GAELIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. Until recently thet ’ e was doubt as to the family of languages to which the Gaelic belonged; indeed, with many scholars the impression existed that it belonged to the Semitic branch, and that its relations must all be traced among some one or other of its varieties. This view arose very much from the neglect with which the language had been treated by scientific men. Comparative philology is itself a modem subject of study. Naturally, in its progress, the more prominent languages came first, while the more obscure were passed over as of comparatively subordinate importance. The study is one so comprehensive, and requiring so large an amount of acquirement of various kinds, that it is no real reproach to modern scholarship that the study of such languages as the latter should have been postponed in favour of that of languages more generally known. Their turn, however, gradually came, and no one can complain now that they have not received the attention of very competent scholars. It is doubtful whether a higher class of scholarship has been nurtured anywhere than in the study of the Celtic languages, as exhibited by such men as Zeuss, Dieffenbach, Ebel, Whitley Stokes, the Chevalier Nigra, Henri Gaidoz, and others who have devoted their strength to their exposition. The result has been the complete establishment of the fact that this class of languages belongs to the Indo-European or Aryan stock, and is closely related to the classical branch of those tongues.
The first who brought real scholarship to bear upon the question of the family to which the Celtic dialects belonged was Dr Cowles Pritchard. His Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations is a work of the highest value, distinguished by its erudition, and the sound judgment it displays. He was one of the most remarkable men whom Britain has produced in the field of comparative philology. No doubt it is with the Welsh he chiefly dealt, but, in discussing such questions as he had to deal with, it mattered little which of the Celtic tongues was made use of. Many writers followed Dr Pritchard, and there is now, as has been said, no question 1 about the Aryan source of the Celtic languages. It is not that the words are to a large extent analogous, but the grammatical structure and the idioms correspond to such an extent that the question is put beyond a doubt; while, with the exception of a few common vocables, there is little that is analogous between the Celtic and the Semitic languages.
The territory once occupied by the Celtic race is a question of much interest. Now they are confined within well-known limits. On the European continent they occupy that part of France usually called Brittany, the most westerly portion of the country terminating in Cape Finisterre. They occupied this territory so early as the days of Julius Caesar, although it has been said that they were emigrants from Britain at a later period. The topographical terms given by Caesar in describing the Roman invasion all indicate that the language of the natives of Brittany used then, and for a long time before, was as much Celtic as it is now. Opposite to Brittany lies British Cornwall, a region with a Celtic tongue until about 100 years ago. The two Cornwalls—one in Britain and the other in France—terminated, one on each side, the territory occupied by the Celt. The dialect3 spoken in these stood in the closest relationship. To the north of this lies the greatest of all the modem sections of the Cimbrian Celts. Wales, occupied by about a million inhabitants, is nearly Celtic, and uses the ancient tongue of Wales, Cumbria, and Strathclyde. Across the sea from Wales lies the Isle of Man, where the Gaelic branch of the Celtic held sway, and does to some extent still In Ireland the Gaelic also prevailed, and is still spoken by about a million people. And lastly, in the Scottish Highlands about 300,000 people still use, less or more, the old Gaelic tongue of Scotland. Thus Brittany, Wales, Man, western Ireland, and the Scottish Highlands are now the territory of the Celtic languages. That they once occupied a wider sphere is beyond a doubt. There are traces of the tongue, in one form or other, to be found all along southern Europe. Topography is a valuable source of evidence, and one that will be made to serve purposes it has never served as yet; and it furnishes us—in Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal—with relics which, like animal fossils dug from the depths of the earth, spealL·unmistakably of what formerly existed there. How far the Gaelic form of Celtic speech prevailed it is difficult to say, or whether it existed alongside of the Cimbric on the continent of Europe. But the name Gallia is significant as applied to France; and it is a suggestive fact that, to this day, the Bretons call France Gaul, as distinguished from their own country, and in like manner call the French language Gallic, as distinguished from the Breton. In Scotland the Gaelic and Cimbric races long dwelt together, distinct and yet nearly related. When they separated, either as to race or language, is not easily settled. There are indications on the Continent which rather throw doubt on the idea maintained by some writers that the divergence took place after the settlement of the race in Britain, and farther inquiry as to these indications is essential ere a satisfactory conclusion can be reached. But within the historic period the two races existed side by side in Scotland, the Cimbric occupying the region called Strathclyde, with their separate government and laws, and the Gael at least occupying the Dalriadic kingdom of Argyll. The people called by the Romans Picts occupied the north and east of Scotland. That these were the same people with the Dalriadic Scots is somewhat questionable. That they were closely related to them is beyond doubt, but that they had linguistic and other peculiarities is manifest. Their topography proves it, being different from that of either Ireland or Argyll, and, so far as the historic relations of both are concerned, they indicate a state of chronic war. For centuries there were mutual raids of Scots on Picts, and Picts on Scots, until finally, under Kenneth MacAlpine, king of Dalriada, the Picts were overcome in the year 813, and they and the Scots became united under one monarchy. The tradition is that the Picts were annihilated,—meaning, in all likelihood, their power,—and there arose one great united kingdom. The united people are the ancestors of the present Scottish Highlanders, and the Gaelic language has come down from them to us, influenced as to structure by the dialect spoken and written by the victors.
The Gaelic language, as now in use in Scotland, resembles closely in its structure both the Irish and the Manx. They form one family, and yet it has its own distinctive features. Irish scholars maintain that it is a modern and corrupt offshoot of the Irish, and account in this way for these peculiarities. They say, for example, that the absence of the present tense in the Gaelic verb is a mere instance of decay, and proves the modern character of the dialect. But the Welsh is no modern and corrupt form of Irish, but an ancient distinct tongue, so far back as history carries us. And yet it wants the present tense, indicating that this peculiarity is distinctive of some of the Celtic tongues, and that what is cited as a proof of recency may in reality be a proof of priority. The present tense may be called an Irish addition made to the verb in the process of culture. At the same time it must be allowed that there is a difficulty in proving from any literary remains existing that the present Scottish form of the language is of great antiquity. All the literary relics that have come down to us are written in what is usually called the Irish dialect. The present tense is in universal use, as well by Scottish as by Irish writers. This arose from the identity of the Irish and Scottish churches. The dialect in which all theological treatises were written was one, and this dialect extended from the clergy to bards, and sennachies, and medical men. There is not a page of Gaelic written in any other dialect before the middle of last century. But as in other countries there was both a spoken and a written dialect in use, so in both Scotland and Ireland there appears to have been a dialect in use among the people as their common speech, and another used by their scholars,—the former varying according to locality, and the latter being identical throughout. Some of the features that distinguish the Gaelic language, partly in common with the other Celtic tongues, and partly not, are the following :—
1. The aspiration of consonants. This is accomplished by the change of m into v, of b into v, of d into y, of g into a broad y, of p into ∕, and s and t into h. As appearing in the initial articulations this presents a peculiar difficulty to the learner of Gaelic. He has been accustomed, in learning other tongues, to observe the changes required by inflexion, and other requirements of correct grammatical structure. But he has not been familiar with changes in the initial letters of words. In English these letters never undergo any change; but in Gaelic he meets with such changes at once. He finds mac, a son, becoming in certain circumstances vac, and he is ready to doubt whether both forms belong to the same word. To make the difficulty as little formidable as possible to the reader, the authors of the Gaelic orthography fell upon the method of using the letter h, which, though hardly a letter in Gaelic, and never used to begin a word, is now used more than any other letter. The Irish use a dot. The use of the h serves to preserve to the reader the original form of the word. Hence mac becomes by aspiration, or adoucissement as the French call it, mhac, pronounced vac. These initial changes of certain consonants arc made for the purpose of euphony, to which Gaelic makes large sacrifices, and also for the purpose of distinguishing gender. An aspiration converts the feminine into the masculine, and, vice versa. An ceann is the head, masculine, a’ chos the foot, feminine. So a chos is his foot, a cos is her foot; a chcann is his head, a ceann is her head, the pronoun undergoing no change, although its gender is indicated by the change. There are other purposes served by aspiration of considerable importance. The Gaelic learner makes a large acquisition when he masters the principles of aspiration, and inquirers into the characters of the language will cease to blame the frequency with which k appears in Gaelic writing when they come to see how important a purpose it serves.
2. Another peculiarity of the Gaelic language is to be found, as already said, in the want of a present tense in the verb. Tho verb “to do” is dean, the theme of the verb being in the imperative mood. There is no tense expressing simply I do, the form in use being I am doing, tha mi a' cleanamh. The Irish say deanaim, I do, but that is not the Scottish form of the expression. In this Gaelic is not only at one with several of the Celtic branches, but with some of the Semitic tongues. And it has this further in common with these last, that the future is used to express present time. This occurs frequently in the Gaelic version of the Bible, where we have an ti a chreidcas anns a’ Mhac, he that will believe in the Son, for he that believeth. And yet occasionally a true present tense appears in Gaelic :— an cluinn thu sin? Do you hear that? cluinnidh, I do hear it; am faic thu sin? Do you see that? chi, I do see it. In these cases and some others there is no doubt a distinct present tense. The cases are, however, few, and occur in peculiar circumstances.
3. Another feature peculiar to Gaelic is that there is no real infinitive in the verb. The infinitive in use is a noun which may appear either in the form of a participle or an infinitive, according to the effect of the preceding preposition. I am going to strike, tha mi 'dol do bhualadh, I am going to striking; I am striking, tha mi a ’ bualadh, I am at striking,—the preposition do, to, in the one case giving the noun the force of an infinitive, and the preposition ag or a', at, giving the same noun the force of a participle. The Gaelic infinitive is thus identical with the Latin gerund, and is one of the points where the classical and the Celtic tongues meet and touch.
In the article Celtic Literature reference is made to some of those cases in which the Irish dialect of the Celtic differs from some of the others. It is unnecessary here to go over the same ground again. What is distinctive of the Irish is, for the most part, distinctive of the Scottish Gaelic. The Gaelic retains the hard or k sound of c. There is not an instance of a purely Gaelic word in which the c is pronounced soft. There are dialects of Gaelic, however, in which the c becomes aspirated in the middle or at the end of a word. Thus mac, a son, is pronounced machd; veacadh, sin, is pronounced peachdadh. This peculiarity does not exist in the counties of Sutherland and Caithness, where the hard sound of c is retained. The Scottish Gaelic, in like manner, in common with Sanskrit, Latin, German, and Slavonian, retains the sibilant β, where other dialects have discarded it. Many words beginning in Gaelic with s have h as the initial letter in Welsh. It is worthy of observation, however, that, in the aspirated form of the s used in inflexion or as indicative of gender, the s assumes the sound of h in Gaelic. In like manner, words in Gaelic, as in Irish, can eud in s, r, aud n. The instances of these are numerous. So also does the Gaelic, like Irish, retain a harder form of the articulation than the British, but not io the same extent; for huvel, low, in Irish humal, is in Gaelic umhal, approaching in this, as in many other cases, nearer to the British form. So the Gaelic preserves letters where the British loses them, but not to the same extent as the Irish. For when the Irish has tech, a house, and the British ti, the Gaelic has both teach and tigh, and for the most part uses the latter. In addition to this, the Gaelic, like the Irish, has preserved the declension of its noun, which cannot be said of the British. Four of the cases are .in constant use, the nominative, the genitive, the dative, and the vocative in both numbers, the dative plural alone having almost disappeared from common speech. In the singular number these cases are distinctly marked— cos, a foot, gen. coise, dat. cois, voc. a chos. Wherever the language is well spoken these cases are in daily use, and are lost only when the language is far on in the process of decay.
Difference between Gaelic and Irish.— The differences between the Gaelic and the Irish are considerable, and, though Irish writers maintain the contrary, are not to be taken as indications of the modern origin of the former. Without entering on that question, we find a marked distinction in the use by the Irish of what is called eclipsis,— that is, the use of other and softer articulations to eclipse the harder in the beginning of a word, in some cases, as, for instance, in the genitive plural of nouns. The object Aimed at would seem to be euphony, and in seeking this object the Irish and the Scottish ear did not altogether correspond. In Irish, the law as given by O’Donovan is that m eclipses δ, as ar m-bo, our cow ; g eclipses c, as ar g-ceart, our right; η eclipses d, bh eclipses f, n eclipses g, b eclipses p, d eclipses t, t eclipses s. This system of eclipsing runs through the nouns and verbs. It is unknown in Gaelic, if we except the eclipsing of s by t, as an t-sùil, the eye, an t-slat, the rod, and certain words which, in some districts of the Highlands, suffer eclipse. In Skye the expression for the number of men is àireamh nan n-daoine, the η eclipsing the d. Other instances may be found along the weβt coast of Scotland. But eclipsis is, for the most part, distinctive of the Irish dialect. The Gaelic is further marked by a greater tendency to aspiration than the Irish. The sentence cionnas ta tu 1 how art thpu 1 in Irish, is in Gaelic cionnus tha thu Ί the verb and the pronoun being both aspirated. Other differences might be referred to, but one is prominent, the difference of accent or emphasis. The tendency of the Irish is to emphasize the final syllable, that of the Gaelic to emphasize the penultimate. Thus salàch, dirty, in Irish, is in Gaelic salach∙, Ois'ιn, Ossian, is in Gaelic Oisian. This makes a striking difference in the spoken tongues, and occasions one of the main difficulties Irish and Scottish Celts have in understanding each others’ speech.
Advantages and Defects of Gaelic.— The Gaelic language, as now existing, has its advantages and its corresponding defects. It is admirably adapted for the purposes of the poet. In descriptive poetry few languages excel it. There are some pieces of ancient, authentic, Ossianic poetry existing that are equal in power and beauty to the compositions of any age or country. Such are the description of Cuchullin’s chariot and horses, and the description of the swords of the Ossianic heroes. The same is true of more modern poetic compositions. Macintyre of Glenorchy’s Beiιιn Douran and Coire Cheathaich are fine specimens of descriptive poetry—poetical in conception throughout, couched in the choicest language, and with rhythm of unfailing accuracy. The same may be said of Macdonald’s Oran an t-samhraidh, or Ode to Summer, which is a remarkable specimen of what the Gaelic is capable of when used for the description of nature. Other lyrical compositions are also of a high order of merit. Love-songs and boat-songs abound, and are in many cases full of life and force; and the numerous songs expressive of clan affections and animosities display the same characteristics. No language is more capable of expressing both love and hate, and there seems to have been ample scope for both in the past history of the Highland clans. Within certain limits then, Gaelic is the language of poetry, extending from the epic of the Ossianic bards down to the lyric or less aspiring efforts of lesser bards.
The language is also admirably fitted for the communication of religious knowledge. It is in its structure metaphorical and emotional, and renders with wonderful precision and effect the statements of Scripture. The saying attributed to one of the dukes of Argyll is well known, that if addressing his sovereign he would choose English, if addressing the lady of his affections he would choose French, but if he was addressing his God he would choose Gaelic. Few of those whose calling it is to teach religious truth, and who know how to handle the language with effect, have failed to feel and own that it is incomparable for conveying the knowledge of the truth with power. Perhaps no preachers have surpassed the Welsh in real eloquence, and yet some of the Gaelic preachers have not been behind them. The language has served a great purpose in the Highlands in connexion with the religious life of the people. 4
The defects of the language are to be found chiefly in the departments of philosophy, science, and art. There it has either to be rejected or to be supplied from foreign sources. Indeed in this field it seems to have deteriorated during the course of several centuries. There are MSS. of the 14th and 15th centuries in existence, in which terms are employed in connexion with discussions in philosophy, theology, and medicine that could not now be understood. The philosophy of Aristotle is well rendered, as are also the theology of the fathers and the medical disquisitions of the Arabic writers on medicine. But when modern science and philosophy, and even theology in some of its departments, have to be dealt with, the lack of terms renders the task a difficult one. It is here that, in the progress of education, the difficulty of preserving the language lies. The effect of this want is traceable in common speech, when English words have of necessity to be used in connexion with objects of everyday use. Steamer, train, boiler, engine, railway, quay, <fcc., have just tobe introduced from the Saxon, and presented with a little of the Gaelic tone in them to suit the Celtic ear. Some writers and speakers do try to invent Gaelic terms to represent all these and similar objects, but popular usage rejects them and prefers the foreign words.
Gaelic Literature. —The literature of the Scottish Highlands may be divided into several branches. The following outline comprehends more perhaps than is usually included under that term; in particular, it appears necessary to give here some account of topographical and personal names.
Mythology.— We have first the mythology of the race. Little of this now exists, and it is difficult to piece the scattered fragments together. We find the mythology of the older faith or faiths interwoven in some cases with the mythology of the Northmen. The mythology of the East appears at some points, and we have giants, fairies, and witches, some of them firmly believed in to the present day. Adamnan, in his life of Columba, refers to the magi who were in the palace of the Pictish king whom the missionary sought to convert. Who these were, and what was their creed, is not clearly stated, but all we read of that early faith, and all that tradition brings down to us, would seem to indicate that their worship was a form of sun worship. The words applied to the cardinal points of the compass convey this impression, the fear shown in many ways of going against the course of the sun, and certain festivals in which fire was and is used, would seem to confirm it. The bodies of the dead are in some cases carried sunwise round certain objects on their way to the burial ground; in fact, words and practices crop up in several parts of the country serving to show that the sun was worshipped. Path, a circle, is used in Gaelic to express good fortune :— cha-n'eil rath air, there is no circle on him,—he is not fortunate,—referring, no doubt, to the course of the sun. There was a Gaelic mythology connected with the Fingalian heroes. Whether they themselves were mythical or not is debated, but there was a mythology connected with them. Fingal had a sword that never required to be used twice; the Vulcan of the race could cross a glen with a stride; Manannan, son of Lir, from whom the Isle of Man is named, could clothe himself in a fog, and so hide himself from his enemy. The story of Diarmad and the boar and the story of Fraoch and the beast are mythological, the former being the Celtic story of Achilles, and the latter the Celtic version of the Garden of the Hesperides. Then there were giants called Na Piantaicheaη, men of colossal mould. Dun Fhian, the giant’s castle, is a common topographical term. Here is the description (with English translation) of one of these heroes :—
“Tamhull mor, mac sheann Tamhuil, Cha ruigeadh a ’ rnhuir mhδr a ruinnse, Cha tharadlι e mach, ’s cha thàradh e steach, ’Us ’n uair a bhitheadh e ’s a bheul fodha, Bhitheadh a dhnιim a’ sgriobadh an athar.” Great Taval, son of old Taval, The great sea wouldn’t reach his middle; He couldn’t get out and he couldn’t get in; And when he lay down on his face, His back would be scratching the sky.
Some of these tales of the giant3 attribute to them a great age. There is one tale in which five generations in succession are said to exist at the same time, and the youngest of them a very aged man. The traditional tales taken down by Mr J. F. Campbell, from oral tradition in the Highlands are full of mythology. Animals in these play an important part, and are endowed with remarkable powers. How far this mythology is original, or is borrowed from the East, is an interesting question. In some of the Western Isles, the Scandinavian god Odin enters into the popular mythology, a relic, no doubt, of the Norse occupation of the territory. Fairies, or the daoine sιthe or sith-ichean, fill an important place in the mythology of the Highlands. The name of these imaginary beings is derived from their supposed habits. Sith is a common name in Gaelic for a hill of a peculiar form. As a diminutive it is sιtheaιι, the word used for green hillocks, which abound throughout the Highlands. These hills are supposed to be the abodes of fairies, who, in consequence, are called daoine sιthe, or the men of the hillocks. Sïth, peace, has no part in forming the designation, although often said to have. These beings were the very opposite of peaceful in the popular belief. It is impossible here to give an account of the common belief in the Highlands regarding fairies, but there is a great deal of popular literature taken up with descriptions of it, and with stories regarding these mischievous and meddling beings. They were fond of carrying away young children, and substituting young fairies in their place, to the grief and harassment of the mother. Nor did they confine their assaults to children, but sometimes carried men and women to their underground abodes, where they passed through extraordinary scenes. The Rev. Robert Kirke of Balquhidder wrote an account of the fairies which awakened their anger, and they spirited him away to fairyland. He was able to appear in the room at the baptism of a child born after his removal, when it was arranged that for his deliverance a knife was to be thrown over his head at a certain moment. The hour came, but through some infatuation the party entrusted with the duty failed in the performance, Mr Kirke was not delivered, and is believed to be in fairyland to this day. Similar stories are without number, and show how widely extended the belief in fairies was.
Witchcraft had a large place in the popular beliefs, and has not lost itιaltogether at the present day. It was supposed possible for a person endowed with this power to inflict great damage upon an adversary. Milk could be abstracted from the cows of a neighbour and brought to swell the produce of the party abstracting it. This belief has been the source of much animosity and strife among neighbours down to the present time. Clay bodies stuck over with pins could be formed representing an adversary, and could be laid in a stream, and as the clay wasted, the body of the man represented pined until he died. This afforded ample room for the exhibition of party or personal hatred, and is not altogether unknown now. The literature of witchcraft is of considerable extent, and consists in tales and forms of exorcism which are very various, and some of them very curious. The forms are all in rhyme, and do not display much of tire genius of poetry; they are usually made up of appeals to saints and apostles, with the occasional introduction of the Virgin Mary. Several of these have been handed down by tradition, and are scattered through various works devoted to Highland lore. Near the valley of the Spey there recently lived a noted wizard, who possessed a charmed bridle which exercised a most powerful influence over all forms of bewitchment. A clergyman, not far from the residence of this man, was on one occasion much disturbed by the state of his cows, which had suddenly ceased to give milk. The neighbours assured the minister that it was witchcraft, and that he ought to send for the man with the charmed bridle, which, very much against his will, he was induced to do. The wizard came, and was told by the clergyman that he had no faith in his witchcraft, but he should very much like to have his counsel as a man of skill. The so-called wizard, understanding with whom he had to deal, at once laid aside all pretension to superhuman power, and asked the minister where his cows usually fed, saying that they would go and take a look at the grass. They did so, when the wizard pointed out a plant, then in flower, which he said was, in that condition, most injurious to cows yielding milk. He advised the minister to keep the cows away from that piece of pasture for a fortnight. This was done, and the cows recovered. The wizard got his fee and a promise that nothing should be said to affect the public confidence in his power. This is the kind of witchcraft that has existed all along, and which has cost many poor helpless creatures their lives at the stake.
Topography.— In dealing with the literature of the Highlands we cannot overlook the topography of the country. It is to be regretted that in Scotlaud we have no such MS. remains, containing topographical terms with their origin, as are to be found in Ireland, nor have we any work on the subject of topography possessed of the slightest authority. But we have numerous ancient charters containing names of places, and we have what are called the retours, connected with the succession to property throughout the country, and these contain extensive lists with the spelling adopted for the names at different periods. These names belong to different languages. There is apparently an original language, if not more than one, which is now lost. Without this assumption there is no accounting for many of the names applied to natural objects. Then there is the old Norse and the Anglo-Saxon, the one using wick for a bay, as in Caithness, and the other for a town, as in Roxburghshire; then there is the British, as in the old Strathclyde territory, and the Gaelic. The Gaelic, in its topographical distribution, does not occupy the same field with that occupied by it as a spoken tongue. The spoken language and the topography of Galloway are quite at variance; so with Lewis and others of the Western Isles. The spoken language of Galloway is Scottish, the topography is almost wholly Gaelic. The spoken language of Lewis, Harris, Skye, &c., is Gaelic, the topography is almost wholly old Norse. But one thing is manifest, that Gaelic names are distributed over the whole surface of Scotland, although not in equal proportions. These names contain a history, could it be evolved. They speak of races distinct and successive, although their testimony as to dates is difficult to read. The county names of Scotland in Gaelic are suggestive :— [table]
This list does not include Peebles (which is probably Celtic), Selkirk, Roxburgh, and Berwick, as there are no Gaelic terms for them, but in the other cases it will be seen to what an extent the county names are really Gaelic. The same is true of names of parishes, which are, to a large extent, Gaelic both in the north and in the south.
It is to be observed that the Gaelic topography of Scotland differs widely from that of Ireland. The Irish sliabh, for a mountain, rarely occurs in Scotland, where the word in use chiefly is bcinn. It does occur, but the instances are few, while the Scottish ben is as rare in Ireland. Daile, a township, is sufficiently frequent in Scotland, but not so much so as the Irish bally. The word strath, for a great valley, occurs but rarely in Ireland; in Scotland it abounds over the whole kingdom. The abers and pits and invers of Scotland are rare in Ireland, or altogether unknown, while there is little resemblance in the names of rivers. These two systems of topography may have originated with the same people, but in one of the sections there were influences manifestly at work which were unknown in the other. Even in the Dalriadic kingdom of Argyll there are features which indicate a marked distinction between the topography and that of Ireland. The study of this subject is full of interest, and is capable of producing important results both linguistic and historical. The field is as yet unoccupied, and affords much to encourage the judicious and painstaking student.
Names of Persons.— The literature of the Highlands may be held further to include the names of persons as well as those of places. Indeed some of the older MSS. are filled with pedigrees, sometimes of kings, sometimes of lesser persons. Many of these ascend up to Noah, and even to Adam, showing at least that they date since the conversion of the Gael to Christianity. There are several interesting genealogical lists in the volume of transactions published by the Iona Club, and there are MSS. in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, which contain several lists of a similar kind. The descent of family representatives is in these traced up to the original source, which in many cases is found among the ancient Scottish kings. The preparing and continuing of these pedigrees was one of the duties of the ancient bards and sennachies, who transmitted their knowledge of family history from generation to generation. It may be believed that these officials would have a measure of bias in favour of their own patrons, and this may have, in some cases, influenced their accounts of family history: but, upon the whole, there seems to be a large amount of truth in what they have transmitted to us, back to a certain date. The rest is pure fiction. A specimen may be given, extracted from the genealogy of the family of Argyll.
Genelach mac Cailin Gillespie mac Cailin anann mac Gillespie mac Donclι anaglιa mac Cailin mac Gillespie πιoidħ mac Cailin oig mac Neill mac Cailin moir mac Gillespie mac Dubgaill, &c., and so on through King Arthur up to Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. In English this is—Tne genealogy of Mac Cailin: Gillespick, son of Colin, son of Gillespick, son of Duncan the fortunate, son of Colin, son of Gillespick thered, son of Colin the young, son of Neil, son of Colin the great, son of Gillespick, son of Dougal, &c. So far the genealogy corresponds nearly with the usual genealogies of the family historians of the house of Argyll. Similar pedigrees are furnished of most of the Highland clans.
The names of persons among the Gaelic races are for the most part patronymic.
The first name in its earlier form is usually descriptive, a⅛Dοnnghαl, Dubhghal, Bοnnachadh, Gillespnιig,— Donald, Dougal, Duncan, Gillespick,—the brown man, the black man, the brown-faced man, the servant of the bishop; often it is taken from the Scriptures, as Eoin John, Scumas James, Τornas or Tabhas Thomas, Ρcadar Peter, &c.; some of the names come from the Norse, as Toτcuil Tor-quil, Tormaid Norman, Aulaidh 01ave, Leod Leod, and some ar⅛ borrowed from the Normans, as Uillcam William, Eanraic Henry, &c. The surnames are for the most part patronymics, as Eoin Mac Neill, John the son of Neil; and in case there should be another John M ’ Neil, another step is introduced, as Eoin Mac Neill mhic Dhornhnaill, and perhaps a third until the person 13 thoroughly identified. Sometimes there is a reduplication of the sonship, as Mac Mhic Alasdair, Mac Mhic Allein, the son of the son of Alexander or Allan, names of important Highland chiefs. In other cases the surname is descriptive, asDubh black, Eoin dιιbh Black John, Beag little, Mor big, Buidh yellow, Crom bent, Ruadh red, &c., whence many well known English names are derived. A large number of Highland names and surnames are ecclesiastical, as those derived from St John, St Columba, St Cattan, St Bridget, and others, and thus become helps to historical inquiry. One thing is somewhat remarkable, that there is not an Cl, in accordance with Irish nomenclature, among the Scottish Celts. The old O’Duinn of Argyle is lost, and the patronymic of the Celt is marked by the uniform use of mac, representing a son, as O' does a grandson. The age of fixed family names seems no older than the age of charters. Previous to that patronymics universally prevailed, but when charters were taken fixed names were essential to their value.
Proverbs.— From name3 of persons we may pass to proverbs as a part, and a very curious part, of Gaelic literature. Few languages so abound in proverbs, and proverbs of a very clever and popular caste. A Highlander seldom gives expression to an important sentiment without backing it with a proverb, and these give force and pungency to what he says. A collection of these proverbs was made, in the year 1819, by the Rev. Donald Mackintosh, and, to form some idea of the number of them, it is only necessary to observe that, under the letter “I” alone, they reach the number of 382 in the first edition of the book. A large number of these proverbial sayings escaped the notice of Mr Mackintosh, and additions were made in the second edition, while some of the very best are not recorded even yet. Proverbial sayings in English are represented by sayings of a different kind in Gaelic, having the same meaning. “There is many a slip between the cup and the lip” is represented by Is le duine an ni a shluigeas e, αch cha leis an ni a chagaineas e, u What a man swallows is his own, but not what he chews.” “It never rains but it pours” is represented by An uair a tlιeid a , chailleach , n a ruith, theid i ’n a deann-ruith, “When the old woman takes to running, she runs with a will.” “Sour grapes ”— Mionnan a’ bhaird ris a ’ chaisteal, cha teid mi fhéin do’n chaisteal bhreun, cha teid, cha leig iad ann mi, “ The bard’s oath to the castle, ‘ I went go to the vile castle; no, they won’t let me in.’” The Gaelic proverbs are full of interest, and add much to the power of either speech or writing when skilfully used.
Sgeulachdan, or Tales of Fiction.— These at one time abounded in the Highlands, and had much in common with the tales collected and published by Grimm and Dasent, from the German and the Norse. Until lately, these tales were entirely oral, and were little known beyond certain portions of the West Highlands. Recently they have been collected, translated, and edited, with peculiar care ’ and skill, by Mr J. F. Campbell, in four 8vo volumes. This is a real addition to Gaelic literature, and Mr Campbell has laid every friend of that literature under obligation. One real service it has done in preserving for us admirable specimens of the most idiomatic and popular forms of the Gaelic language. We have it there as used by the tellers of popular tales among the people for generations. Whence many of these tales have come it is hard to say, but tales have been collected in the small islands south of Barra, where the people seldom tread the soil of even their main island, containing ideas and forms of thought which never could have originated there, and the preservation of which, in such a locality, is a remarkable fact. Are they relics of a higher civilization existing in ages long gone by? It is remarkable that the Thomas the Rhymer of Lowlaud tradition is well known in the traditions of the Highlands, and that stories of him related on the borders in broad Scotch are related in the Highlands in Gaelic as tales of great antiquity.
Clan History.— A portion of the literature of the Gaelic Celt consists of clau history. The clan system does not seem to be very ancient. In all probability it dates from the period when the Gaelic kingdom of Scotland ceased to exist. It has been already said to date from the era of charters. But the two eras are pretty nearly identical. Down to the reign of Malcolm III. the Gaelic kingdom appears to have been to a large extent homogeneous. There were no elements in it but what were Celtic, as it never really embraced within it the Scandinavian sections. Then the land was governed by its maormors and toiseachs, men who represented the central governing power. It would seem that when, in the reign of David I., the kingdom became largely Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman, the Gaelic people became estranged from their native kings, and gathered themselves in sections under the sway of their own chiefs; and hence came chiefs and clans, instead of a king and his subjects forming a united nation. The change was a serious one for the Gaelic people, as they never became again what they had been before. Clan names appear at an early period, and in some form or other must have existed before the time of the Saxonized kings; but not one of the great clans of Highland history—the Macdonalds, the Macleans, the Campbells, the Macleods, the Mackenzie^ the Mackintoshes, or others—appears at all. In the book of Deer, supposed to be of the 11th or 12th century, the names of two clans—the clan Morgan and the clan Canan— appear; but it is very questionable whether these represent any clan existing now, although clan Morgan is said to be the old name of the Mackays of Strathnaver. But the names in that interesting record are for the most part purely patronymic, and do not indicate any connexion with existing clans. The fact is that, till very recently, the clan name was confined to the chief, as records of old deeds and processes at law serve to show.
The Gaelic historical literature of one kind or another is of considerable extent, and consists of relics, written and traditional, of the old sennachies or family historians. In certain sections of the country the local traditions are full of the stories of old feuds, and, though not to be implicitly relied on, contain usually an element of truth. In Sutherland the feuds of the Sutherlands and the Mackays, in Lewis those of the Mackenzies and Macleods, in Skye the feuds of the M i Leods and the Macdonalds, in eastern Inverness-shire· those of the Mackintoshes and Cummings, in Lochaber those of the Mackintoshes and the Camerons, in Perthshire those of the Campbell 3 and the Macgregors, and others in other quarters are largely related. Native accounts of the clans were sometimes committed to writing, a specimen of which appears in the transactions of the Iona Club. For a good deal of what is historical regarding the Highlands, recourse must be had to the Irish Annals, which occasionally refer to events occurring in Scotland.
MS. Literature.— The written Gaelic literature was at its earlier period so mixed up with that of Ireland that it is not easy in every instance to distinguish them. The early church of both countries was one, and the early literature was the offspring of the early church. The very first notices we have of the church, whether among the mission institutes of Ireland or in Iona, indicate the existence and extensive cultivation of a native literature. The transcription or translation of portions of the Scriptures is shown to have been one of the frequent exercises of the early missionaries, and they all learned to write the same dialect and make use of the same letters. Many of the MSS. written in Iona may be credited to Ireland, and vice versa ; and writings found in Continental libraries may be presumed to have been the work of Scottish as truly as of Irish writers. The early treatises, and glosses upon Latin treatises, on theological and other subjects still existing in the early Gaelic dialect are numerous, and have afforded materials for the] acute and masterly criticism of Zeuss, De Nigra, Stokes, and others; and these are accompanied by treatises on grammar, history, medicine, astrology, metaphysics, poetry, and similar subjects, which are of much interest. Most of these remains are found in the collections in Trinity College, Dublin, and in the library of the Irish Royal Academy; but there are numerous remains in the Edinburgh Advocates’ Library, which prove at least that there were in Scotland persons who valued and collected this literature. There can be no doubt that there were many contributors to it as well.
The earliest specimen of Gaelic writing, which can be pronounced to be Scottish beyond any question, is the Boole of Deer, said already to be a work of the 11th or 12th century. The book itself consists of portions of the New Testament written in Latin. The Gaelic portiou consists of historical references, with notices of grants of land bestowed on the old monastery of Deer, in Aberdeenshire. These references and notices are, for the most part, written on the margin. They show that, at the time the book was written, the Gaelic language was used, both for speaking and waiting, in the district around Deer, where it is now unknown except in the topography. There is not a shade of difference between the language of the Book of Deer and the language of the Irish writings of the same age. The following specimen of the notices of grants of land may be interesting :— Donchad mac mec bead mec hided dorat αchad madchor docrist acus drostaη acnsdocholuimcUle insôre gobrdd malechi acusc6mgell acusgille crist mac finguni imιdienαsi intestes, &c. “Duncan, son of MacBeth, sou of Idid, gave
Achad Madchor to Christ, and to Drostan, and to Columcille, in freedom for ever; Malechi, and Comgall, and Gilchrist, son of Fingon, witnesses in proof of it.” The notice of grauts continue in similar form, being records kept within the monastery of what had been given. The Book of Deer is a work of much interest to the Gaelic scholar, and his best thanks are due to the Spalding Club and the late Dr John Stuart for the excellent volume they have published, containing all that is interesting in the original, with a full and learned account of it.
Of the period immediately after the Book of Deer there are several MS. remains of Scottish Gaelic writing in existence. There is the Glenmasan MS. in the Edinburgh Advocates’ Library, inscribed with the date 1238, and containing several interesting fragments. Here we find the famous lay of Deirdre or Darthula, connected with the story of the sons of Usnoth. The whole character of this MS. is identical with that of the Irish MSS., and yet it is manifestly a Scottish work. There are lives of saints preserved; one of these, in the Advocates’ Library, is the life of St Findchua. Mr Skene, in his Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, gives transcripts of several important MSS., as the Duan Albanach, or poetical accounts of the Scottish kings, recited by the royal bard at the coronation of Malcolm Kenmore. This was copied from an Irish MS., but is manifestly a Scottish composition. The bards of both Ireland aud Scotland often crossed the Irish Channel, and their works were well known on both sides of it.
The 14th and 15th centuries were a period of revival of literature over the whole continent of Europe, and the Celts of Great Britain and Ireland felt the impulse. This was a period of much writing both in Ireland and in Scotland. The remains that exist are of a varied kind, and are numerous, especially those of the 15th century. Of this century is the only Gaelic charter that we possess, which is printed, with a translation, in the National Records of Scotland. Of this age also are numerous medical MSS. Some of these belonged to the famous family of Beatons, hereditary physicians to the Lords of the Isles, and contain accounts of such remedies as were believed at the time to have efficacy in the cure of disease. Others are metaphysical treatises, while others deal with what were .looked upon as the great and important mysteries of astrology. Of this period also are most of the written genealogies that remain. The remarkable thing is the extent to which the Gaelic language bears the marks of cultivation at the time. In both medicine and metaphysics words are found to express the most abstract ideae, which could not be understood by the modern Highlander. As has already been said, some ©f these writings are translations from Arabic writers, as Averroes, Avicenna, Iacobus de Forlivio, and others. The state of learning at the time in the Highlands was not behind that in the rest of the kingdom. The clergy and the physicians, and even the bards, were possessed of real learning, and have left evidence of it.
The 16th century was the period of two important additions to Gaelic literature. The first of these was what is called “The Dean of Lismore’s book,” a collection of poetical pieces, and an obituary, chiefly of the M*Gregor chiefs, made about the year 1512. The work has recently been transcribed, translated, and edited, with notes by the Rev. Dr M i Lauchlan, and an introduction and additional notes by Mr W. F. Skene. The work is one which has helped to settle several interesting questions connected with Gaelic literature. It makes clear that, down to the period of the dean of Lismore of 1512, there was much in common between the Celtic scholars and bards of Ireland and those of Scotland, while the latter were striking out a course for themselves, in laying aside the Irish letter and orthography, and in using the Saxon letter and an orthography almost purely phonetic. The dean of Lismore’s book is a substantial addition to the literature of the Gael. The same century furnished us with another important addition in the translation of the prayer-book usually called “John Knox’s Liturgy” iuto Gaelic, by John Carswell, the bishop of the Isles. This is the first Gaelic book that ever was printed, and bears the date of 1567. There was till very recently only one complete copy of this work in existence, that in the library of the duke of Argyll; but now the book has been reprinted, edited by Dr M 4 Lauchlan, who has given an English translation, and such notices of the life of Carswell as very scanty materials would permit. This book is printed in the Roman letter. The publication of Carswell’s Gaelic prayer-book would seem to indicate that at the time of its publication the Highlanders could read Gaelic, and that they were familiar with the dialect then in use among scholars both in Scotland and Ireland.
Of the 17th century not many remains exist. Calvin’s Catechism was published about the beginning of the century, probably translated by Carswell, and published long after his death. A copy is now hardly to be found. But two important contributions were made towards the close of the century. The one of these was the metrical translation of the Gaelic Psalms, executed both by the synod of Argyll and the Rev. Robert Kirke of Balquhidder; and the other was an edition, in the Roman letter, of Bedell's Irish Bible for the use of the Highlanders of Scotland. The first fifty of the psalms by the synod were published in 1659, and the whole psalter was completed in 1694. Kirke published his version in 1684. Both are highly creditable performances, and Kirke is entitled to special commendation, inasmuch as the Gaelic language was acquired by him after he was settled in the Highlands. Kirke’s version of the Irish Bible for the use of the Highlanders was published in 1690. The New Testament is that of O’Donnell. This work is accompanied by a glossary including the words in the Irish Bible not generally in use in the Highlands. The book was for a time used in Highland churches, but the Irish Bible, in the Irish letter, was well known and read in the Highlands— both in churches and in families.
The 18th century was productive of large additions to Gaelic literature, partly due to an awakening of religious life, partly to the Jacobite rising, and partly to the progress of literary culture. In the beginning of the century Lhuyd produced his Vocabulary, accompanied by a few interesting Gaelic compositions from the Highlands. About the same time, the synod of Argyll executed a translation of the Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms. These were published in 1725. M 4 Donald's Vocabulary appeared in the year 1741. It is the first attempt at anything like a vocabulary of the Gaelic. It is of little value except as being the first book in which the orthography approached to that of the modern Gaelic. During this century several famous Gaelic bards flourished. M‘Donald, the author of the Vocabulary, filled the country with Jacobite and other songs. The former are of a violent character, indicating keen partisanship with the exiled Stuarts. MTntyre of Glenorchy, commonly called Duncan Ban, flourished about the same period, and, though he was a Jacobite at first, this appeared less in his compositions than in M , Donald ’ s. His hunting and other descriptive songs are admirable. M‘Kay or Calder, usually called Rob Donn, the Reay bard, flourished about the same time, and has left numerous admirable pieces of Gaelic poetry. Others were also successful composers, such as William Ross of Gairloch, and the religious poet of the Highlands, Dougal Buchanan. And towards the close of the century was published Gillies’s Collection of Gaelic Poetry·, one of the best collections we possess, containing, as it does, many authentic pieces of Ossianic poetry taken down when the old clan system was still in force in the Highlands to a larger extent than now. But the 18th century was distinguished by two works of special interest, in different departments. The first of these was the Gaelic translation of the Bible, and the second was Macpherson’s Ossian. The former was executed chiefly by the Rev. James Stewart, of Killin, and his son the Rev. Dr John Stewart, of Luss,—two eminent scholars, who had all the soundness of judgment necessary for such a work. This translation of the Bible has been most popular in the Highlands and throughout the British colonies where the Gaelic is still spoken. The Gaelic learner cannot do better at the outset than master the Gaelic Bible. Macpherson’s Ossian appeared about the same time, but not in Gaelic. It appeared first in English dress. This was the only mode of making the general public acquainted with it. Macpherson’s first small volume of fragments appeared altogether in English; it would have been well if both the original and the translation had been published simultaneously. The only part of the Gaelic that was published before 1818 was what is called a “Specimen of the Original of Temora,” given with the other poems in English in 1762. The opinions with regard to the authenticity of Macpherson’s Ossian are as various as ever, and yet considerable progress has been made in the discovery of truth, which all parties are prepared to acknowledge. It has been established that poems ascribed to Ossian have been known and written down in the Highlands for 300 years, that many of them have been handed down by tradition, that these were fragments referring to certain important events in the history of the Gaelic race, and that there was nothing to make it improbable that such poems as those translated by Macpherson could have existed. Further, it is clear that the Highlanders at once, whether they knew the pieces or not as given by Macpherson, recognized them as in a style familiar to them, and as relating to persons and events with which they were familiar. That Macpherson found materials for his work in the Highlands is beyond a doubt·, and it seems quite as manifest that he used very considerable liberties with them in order to serve his object of producing a great Gaelic epic poem or poems. In 1818 the full Gaelic version was printed, long after the death of James Macpherson. The Poems of Ossian, as collected, and translated, and edited by Macpherson, are a valuable and interesting addition to Gaelic literature, and enter largely into the history of the modern literature of Europe. The Saxon may have his doubts about Ossian, and may have little scruple or delicacy in stating them, but the Gael knows more about Ossian than he does about Milton, and is more familiar with his heroes than with those of Homer.
The 19th century has seen many large contributions to the literature of the Gaelic Celt. It has shared in the general progress of learning, and with this it has risen in the estimation of the scholars of Europe. Grammars and dictionaries have been compiled; magazines of various kinds have been started and carried on for a time with much vigour; collections, such as Mackenzie’s Beauties of Gaelic Poetry, have been made; and such provisions have been laid up for the future as to secure an ample supply of materials for the scholars of a coming age. That appears to be the special work laid upon the scholars of the present time. They have to collect materials and commit them to writing, and to describe the peculiarities that are distinctive of a living language, for the use of those who hereafter can only study it as existing in books, where emphasis, and tone, and accent are altogether unknown, and where the comments and expositions of living men, familiar with the language and the literature from their childhood, are altogether awanting. For that the Gaelic language is in a state of decay is manifest to the most ordinary observer. And the decay is twofold, being both within and without. Within, the vocabulary is waning, and English words are coming into use. Gaelic idioms are in like manner disappearing, and English idioms replacing them; while from without, under the influence of education, immigration, steamboats, railways, and other modern devices, English is rapidly finding its way into the land, and pushing the ancient tongue out of it. When this process is completed, a change will befall the people. too, for there is no doubt that there is a close relation between the character of a language and the character of the people who use it; so that, when the Gaelic disappears, many of the features distinctive of the Highland character will disappear along with it. In some respects this will be cause of regret; in others perhaps it will not.
At the close of the article Celtic Literature a list is given of the existing MS. remains of Gaelic literature. It may interest readers and aid students of Gaelic to furnish here a list of some of the more important printed books in the language. They are as follows :—
Fragments in Report of Highland Society on Ossian·, Fragments in Chronicles of Picts and Scots ; The Book of Deer; The Book of the Dean of Lismore ; CarsewelΓs Prayer Book; Bedell’s and O’Donnell’s Bible; The Gaelic Psalter, various editions; The Confession of Faith, and Catechisms; Lhuyd’s Vocabulary ; M'Donald’s Vocabulary, Ossian's Poems·, Smith’s Sean Dana·, Gillies’s Collection of Poems·, Macdonald⅛ Poems·, M ’ Intyre ’ s Poems·, Eob Donn’s Poems·, Dougal Buchanan’s Hymns·, M‘Callum’s Collection of Poetry, The Gaelic Bible; Stewart’s Collection of Poems·, Turner’s Collection of Poems·, Sacred Poetry of the North, edited by Rose; The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry ,M‘Kenzie; Grant’s Hymns·, MTntosh’s Gaelic Proverbs ; Stewart’s Gaelic Grammar ; Munro’s Gaelic Gram mar·, Highland Society’s Gaelic Dictionary, Armstrong’s Gaelic Dictionary, M'Alpin’s Gaelic Dictionary, Highland Tales, collected and edited by J. F. Campbell; Leabhar na Feinn, by J. F. Campbell; An Duanaire, by D. C. M i Pherson; An Teachdaire Gaelach, by Rev. Dr M'Leod; An Fhiauis, by Rev. Dr Mackay; An Gaidhcal, a magazine; numerous translations from the English, chiefly religious works; Connell’s Astronomy ; M'Kenzie’s History of Scotland·, besides many others. (T. M i L.)
