was it to be broken ? '

He had caught the long boat by the stern as it rose with
the floating weed, level with the rock. ' Leap,' said Corbal
the priest ; but instead Helgebiorn pushed it off. The
light craft shot out into the calm water. The rowers
waited with their oars poised, but the Viking never looked
at them nor spoke more. He had turned to climb the
crag and stood shortly beside Ere the Hermit.

' I will remain,' he said, no more. The old man clasped
his hand and raised eyes of prayer and gratitude to heaven.
His one disciple was left to him.

The rowing fleet past eastward across the sea, and the
shine of sunset was behind them. From the cliff edge
the two companions watched them pass out of the gleam
into the sombre sky-line, and at last they were seen no more.

The birds came to their rock-roosts, having peace again
after the long day of slaughter ; and there was peace and
great joy in the low cell of the monk, which was to be no
longer a prison solitude.

I will not write now of how Helgebiorn was instructed
in the faith, and received baptism ; enough for you to know
that this came in due time, and lest you think it an
unwonted thing that a warrior and plunderer, such as he
was, should become the peaceful and humble companion
of a hermit, I will remind you that ere many hundred
years the Norsemen of Orkney themselves were Christians
all. One even was called a saint. Go to the great Isle

272 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

and you will see the house of the bishops who ruled there,
equal in state and dignity to the dwelling of the Jarl ; but
far surpassing both in glory and beauty is the house built
for the Lord of all. In Dublin, Christ's Church, which
the Dane kings built, is counted noteworthy in a city of
churches ; but Christ's Kirk in Orkney is more splendid
even than that, with its great pillars and arches of rock,
red like the cliffs of the island, weathered and mellowed by
the overpassing of nearly a thousand years ; a chapel to
stand till the world's end. Standing under the gloom of
its majestic transept, on a day after I had come sailing
from Eilan Mor of Flannan and Rona in the northern sea,
I remembered how before a stone at the great cathedral
was hewn or laid the hermits from Ireland and Iona in their
lowly beehive cells had cherished the faith, and spread it
throughout the islands till their enemies and plunderers,
the Vikings, became instead their disciples. And thus it
was with Ere, servant of holy Flannan of Ireland and
Helgebiorn the heathen.

THE END

MACEWENS AND MACSWEENS

Niall D. Campbell

In 1904 a small volume was published at Glasgow by
John Mackay of the Celtic Monthly Office, dealing with
the Clan Ewen, which, small as it was, was the expansion
of a series of articles from the pen of the late Mr. R. S. T.
MacEwen to the Celtic Monthly. But nothing is more
strange in perusing the little volume, and the remarks of
Skene on which much of it is based, than to note the manner
in which the most important clue to the whole history of
this ancient race, though staring both authors in the face,
has wholly eluded them, and their researches would have
had far greater value had they but realised that thgJYTac.

MACEWENS AND MACSWEENS 273

Ewens and the Mac Suibhnes or Mac Sweens were one and
the same race, sprung from one common stock.

Concerning the origin of the MacEwens or, as they are
known in Gaelic and Irish, the Clann Eoghain na h-Oitrich
(derived from their seat ajb Ottir in Cowall, Argyll) there
appears to be no doubt from a comparison with the old
Scottish and Irish clan pedigrees that a certain Aodh Alain
(that is Hugh the Splendid), ignorantly misspelt Dedalan,
and termed Buirche or clumsy in the Transactions of the Iona
Club, was the common ancestor of the chief clans of Cowall,
viz. the MacLachlans, the Lamonts, and the MacNeills of
Kintyre (but not the Barra family who appear to have
sprung from a totally different stock).

On consulting the Irish authorities it will be found that
so far from c Buirche ' 1 meaning clumsy it is a part of
Ireland from which Aedh the fair or his fathers came from.
Such are some of the confusions brought in by a Scot writ-
ing of an Irish race.

Now Aedh Alain was the son of Anradan, son of Flaith-
bertaigh, son of Murcertach, an Ulster chief, slain 26th
March 941, son of Donald of Armagh, King of Ireland, ob.
978, son of Niall Glundubh (black-kneed), who was High
King of Ireland, slain by the Danes in 917 on 17th October,
and his yet remoter ancestor was King Conn of the Hundred
Fights.

Keating, in speaking of this king, speaks of his daughter
Sadbh, who married Conaire I., King of Ireland. Their
sons were the three famous brothers known as the three
Cairbres. The eldest of them was known as Cairbre High
Fhada (or Eiada) ; and Keating, p. 248, says from him

1 Aeda Alain i Buirche mic Anradan mic Flaithbertaigh mic Murcertach mic
Domnall mic Murcertach mic Neill Glundubh.

' A strange sign was manifested in Boirche in the time of Fiachna, son of Aed
Eon, king of Ulster. {Annals of Tigernach, a.d. 743.) (Boirche is the Morne
mountains near Dublin.)

It is likewise clear from the Irish Records that from Donnsleibhe, son of Aodha
Athlamoh, sprang those great races of Mac Suibhnes . in the north of Ireland,
which early ramified into three great septs, viz. Mac Suibhne Fanat, from whom
sprang Mac Swyny Dtutath and Mac Swyny Badhuine.

VOL. VII. S

274 THE CELTIC REVIEW

sprang the Cineal Guaire, Magh Agnamhuin (this I cannot
identify), ' Magh Eogain Magh Boithrioch ' (now these
names are clearly a mistake of our author for Mac Eoghain
na h'Oitrich) ; he then proceeds, ' Magh Giolla Eoin (Mac-
lean) and Magh Giolla Laghmhain, etc., all races in Scotland.'
By this last he of course means the Clan Lamont. Such,
then, are the confusions of an Irish writer when dealing with
a Scottish place-name.

Now this Aedh Alain (died 1047) had three sons. (Skene
thinks that they cannot have been sons, and that some
generations must have dropped out, but this is, because he
did not realise that the Scottish Seanachies had left out the
Aedh Athcamh, Chief of Tyrone, who was the grandfather
of Aedh Alain, the father of the three sons.)

These three sons were Giollachrist, Niall, and Dunslebhe.

From Lachlan, the son, or perhaps grandson, of Giolla-
christ, sprang the MacLachlans, lords of that ilk, whose
stronghold lay in Strathlachlan, with whom it is not proposed
to deal in the present article.

From Niall is said to have sprung the MacNeills of
Kintyre.

From Dunslebhe (now pronounced Donlevy in Ireland)
or Dunsleve sprang the Lamonts, who descend from Fearchar,
son of Dunsleibhe. From Dunsleve' s other son Swene,
Suibhneach, or Suibhne, erroneously called Ewen in the
opening paragraph of the work I refer to, sprang the
Mac Swenes of Castle Swene, the ancient Key to Knap&ale1 ~\
and the MacEwens of Ottir in Cowall.

It is easy to see how the names Mac Ewen and Mac Swene
got confused together and used.

The writer's attention was first called to the matter by
noticing how ' Suibhneach,' son of Dunsleibhe, was in the
Irish pedigrees termed the ancestor of Mac Sweeney and
Mac Ewen. The fact is that the early Mac Ewens of Ottir

1 This is the title given to an article in the Celtic Review upon ' Castle Sween,'
but in it the writer has made no attempt to elucidate the history of the ancient race
who once held it.

MACEWENS AND MACSWEENS 275

were called Mac Suibhne, but that a descendant Iain or
Ewen eventually, having been unable to recover Knapdale,
of which he had been deprived for siding with the English
king against King Robert the Bruce, settled on the Cowall
side of Loch Fyne, and his posterity took his name.

Now the line of old chiefs of the Mac Suibhnes — this name
has suffered many mutations at the hands of copyists,
appearing as Severan — is as follows : —

1. Suibhne, whose son was

2. Dugal (who had a brother Maolmuire, who in the Irish
pedigrees is stated to have first assumed this surname and
to have had a son Moroch Mor, vivens 1267).

3. Iain (son of Dugal), whose brothers were Torreal-
nanogh and Murquocgh.

4. Giollaesbuig, vivens circa 1315. .

5. Eoghan.

6. Eoin Mac Eoghain a quo M'Ewen of Ottur, vivens
25th August 1355. '

7. Balthuir (Walter) M'Eoghan.

8. Swene or Suffne M'Ewen, Lord of Ottir, who, on the
feast of St. John the Baptist, 24th June, 1431, at Inver-
chaolan,1 granted his lands of Stroynemayte and Barlaggan
in the lordship of Oittyr for yearly payment of 4s. Scots to
Duncan, the son of Alexander, and to Duncan, son of the
said Duncan. These individuals may have been Campbells,
but as they are called affiniii to the granter, who latinises
his flame as Suineus Eujenii Dominus de Oittyr, it is possible
that they were Mac Ewens. Amongst the witnesses to this
interesting Charter, now in the archives at Inveraray Castle,
is a certain Iain, son of William Mac Ewen. The granter' s
seal is lost, so we do not know what arms he bore.

On 20th March 1432, King James I., by a charter under
his Great Seal, dated at Perth, confirmed to ' Sufnnus
Eugenii,' that is, Swene M'Ewen, all and whole his Barony

1 The hitherto lost dedication of this ancient parish church to the great virgin
abbess Saint Brigid has recently been discovered by the writer, who found it so
named in two old writs.

276 THE CELTIC REVIEW

of ' Ottir-in-werane,' lying in Cowale shire of Argyll, which
had been resigned by Sween into the King's hands. Failing
heirs male to Suibhne, the Barony was to pass to Celestine
Cambel,1 son and heir of Duncan Cambel of Lochaw and his
heirs whomsoever (original at Inveraray). On 7th June
1432 a most interesting agreement was entered into at the
Ottir by this Gillaspy {alias Celestine) Cambel, son and heir
to Duncan Cambel, lorde of Lochawe, on the one part and
Suffne M'Ewyn ' larde of ottir in weran ' on the other part,
which is written in the Scots vernacular. From its terms it
appears that the Lord of Ottir was married, but had not yet
been blessed with an heir, for he pledges himself ' that quhat
tyme that God wil that the said Suffne gets ane ayr mail
lachfully with his lachful spusit wyfe that he oblyssis him
... to pay to the said gillaspy cambel his ayris ... on a
day betuix the sonis rysyng and the gangyng to or otherwas
at the said gillaspy cambelis wil thre score of marks . . .
and fyve and twenty sufficeand marts and that to be paid
owthir at the ottirweran, or at Inche chonil or at Innerayra '
or else to give him the two Larragis and the lands of Killala
in the Barony of Ottir in tack for yearly payment of half a
mark mail at Whitsunday and Martinmass if asked for.
And if Suffnes male heir died before he begot another that
the agreement would remain valid and Suffne should give
gillaspy the first offer of the land if leased in wadset. To
this deed both parties ' has gyfyn thar bodely athis the
haly ewangelis thuichid,' etc. The Lord of the Ottir's
seal is lost, but the deed which is at Inveraray is in a fine
state of preservation.

It is clear that Suibhne eventually died without children,
and the Lord of Lochaw duly succeeded to the said
Suibhne.

Dealing with the Mac Sween chiefs in order: —

1 It was for this same Celestine's soul that Sir Duncan Cambell, first Lord
Cambell, afterwards founded the noble collegiate Church of Kilmun, for he died in
early manhood during his father's lifetime.

MACEWENS AND MACSWEENS 277

SUIBHNE I.

This is undoubtedly the Suibhne Ruadh (or red haired)
who is mentioned in all the older pedigrees of the house of
Argyll as being Tosach of Knapdale and the builder of the
great castle which still bears his name, which frowns down
in ruinous grandeur on the shores of Loch Sween. In these
MS. genealogies, which are themselves the gradual compila-
tion of a race of hereditary bards and seanachies who were
Mac Ewens, it is stated that Sir Cailein Cambell called
maol maith (the good bald Colin), Lord of Lochow, married
a daughter of Suibhne Ruadh, by whom he became the
father of Iver and Taus, the respective ancestors of the
Clan Iver and Clan Tavish, and that he subsequently, in
order to make a more powerful alliance, repudiated her,
and that this was the origin of a long feud between the
Mac Sweens and the Campbells. Suibhne took his daughter
back and married her to MacLachlan, giving a tocher to her
of all his lands in Glasrie, subsequently possessed by the
Clan Lachan, viz. Dunaad, Dunamuick, Auehenschelloch,
Shervain and Breinchylies. This Colin of Lochow is said
to have been slain at Dunstaffnage in 1222. Suibhne had
at least two sons.

1. Dufgall 1 or Duggall succeeded, and, as lay patron of
the church of St. Colman Elo of Kilcalmonel in Kintyre,
described as near his castle of Schypinche, now Skipness
granted it on Palm Sunday, 1261, to the monks of Paisley
for the repose of the souls of his two wives, Juliana, then dead,
and Johanna (perhaps still living), his own soul and those of
his ancestors and successors, and his body he gave to be
buried in the Abbey of Paisley (Paisley Charters). He is
also a witness, 19th January 1262, as ' son of Sewen ' (ibid.),

1 Also in February 1262, on the 20th day of the Feast of St. Hilary, there is a
charter by Dugall M'Suine to Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith, of the lands of
Skipnish, Keileslait, and others to be holden of the said Dugall, with the privileges of a
free barony with sock sack tholl theme infangtheiff and for service to the king of two
parts of ane souldier in his majesties armies and that for all other service and duty
to be exacted furth of the said lands. (Argyll Inventory.)

278 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

and witnesses an undated charter by Laumann, son of
Malcolm, to the monks of Paisley.

2. Maelmure, who in 1262, occurs as the father of two
sons, viz. : —

1. Murchard, who is a witness, 19th January 1262,

to a charter by Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith
{Paisley Charters), in which x he is undoubtedly
the Moroch Mor of the Irish pedigrees of 1267.
And there is an interesting notice of him in 1265
in the Annals of Loch Ce, and 1267 in the Annals
of the Four Masters, where he is stated to have
been captured by Domhnall, son of Maghnus
O'Conchobhair, and surrendered into the hands
of Walter de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and that
' he died in prison,' presumably in Ireland.

2. Dunsleve, who is also a witness to the Paisley

Charter, 19th January 1262. He is probably
the ancestor of the Mac Dunsleves or Mac Dun-
laiffs in Argyll, who, though never very numer-
ous, appear at intervals for centuries. In 1647,
many of them having shortened their name to
M'onlea, had become followers of the Mac-
Dougalls and were slain at Dunaverty Castle.
(Argyll Papers.)
The above Duggall left at least one son Iain or Eoin,
and Duggall is said in the Craignish Pedigrees to have had a
daughter married to Dugald Cambell, first Lord of Craig-
nisch. (Argyll Genealogies.)

Iain, as son and heir of Duggall, gave his consent to his
father's charter to the monks of Paisley in 1261 on Palm
Sunday, which gift was confirmed by Walter, Earl of
Menteith. He is also a witness on 19th January 1262.
(Paisley Charters.)

In October 1301 he, as ' son of Suffne,' went with Sir

1 The grant which ' Dugall, son of Syfyn,' made to the Monastery of SS. James
and Mirin of Paisley and to the monks there serving God is confirmed. To it
1 Dugall, son of Sewen ' is himself a witness.

MACE WENS AND MACS WEENS 279

Hugh Bissett and Angus of Islay to Bute and Kintyre with
a fleet in King Edward's service, and in the same month Iain
himself writes to King Edward to say that he had visited
his own lands of Knapedale which King Edward had given
him by letters patent, and had found John of Argyll and
Sir John Menteith in armed possession of it with a vast force
of men. (Original in Public Record Office.)

This Iain, grandson of Suibhne, left at least three sons, of
whom Iain or Ewen, the eldest and rightful Lord of Knap-
dale, lost his lands for siding against King Robert the Bruce,
who granted them to John of Menteith. We thus find the
English King Edward n. taking upon himself to try to
restore the fortunes of the Mac Suibhnes who were attached
to his cause, as the following extracts from still extant
documents prove : —

1 22nd July 1310. Donatio terrae de Knapdale facta
Johanni de Ergadia et fratribus suis si poterint earn eripere
emanibus Scotorum.

1 Rex omnibus ad quos, etc., Salutem. Ut Johannes filius
Swieni de Ergadia et Terrealnanogh et Murquocgh fratres
sui Johanni de Meneteth inimico et rebelli nostro ceterisque
inimicis nostris in partibus Scotie exinde amplius exosos se
reddant, concessimus eisdem Johanni, Terrealnanogh et
Murquocgh totam terram de Knapdale cum omnibus suis
pertinentibus in Ergadia quae quondam fuit antecessorum
dictorum Johannis, T. et M. habendam, sibi et heredibus suis
de nobis et heredibus nostris pro servitia inde debita et
consueta imperpetuum si earn de manibus inimicorum
nostrorum poterint recuperare. Et hoc omnibus quorum
interest notum esse volumus per presentes. In cujus, etc.
Test. Reg. apud Westminster] xxii die Julii. Per ipsum
Regem.' (Rotuli Scotiae, vol. i. p. 90.)

The meaning of this is that King Edward grants Knap-
dale to Iain Mac Swien of Argyll and to young Charles and
Murdoch (or Morich) his brothers, in order that they may
make themselves more hateful to the king's foe and rebel
John of Menteith, and the rest of the king's enemies in

280 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

Scottish parts, which lands of Knapdale formerly belonged
to the said Iain's ancestors, and the deed discreetly adds,
1 if they are able to recover them from the hands of our
enemies.'

This is evidently the writ thus referred to in another
authority : —

'Anno 4 Edward n. Rotulus Scotiae. Membrana 14
Westminster.

' De terra de Knapdale concessa Johanni filio Simenei
de Ergadia et Terrealnanegh et Murquocgh patribus suis.'
(Ayloffes Ancient Charters, p. 120.)

Celtic designations and Christian names have for
centuries continued to puzzle the Saxon ! The name Toir-
delbach occurs frequently in the old Irish Annals, and
is the form which through various mutations, has become
Charles. The younger Moroch or Murdoch was clearly
named after his kinsman Moroch Mor of 1267 {vide supra)
who was cousin-german to Iain, son of Duggall, son of the
first Swene or Syfyn, Lord of Knapdale.

On 12th March 1314 we find the following grant, the
importance of which has hitherto wholly eluded historians: —

' Grant to the Kings Vallet Dungal de Gyvelestone and
his heirs for his good service to his father [Edward i.] and
himself [Edward n.], of Suny Magurkes lands in Knapedale
and Glenarewale in Scotland, forfeited by the treason of
John de Menetathe a Scot. Westminster.' (Patent Rolls
8th year of Edward il, p. 2, m. 25.)

This is the first mention of what is now Glendaruel in
Cowall, Argyll. As to the identity of this Suny (or Suibhne)
magurke, it is obvious that mac moroch or mac murdoch is
meant, and he must either have been the son of Moroch Mor
of 1267 or a son of the Moroch of 1310. As to the identity
of Dungal de Gyvelestone, nothing has been discovered by
the writer nor is there any place-name resembling it in
Argyll, but it may be suggested that Galstoun in Ayrshire
is meant. He was clearly a Celt anyway, and in no way
related to Sir Arnald de Gavaston, a Gascon knight, who was

MACEWENS AND MACSWEENS 281

buried at Winchester in May 1302 (Carlton Bide Records),
who has been surmised to have been probably the father of
Peter de Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, who married the niece
of Edward n., and was killed in 1312.

Though the Mac Suibhnes or Mac Ewens thus lost their
connection with the lands and barony of Ottir, it is clear
that branches of them flourished on no longer as vassals in
capite of the Crown, but as such of the Campbells of Argyll.

For instance, on 27th January 1519, at Ardchattan Priory,
Sownye M'condoche M'queyn, Ewen M'condoche M'queyn,
John M'alister M'condoche give their bond of Manrent to
Sir Iain Campbell of Calder. Here we distinctly perceive
the connection between the Suibhnes and M'queyns and the
use by them of Ewen as a Christian name. (Vide Thanes.oj
Cawdor, p. 133.) M'queyn eventually got yet further
distorted into MacQueen, which continued about Kerry,
Cowall, and the Isle of Bute for some time.

In 1594, when Sir Iain Campbell (seventh) of Ardkinglass
was being again tried 1 for the atrocious murder of Sir Iain
Campbell of Calder, the tutor and guardian of the youthful
Archibald, seventh Earl of Argyll, there is an interesting
mention of one of these Mac Queens who was a warlock
minister and was held apparently in high repute as a wizard.
It occurs in the wonderfully complete notes taken at the
trial when inquiry was made as to how far witchcraft had
been indulged in by the Laird of Ardkinglass.2 Margaret
Campbell, the relict of Iain oig Campbell of Cabrachan,
brother-german to the Laird of Lochnell (which Iain was
one of Ardkinglass' s tools and accomplices), made a lengthy
confession 3 full of the most astounding statements about

1 The first trial took place in 1591.

2 The writer hopes some day to print the whole trial as it is full of curious and
vividly told facts. The original MS. is, or was, in the Airds Charter Chest, and a
transcript has long been in the Argyll Charter Chest, made for Lady Charlotte
Campbell in about a.d. 1820, and the writer has made two further transcripts
verbatim.

3 Dated at Armadie Castle on 5th October 1595 in presence of Niel Campbell,
Bishop of Argyll.

282 THE CELTIC EEVIEW

witches in Lome, one of whom had learnt her charms from
' auld Mac Eller of Cruachan,' who in his turn had learnt
them ' at the Pryoress of Icolmkill.' Inter alia the deponar
confessed that about September 1593 ' Ardkinglass demandit
of her gief the witches quhilk sche employit usit to name
God or Christ in thair practises, to quhom it wes ansurit be
the Deponar, that it wes the forme that the witches namit
God in thaise words. Then Ardkinglass said to the Deponar
that he had ane man called Patrick Mac Queine a minister
quhae wes a far better Inshanter nor any of thame and usit
not in his practises to name God, and that Patricks werk of
witchcraft and Inshaintment wes very often hinderit and
stayit be the rest of the witches because in thair werk theye
namit God and thairefore Ardkinglass commandit hir to
discharge all the witches frae that tyme furth. And
farder Ardkinglass confessit to the Deponar that Patrick
Mac Quine [sic] wes so skillit in his craft that he culd mak
up and big ane castle betwix the sons [sic for sunset] gangand
to and the contrair [viz. sunrise]. And farder Ardkinglass
declarit to the Deponar that Patrick Mac Quiene foirtauld
him that baith him and Glenurqhye suld be tane and yeit be-
tyme suld escheap be Patrick his moyen, and farder Ardkin-
glass schew to the Deponar, that gief Patrick wer to be tane
and he had sae meikle laisir as to invocate upon seven
Divils quhilk waitit upon him, he wald haif power thaireby
to escheap and theye suld keip the skaithe that cam to
pursue him and that Patrick Mac Quiene gaif to Ardkingalss
tokens of his skill. He foirtauld that my Lady Argyll suld
bring furth ane lass for hir first Birthe, and ane lad nixt and
that my Lord suld lyne ane field in the quhilk the next best
in the bair heid suld fall,1 and farder that Ardkinglass tauld
to the Deponar that Mac quene had uther ministeris com-
paniones with him in his craft, and furder geif Patrick wes
sufferit to use his craft bot seven yeirs unchallengit that he
suld cause my Lord Argyll repent his proceedings and that
he suld drive him from place to place and suld not suffer

1 I have no idea what this curious passage means. Will some reader explain ?

MAOEWENS AND MACSWEENS 283

my Lord to tak rest quhill he brocht him to the end of his
lyffe quhilk suld be in the lawlands, and upon the Cassay
[Causeway] of Edinbrught. And fardar geif he wes sufferit
to perseveir in his doing he suld mak the haill name of
Campbell in Argyll to fall, the Houses of Ardkinglass and
Glenurqhye onlie exceptit, and that in the end the haill suld
be pairtit betwix theye twa, and that theye suld differ
amang thameselffis extreamlie for the haill leivings of the
Campbell, and that the sword suld end the matter amangst
thame.'

As to the identity of this necromantic minister there is
no doubt he is the Patrick M'Queine, son of Patrick oig
M'Queine, who was minister of the church of St. Mary,
Rothesay, in the year 1589. Kingarth in Bute was also
under his care, and the parish of Kilmhiccoarmick in Knap-
daill was also added in 1591. He continued in 1593 and
was subsequently settled at Monzie over the borders of
Perthshire. (Vide Fasti Eccles. Scot, part v. p. 29.)

He is also named in a bond dated at Finlarg, 21st June
1597 {Black Book of Taymouth, p. 235), so evidently he
ultimately lived under the Laird of Glenurquhie's protection,
the latter having also been implicated according to Ardking-
lass's confession in the said murder of the Laird of Calder.

No seal of the Mac Ewens or Mac Sweens has as yet been
found, at least none has survived on the writs at Inveraray
in the Argyll Charter Chest. As a result there is no evidence
to show what the true arms of this ancient clan were.
Various Ewen, Ewing, and Ewinson coats are named in the
History of Clan Ewen, before mentioned, but they are so
varied that it appears to me that the families bearing them
need not have had any connection with each other.

A few of this ancient race of Mac Sween are still to be
found in Argyll. At Crinan an undoubted descendant,
Sween Mac Sween, is now living, and he could no doubt
give his ancestry back for four or five generations.

Lastly, the name Suibhne does not appear to be neces-
sarily, originally, or exclusively Norse, as it occurs in the

284 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Irish Annals long before the inroads of the Northmen, and
one or two of the early abbots of Iona bore this very name,
yet their pedigrees show an undoubted Certic descent.
It is at the same time true that the Norse had for centuries
in use the name of Swein, Swegen, or Staane. etc. It was, in
fact, a name like Ivar, Ibhar, Iver, or Ibher, whiph is common
to the Celtic and Norse races. The Celti<f Ibhars have
been influenced in ail probability by the famous Bishop
Ibhar, of whom one reads in the records of the Patrician
Apostolate.

Feast of St. Columba, 9^ June 1911.

)

BOOK REVIEWS

The Rulers of Strathspey. By the Earl of Cassillis. Pp. xii + 2 1 1 . Medium
8vo. Inverness: Northern Counties Publishing Company, 1911. 6s.

Although rai'Id? g as one of the principal clans- of the Highlands during
the greater parU^f wliat may be called the 'historic period' of clanship, the
Grants have hitherto not been brought so prominently under the notice of
ers and students of Highland subjects as have other 'clans of equal or
even lower standing. It is true that Sir William Fraser's monumental
work, The Chiefs of Grant, appeared nearly thirty years ago, but the three
bulky volumes composing it — very scarce and costly — cannot be said to have
done much towards spreading a knowledge of the subject, and the ordinary
reader hasMiad to be content with such brief sketches of the clan history as
those in the various editions of Shaw's History of Moray and similar books.
Of the possible reasons for this state of things, lack of material has not been
one, as apart from the rich mine of information in the Castle Grant archives
the history of the clan and its chiefs may be traced with some clearness in the
history of the Highlands and of Scotland generally from the fifteenth to the
eighteenth century. Without intending or even remotely implying any
disrespect towards the Grants and their history, it may perhaps be suggested
that one reason may be an insufficiency of attractiveness in the subject.
The Grants were one of the quiet, law-abiding clans, usually keeping on
: od terms with their neighbours, and usually having the luck — or perhaps
the judgment — to be on the side which ultimately came uppermost in the
conflict of national politics. United and compact, comfortably settled in the
fertile haughs of Strathspey with their backs to the Grampians and with
' sy outlets to the rich lew-country of Morayland — towards which they ever

BOOK REVIEWS 285

extended their borders and their influence as opportunity offered — they
pursued the even tenor of their way undisturbed by ancient feuds sue1 w j

those between some of their neighbours in Inverness-shire, and unshakei *

the storms of state which from time to time convulse~dfcHhe country. Ti
annals are, in fact, for the most part those of steady material progress, ^
little or nothing of that element of romance which lends glamour to a losing
cause and attracts and lightens the labour of the historian. , "V

It is possible that the genius or bent of mind of the Grant chiefs, lb/
'Rulers of Strathspey,' which produced this effect on their history may help
towards a solution of the vexed question of the origin of the family —
whether they were native ' Celts or whether they were immigrants from
Scandinavia, Trance, or England. Since Mr. W. F. Skene i:: his Highlanders
of Rutland (l-££7) felt '• warranted in placing the Grants among the Siol /

\ Alpind,' making them descendants of King Kenneth MacAlpin and cousins
of the Macgregors, many new sources of knowledge have been discovered
and historical enquiry has entered on new and more scientific phases. Even
the author just named seems in his mature years to have found Something
wanting in his ' warrant ' of 1837, for in Celtic Scotland he avoids any mention
of the Grants in connection with the Celtic tribes included in the MS.
genealogies of 1467, although he may perhaps be supposed to refer obliquely
to a Gaelic origin for the clan in the paragraph on spurious pedigrees on
p. 349, and in his remark on p. 350 that ' tlie name Grant may as well be
derived from the Gaelic Grannda, ill-favoured, as from the Latin Grandis or
any other foreign word which resembles it.' Were the question merely one
of philology this opinion would no doubt be entitled to some weight, but
other things have to be taken into account, and documentary evidence of
Grants in both England and Scotland in the thirteenth century, in close
connection with Bysets and other Normans who held lands in Inverness-
shire and adjacent parts of the ancient province of Moray, leave little room
for doubt that the founders ol^tlie name came to Scotland from England.
To any one with even a superficial knowledge of the prominent characteristics
of the two races, the whole history of the Grants is strongly suggestive of a
Norman rather than of a Celtic motive power, and Lord Cassillis (p. 2) sees
' little reason to doubt that the progenitors of the chiefs <*f this clan were of
Norman origin, although their followers who subsequently mainly composed
the clan would be natives.' This view places the Grants in precisely the
same position as the Frasers of Lovat, undoubtedly of Norman descent, and
is perhaps as far as the question is ever likely to be carried.

Of course, if the Norman descent of the Grants be accepted, there is
some foundation for the clan tradition which derives them remotely from
Scandinavia, though the steps of their descent through Hacken (Hakon) the
Big to the mythical hero Odin, as detailed by the Rev. James Chapman in
1729, must be dismissed as fables. In so dismissing them, however, Lord
Cassillis (p. 2) has apparently not read Chapman's Genealogy quite correctly :

286 THE CELTIC REVIEW

it was Wffa, 'a Saxon lord descended of the champion Ouden alias Wodine,'
who was the first king of the East Angles in the year 575, not Odin
himself.

The earliest mention of Grants in Scottish record is in 1258, when an
agreement between the Bishop of Moray and John Byset of Lovat is
witnessed ' dominis Laurentio et Roberto didis Grant.' From that date down
to the end of the fourteenth century others are found, several in official
positions (Laurence just mentioned being Sheriff of Inverness) and all in
circumstances which prove them to have been persons of note ; but nothing
definite appears as to their relationship to each other, and it is only by pre-
sumption— so strong, however, as almost to amount to circumstantial evi-
dence— that they can be accepted as ancestors of the Grants in the succeed-
ing centuries. It seems tolerably certain that Stratherrick, along the south-
eastern side of Loch Ness, was the headquarters of the family in the
fourteenth century, but in the early years of that century a footing was
secured in Strathspey, and in the century following the Grants are found
fully established in that district, their possessions being at the close of the
century erected into the Barony of Freuchia and augmented by a feu of
the lands of Ballindalloch and the old lordship of Glenchernich — about
which anon.

If Chapman's Genealogy may be believed, however, these fifteenth-
century Grants were not really Grants at all, but Stewarts ! The story,
which is adopted by the Historian of Moray and, with a slight difference,
by Skene, is that the family ended in an heiress, Maud or Matildis, whose
husband, a certain Andrew Stewart, son of a natural son of Eobert II.,
changed his name to Grant and was the progenitor of all the succeeding
heads of the clan. This story has no real foundation — except perhaps the
name Matilda — and is palpably absurd when its chronology is considered,
as on the one hand the said Andrew's alleged grandfather was born in 1315
and on the other his great-grandson Sir Duncan, first of Freuchie, was born
1413— six generations within a hundred years! Another 'traditionary'
story of equal value is that of ' Bigla Cumming, heiress of Glenchernich,' said
to have been the wife of Duncan's father and to have brought the lands of
Glenchernich (parish of Duthil) to the Grants. As a matter of fact the old
lords of Glenchernich were not Cummings ; the last of them parted with
Glenchernich in 1391, and there was no Bigla Cumming. These stories,
which are found in most ' popular ' accounts of Strathspey and its neighbour-
hood, are commonly accepted as part of the history of the Grants, and it
seems a pity that so suitable an opportunity as that afforded by the issue of
this book was not taken for pointing out their incorrectness. To expose
and extinguish historical falsities, especially when these are widespread and
persistent, is as much the function of the historian as to state historical
truths.

With Sir Duncan, the first styled of Freuchie — undoubtedly son of

BOOK EEVIEWS 287

Matilda, the daughter of Gilbert of Glenchernich, though not the heiress of
that lordship — all uncertainty as to descent from father to son ceases, and
the record of the chief family, its successions, marriages, acquisitions of pro-
perty and other actions and intromissions of various kinds, is carried down
by the author to the present day. To this end he has evidently pursued a
wide course of reading, as is shown by the references at the foot of every
page, but of course The Chiefs of Grant has been his main source of informa-
tion, and his indebtedness to that work is duly acknowledged in his preface.
His avowed object in publishing the book was to supply the need for a
genealogical history of the Clan Grant at a moderate price, and no one who
has read the book can doubt that this object has been fulfilled. At the same
time it is perhaps a matter for regret that the result is not of a higher
literary character — that, in fact, the book was not made more of a story and
less of a catalogue. For the most part the accounts given of the various
chiefs consist merely of a bald chronological register of their appearances in
record, while the event of national or local importance which occasioned
some of these appearances are merely indicated or dismissed in a few words.
The way in which every page bristles with dates and references brings joy
to the mind of the student, but on ordinary readers without a close know-
ledge of general Scottish history the effect is likely to be somewhat depress-
ing, if not repellent.

In view of the restriction implied in the title of the volume it may
seem captious to complain that the author has not taken a wider sweep
so as to include all the various families of the Clan Grant. In the
Appendices he treats in more or less detail of f the more important cadet
families ' — those descended from Sir Duncan, first of Freuchie, who
flourished between 1434 and 1485; but there were others who, although
possibly of less importance in point of wealth and territorial influence,
have done their full share in maintaining the name and honour of the
clan. The several families composing the Clans Alan, Chiaran, and
Phadrick claim to have struck out from the main line before the time of
Sir Duncan — in fact before the removal from Stratherrick into Strathspey ;
but the claim is merely traditional, and this may be the reason why they
do not find a place in the volume under review. Nevertheless, even if
they are, as some think, the descendants of the ancient occupiers of
Strathspey and not of the original Grant blood, the fact remains that
they have all along been reckoned as belonging to the Clan Grant, and
no history of that clan can be complete without at least some mention of
them. Should another edition be called for, it is hoped that the author
will not overlook them, and that at the same time he may see his way — if
a detailed index cannot be given — to a little amplification of the Table of
Contents so as at any rate to indicate the references to the numerous
cadet families who do obtain mention. To find the families of Moyness
(p. 64) or Clurie (p. 82) or the later family of Wester Elchies (p. 110), for

288 THE CELTIC REVIEW

example, the reader who does not know the exact periods of their cadency
is condemned to a troublesome hunt ; while the main account of the later
family of Ballindalloch — of not less importance than the earlier family,
which has an Appendix to itself — is hidden away on p. 123 under the name
of its founder's wife, a less detailed account appearing in the proper place
under the Eothimurcus Family in Appendix V.

A few slips of minor importance may be pointed out. The parties to
the bond of combination of 30th March 1645, mentioned on p. 101, were
the principal men of Strathspey and the neighbouring districts, not the Laird
of Grant and his principal clansmen only. On p. 34 the two words
1 Cantra ' and { Done ' should be joined, the place indicated being Cantray-
doune; ' Auldcastlehill ' on p. 186 should be 'Auld Castlehill'; ' Lachlan
Shaw of Strome' who gets a wadset of Ardinsche (p. 204) should be
'Lachlan Mackintosh of Strone.' And should not the 'field' of the shield
in the blazon of arms of Grant of Freuchie, circa 1542 (p. 213), be shown
as gules instead of azure ] If it is really according to Sir David Lindsay's
MS., the difference of tincture from that in the present arms seems to call
for some mention.

In spite of its shortcomings, the book is on the whole a trustworthy
record of the rise and progress of the family of Grant and a welcome and
useful addition to clan literature. The publishers have done their part in
a manner which leaves little or nothing to be desired. A. M.

%* Reviews of several books, including Aig Tigh na Beinne, Manx
Folklore, Macdonald's Gaelic Dictionary, the new edition of Macbain's
Etymological Gaelic Dictionary, Old Ross-shire and Scotland (supplementary
vol.), Selections from Straeon y Pentan, are held over for want of space.

NOTE

Messrs. Smith and Elder announce in their list for October publication,
The Annals of the Irish Harpers, by Mrs. C. Milligan Fox. Mrs. Fox has
just returned from a successfnl lecturing tour in the United States, where
she did much to awaken interest in the subject of Irish music. It may be
remembered that she was unfortunately prevented by illness from attending
the last meeting of the Pan-Celtic Association in Edinburgh, and the paper
which she was to have read before the Musical Section was read by her
sister, Miss Alice Milligan. On that occasion some of the interesting
manuscripts were exhibited which are now published in the Annals of the
Harpers.

SCOTIA

(The Journal of The St. Andrew Society)

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

Vol. V. No. 4. MARTINMAS ion

Price 6d. net.

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL PREFACE.

QUEEN VICTORIA AND THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL MONUMENT.
By William Mitchell.

THE HERITAGE OF THE SCOT. {Poem.) By R. W. MACGOUN.

COMHALTAS. By Professor Donald MacKinnon.

A BORDER POET. By Will H. Ogilvie.

CARLYLE MEMORIALS. By Robert Duncan.

SIDE-LIGHTS FROM THE PRIVY COUNCIL REGISTER. By C. F. M.
Maclachlan.

AT THE SIGN OF THE THISTLE. By Ian Reay.

WEST OF SCOTLAND NOTES. By D. Glen MacKemmie.

THE SCOT ABROAD. REVIEWS.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece— QUEEN VICTORIA.

HALLOWE'EN. By W. S. MacGeorge, R.S.A.

A SENTINEL OF THE AGES. By Robert T. Rose.

THE LITTLE NATURALIST. By H. C. Preston Macgoun.

The chief objects of The St. Andrew Society are to stimulate the study of
Scottish History, to define the place of Scotland in the making of the British
Empire, and to represent in the Capital of Scotland Scottish Societies throughout
the World.

Life Membership fee, . £2 2 1 Affiliation fee for Scottish Societies

Annual „ „ 0 5 1 abroad, £1, Is. annually.

Applications for Membership should be addressed to The Treasurer,
St. Andrew Society, 65 Castle Street, Edinburgh.

THE

Scottish Widows' Fund

Life Assurance Society

ESTABLISHED 1815

The LARGEST and WEALTHIEST Office for

MUTUAL Life Assurance in the

United Kingdom

THERE ARE NO SHAREHOLDERS

RESOURCES OF THE SOCIETY
Annual Revenue over • . . £2,200,000
Accumulated Funds .... £20,000,000
Claims Paid £37,000,000

SUMMARY OF FEATURES

All Profits belong to Policyholders. Large and Steady Bonuses.
Easy Conditions of Assurance. Liberal Surrender and Loan Values.

Strong Reserves and Moderate Expenses.

POLICIES ISSUED FOR

Children— Endowments- Educational Purposes— Business

Requirements — Marriage Settlements— Dependants and

Old Age— Death Duties— Annuities, etc.

Prospectuses and Quotations sent free on application.

Head Office: 9 ST. ANDREW SQUARE, EDINBURGH.
Glasgow Branch : 114 WEST GEORGE STREET.

Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty