THE CELTIC REVIEW and What Numbers of Pails and Jars Were Accidentally Lost O " D Wn That Deep Well" Then It Was Necessary to Get A

l h u rt rl Fi ekin Februa r Ma Au ust a nd November. Pub is ed Q a e y, rst We y, y, g

u l ree 5a o r 7 Dolla r 24 Gen ts. An n a Subscrip tion, Po stf , ,

(T he Vo ic e o f the Ye ar)

‘

se ie s o f a c e s in E n sh b t he H o n . R . E sk n e o n the su e c r rti l gli , y r i , bj t E n m e a s a o M r. s i e o f h T T I H N AT I N AL D RE SS. S o e t e SCO S O y r g , r k

l e ue s o f n um e o u s e n s he ha s e c i e to su éme n t ha r q t r fri d , d d d ppl t t

" h i n a n o e s a n d o se rva io n s T he p o p ul a r bro c hure wit a ddit o l t b t . styl e o f the we ll - k n o w n illustra tio ns o f M a c

c h o la rship a s to the t o pi c o f whi c h it the e a n um e o f S c o tsme n who t a ke a iv e in ere s in the gr t b r , l ly t t su e c o f the N a io n a D e ss the se ri s ‘o f a c e in ue s o n i bj t t l r , e rti l s q ti s ’ s ure o f a wid e spre a d a n d p o p ul a r re c e ptio n . " E e S c o sm an a n d a ll ~ in e e s e in Ce c a fa i s s o u v ry t , t r t d lti f r , h ld l

s o h s e - kn o w n ua e Fo u ubsc ribe t t i w ll Q rt rly. ' it ha s a lre a dy a c hie ve d ph e n o m e n a l suc c e ss; It c o n sists b f o ve r ' i in e in e n 1 00 a e s o f e x a n d s xc e e t e . p g t t , pr t d ll typ , in G a e c a n d E n sh a re e m o e o n its sta f li gli pl y d f, ‘ h sta tus o f the M a g a z i n e is

publi sh e d .

Fascin atin g re a dm

P u b l i s h e d b y E N E A 4 3 M U RRAY PLAC E . T H E CE LT I C RE VI E W

M AY 1 91 1

A BRETON VIL LAG E

. A TSON E O. C . W

BRI TT AN Y s i ds o ld - is a sociated in our m n with quaint, —world - o us o o f . J o pe ple and c t ms , and the little village St a ut de la l o n a o mer doesnot be ie the reputation f the cou try . St . J ut o n o n e o f o s l i stands th se long , fertile penin u as wh ch are a ‘ - i - a ch ef feature o f the north west o f France . The co st line e i l is de ply ndented , the irregu ar rocky masses forming a

’ to t e charming contrast the long stre ch s of silvery sand, while u o ut o f a n f rther are dotted islands varying shapes d sizes ,

hi o n o o t o . many of w ch can be reached f t a ‘l w water The greenness of the land which surrounds the hamlet i s broken by the golden corn growing between the heavily laden fruit r a n o t ees , d by the fields f b eautiful buckwheat, its starry white flowers shining radi antly against the red stems and o green leaves . The first glimpse o f the village sh ws it

different from others . It is a lang toun indeed, but an i o o o exceed ngly narr w n e . An o ld Bret n writer has de scribed the houses as turning their backs o n the co ld north ’ o e o o n e wind and p ning their do rs to the southern sun, and is o n e o s struck by the way in which , with acc rd, the hou es di nl o f all face in the same rection . The o y street the village runs north and so uth so that the ho uses a ll stand with a o i ff o n e gable to the r ad , g ving a peculiar e ect as walks

h o . On ll o n e t r ug h entering the vi age by land, sees a ’ Calvary consecrating the round where several ship g — wrecked sailo rs have found their last resting - place a

v o L . VI I . G 9 8 TH E CELTIC RE VI E W A ﬁtting entrance tothis home of seafaring folks . few yards r hi in v o lun fur ther o n stands a simple g ey stone cross , w ch tarily carried o ur thoughts across the sea to o ur o wn holy

- lrt o f sea g Iona . The fronts the houses are covered with - f o a n d vines and pear trees, raming the do rs windows with o f hi h green leaves"and clusters fruit, while the garden w c ﬂo wt rs each ho use possesses is well stocked with vegetables , ,

- and fruit trees . The people have the simple earn estness and frank

happiness o f those who live removed from towns . The o men are tall, handsome, and clean limbed bey nd o the c mmon . The women are not above the average — i d - o f he ght , but are well made and goo looking many them

pretty, with piquant faces , lovely big brown eyes , and with

dark brown hair under their snowy winged caps . All give n dl the strangers ki y welcome , even the little children stop their play to dr op curtsies and wish them bon jo ur in o l their baby French . The men f the vil age are chiefly f fishermen and sailors , away from home for rom seven to n o o f d ni e m nths the year, uring which time the women wait a n d work and pray for their safe return . But not always ar e T e r their prayers granted . he y y small n umber of even e l lderly men in the vil age was almost incredible, while the number o f women who wore mourning- caps was heart i n r rend ng . O e could sincerely sympathise with thei saying Femm e de Ma rin femm e de cha grin (wife of a sailor a wife o f - sorrow) . From March to M ay the fishi n g boats are l eaving for far seas , and the long months pass slowly till ,

t to . about the end of Oc ober , the boats begin straggle back o Then th se whose fathers, husbands , and brothers have o returned rejoice , but even in their j y they do not forget to weep with those whose dear ones sleep under the deep tha t surro u n d waters g the Newfoundland coast . After a r time there are ma riages , for t e home time is short and t o r hese al ays take ce o f v e mb e , w ab ut t e end , when pla , o o n the ﬁshingseas n is d e . ‘ i Fro m o ur v ine fra m ed window we look out on to an open A BRETON VILLAG E 9 9

- f iv c o Ze re d r el ro un d . space where stands an old yg s d aw w l, whi ch centres mu ch o f the s a fl take of m ckerel , ounders , f r t he o i boats whi ch have remained o h me ﬁsh ng , are washed o u l n s in large tubs . Then they are c nted, packed fresh gras c o o c a b b a e to n and rushes , and covered with l g leaves be se t

to the nearest market town . What excitement there is ro und that silent o ld well which has supplied so many ‘ ’ generations " The h alflin lads are eager to take part I V hi hi t s as in the catc ng of the fish , but the man whose duty it ‘ ’ to o is c unt the take , and whose arithmetical powers are o f u not the sharpest, has serio s objections to so many l hi s assistants . He on y keeps temper with apparent difficulty while he endeavours by force a n d entreaty to t persuade he lads to leave the scene . When he i s getting rapidly reduced to a state o f helplessness and despair he has a bright inspiration and sends them o il to get the o to cabbage leaves , with many injuncti ns see that they s are pretty ones . Being a u eful matter connected with o a n d i o f the w rk in hand, hav ng the great advantage i ’ tak ng them into their neighbours gardens , the boys are satisfied with their errand, and the leaves are placed over ’ the fish in the baskets to the satisfaction o f the o ld man s critical eye . But it 18 n o t only the men and bo ys who are interested m fis h the . At such times the maidens find that much water 18 u required for domestic p rposes , and

’ G in o a. od o n a b dy meet b y c mi frae the well , i ti o G n a. body meet a body ced a b dy tell

o n e rt On occasion her father appeared inoppo unely, but the young fisherman was equal to the emergency, and quick as o n o f thought he made the girl sit the ledge the well , half o o o ur cl sed the w den doors , and t ned to greet the man whom to hi s - in - o ff he hoped make father law . He showed the o f a rtiull fine baskets fish, then y guided the unsuspicious parent shorewards while the maiden slipped demurely home . 1 00 THE CELTIC REVIEW And what numbers of pails and jars were accidentally lost o " d wn that deep well" Then it was necessary to get a

- o a d o f large ﬁsh hook and a l ng line, n , course, a young sailor o r ﬁsherman would gallantly c ome to the rescue and there were grateful looks and wprds inaudible tb

other ears . da h — Every y w ole families fathers , mothers , and

— - childr en, French visitors armed with wading shoes and

- t th a n o o e s ds t a . h shrimping nets , went c tch shrimps T ey formed a strong contrast to the poverty- stricken o ld women whose sole livelihood was in gathering bait o n the long o f stretches sand and rock left exposed by the tide . It was

pathetic to see these brave women, barefooted and with their k s irts kilted up to their knees , their backs bent from hard ni work and the carrying of heavy loads of bait, retur ng in the glo aini n g to a cheerless home and to the thr ee o r four o n children whose bread depended o n their labour . The oc r atio n ur p is a last reso ce , and those who are driven to it are generally the widows of ﬁshermen who have found peace h o ut beneath the waves without aving been able , of an t o n uncertain income , o make provision for those dependent

- e l them . Bait gather rs ook very picturesque , but it is an ' occupation whi c h so o n brings o n rheumatism in its worst

forms and many other di seases . ull l At harvest time the d thud of the ﬂai is heard, and

o f hi - ll the loud, whirring hum the primitive thres ng mi , which

is turned by horses in gorgeous blue sheepskin collars . They are directed by a man who stands at the junctio n o f the three shafts and whose large straw h atand lo i o ur the str king features of little village . ll o In the meantime , the windmi s , which c mmandingly th hi o n a o f ill a re occupy e gh gr und o e ch side the v age , getting ready fo r the grain which is to be crushed between o their enorm us stones . The huge ladder arms , so long bare , o are now covered with br wn and white sails , which have already done duty at sea when they were strong to battle

with the wind . The roo fs are turned round that the A BRETON VILLAG E 1 01

breeze may catch the sails a nd the giant arms begin to

move slowly. There 1s o n e handloom ln the vill age a n d a few spinning ll o rl mi tiv e wheels are sti left . The latter are m re p than i dl o o h a . s th se fthe Hig l nds There no trea e, the wheel being turned by the right hand while the left g uides and smooths

the thread . s Our little landlady, who e husband is a sailor and away o r ni to o to f from ne ten m nths in the year, was always ready o f b o ur li o f di spend a couple s , in tel ng us tales the strict o f and o f the customs the people . We learnt that each o wn di i o di strict has its stinct ve cap , and thus a Bret n can s o n tell the di trict of any w ma by the cap she wears . The o f o ur di cap strict is close ﬁtting , with a little peak at the 18 to back . A band attached one side and passing under the

chi n is caught in a bow at the left ear . When the wearer is in mour ning thi s cap has the ad di tion of a straight piece i o n an d s wh ch hangs down each side , streamer at the

- i to back . In half mourning the ﬂaps are p nned back form b a triangle and the streamers are tied in a o w . The whole

o f ﬁn e - hi i cap is made snow w te linen , and its very simpl city makes it the handso mest and most di stinguished - looking of o Bret n caps . When a woman is in mourning she must not wear any — silk n o t even the fringe o f her shawl may be of — what she d o e s we ar must be u n is all o f o n e m o r wool , all cotton, all linen . There is much pleasant rivalry between the populations o f s ml ni the different di tricts and ha ets . All have cknames — fo r each other o ur nearest neighbours across the bay being ’ the Prussian s . Perhaps the thi ng that surprised o ur landlady most was lk d a d to hear us ta English . One y she sud enly asked if it ur t d ur h us to talk English , and when we showe s prise at the di question, though with some fﬁculty we maintained a polite gravity, she explained that it sounded as if it must be a very pain ful language to speak 102 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Breton crockery s till retains its distinctive features here . " is served i n bo wls with two handles resembling in ’ h ln a Highland cuac . Ragouts come to the table

- di u o fthe lovely orange brown shes , and the colo rs ﬁgures and scenes which are painted o n the ware are such as to satisfy

the most artistic taste . l On Sunday all wend their way to the ittle church , which n o f stands o a gentle slope at the end the village, and behind o f ﬂb w rs a n hi a garden bright e d shrubs . The w tewashed t he walls , the plain wooden pews , little galleries where sit u a n b - t e the n ns d their charges , the oat shaped roof with h — pathetic little mo dels o f boats votive offerings for safe — returns suspended from it, the simple service , performed o n e l by priest whi e another plays the harmonium , are all in keeping with the congregation o f white - capped and d women and blue j acketed men , we felt it was in eed good for us to be there an d to chant the Psalms in the grand o ld Latin tongu e with these devo ut Roman

Catholics .

Sometimes there is a procession, when the chanting — priests and the little acolytes o n e o f who m/c a rrie s a silver — m l cross lead the way . Then co e the nuns and the schoo hi c ldren . They are followed by more acolytes who carry a ﬁgure o fthe Virgin and Child (or the image o fthe Saint whose day it is) o n a board supported o n their shoulders . The o men and women fall into line and complete the pro cessi n . The Litany is chanted as they move slowly alo ng to the

- 14 harbour where the ﬁshin g b o ats ride at anchor . short o n service is held there , and the procession moves again, o f ur between the ﬁelds white buckwheat and p ple vetch , past the o ld windmill and thro ugh the village street to the c hurc re . Having made the circuit the processionists o r the church f Benediction . ’ On All S o uls Eve the little churchyard I S strewn with freshly gathered seashells a n d all is mad e exceeding fair . midnight there 1s a pro c e ssio n to it when public lamenta ad r o o f tion is m e , and p ye s are o ffered for the s uls the ' A BRETON VILLAG E 1 03

departed. All who have been widowed since the last All ’ S o uls Day spend the d ay in the church in prayer and fasting. ’ o D a ll . St. J hn s is a bright one in the Vi age The young me n flii s o a n have been y bef rehand, d in the early morning flo each plants a green branch, adorned with wers and o o f o hi s ribbons , bef re the door the h use where own ul o n partic ar fair e lives . The flowers and ribbons are in to o f time transferred the person the recipient . The o f Church takes her part in the happiness the day, which s a n is spent in fe tivity d mirth . o t o o a n cie n t a s o N . c le f kes far fr m St Ja ut , is an t the Du of i s n o w ic thr u . e s e ui Hu t Brittany It ‘ a p q r n , , even in its s o n e decay, its strength and size show that it mu t have been o mi a o f o d of the m st for d ble European strongh l s . It stands — at the head o f a deep bay o n e end of the ro ck o n which it is a s built being washed by the waves . The shell lime used h so u l held the walls sec rely that two , a most three , sides of the to hi o f castle are still three s ries gh, and several the inner r walls remain . Tall trees grow in the cou tyard and in the e roofless chambers . A curs has been upon the place since a o f a son the house was treacherously bidden s a guest, and T o s foully murdered by his kinsmen . this day the peasant , ’ ur passing at night , hear the m dered man s wife shrieking , o Guildo Guild as she vainly seeks him . No peasant who o wns cattle o r sheep will venture to cross the moat o f hi a o n e t s grim old c stle . The rash who does so will lo se all . Near by is a battlefield where the British were defeated by o I I the French in the reign of Ge rge . Having seen some interesting- looking door lintels as we dr to o ur o n o f li o n e ove village the top the di gence , we day o ut o set to have a cl ser View o f them . We found that o several o f them were evidently tombstones . The m st interesting has a sword cut o n it and a Latin inscript ion to " the effect that the stone was to the memory o f a certain man (who se name we co uld n o t decipher) and Ana his ’ wife . From the woman who lived in the house we learnt 1 04 THE CELTIC REVIEW that the stone had been bought by her father , some sixty fo r it m years before , forty francs , and that had come fro the o o h ad Abbey o f St . Ja ut After the st ne been taken home the ca ré by the pur chaser, had come and washed it with o hi m i a qua fo rte t enable to read the nscription, as he wished o fLo b in e a u a d to know if it was the stone , the great patriot n i s e collector o f Breton h toryand leg nds . When we returned o i an d u Lo b in e a u to St . Ja ut we made nquiries fo nd that Dom is regarded as little short o f a stunt . The only tablet o n the church walls is one to him , and there is also a stone to commemorate him in the churchyard . This memorial is a — curious one a small Latin cross set on the top o f a very hi gh ro riéta ire dl Breton menhir . A p p in the Village kin y lent us o l a an d book , and from this we re d of the persecutions which Lo b ine a u h ad o o endured, on acc unt of his patri tism and ‘ o f o o f hi a t his collecting the hist ry and legends s country, o f i the hands certa n noble families , and how, driven from place to place , he had retired, poor and in bad health , to end n o his days l St . Ja ut e hi ll We also l arnt of the early story of the vi age . o An Irishman , with his wife and family, had c me to

to . I n hi s Brittany teach Christianity x time , sons grew up

o . and both became missi naries Both founded monasteries .

o f . a c u t One them came to what is now St J , and there founded a religious house and taught the Gospel . His good works were known far and wide and a considerable village sprang h s up round his monastery . T rough generation the work o n o o was carried . A noble abbey to k the place f the little monastery, and both abbey and village were known by the o f ll o u name the Irish monk . Not ti the fanatics fthe Re v o l tion destro yed the abbey so utterly that there is n o w n o trace o f the building left, was the work interrupted . But it was Onl y an interruption . A convent took the place of the abbey when peace was restored, and now a Dominican sisterhood continues the work of the monks . They nurse the sick and an to l help the poor , d them the children o f the Vil age go for education . A BRETON VILLAG E 1 05

The grey stone cross standing near the entrance o f the

s to o ld . village was the ﬁr t erected, and is said be very o Though not what is known as a Celtic cr ss , it connects the ll o ni fo r o . vi age f St Ja ut with Celtic Christia ty, it goes back to the old tradi tio ns ; and it was not without cause that at s the sight of it o ur tho ughts had gone o u t to Io na in the we t . J o Hearing the story o f the fo unding o f the village of St . a ut de - la- mer brought to us fresh reverence fo r the high- souled enthusiasm o fthese noble men and women who fro m Ireland o o f o o f and Sc tland, from the scenes the lab urs Patrick and Co lumba travelled in bands and fam ilies to England an d to the then largely dark Continent till they came to a people who ne eded their message of peace and their loving help . o e We remembered ho w St . Bernard had c mpared the C ltic s o n o o a n ho w mis ionaries the C ntinent to a ﬂ od , d a promi nent Sc o ttish church histo rian has written that they were

" the most successful m issio n arie s t h a t have ever entered the field; We remembered how all who had a desire fo r know ledge and learning were welcomed to I reland . From Sco tland and England and fro m all parts o f the European — Continent they went as many as fifty Roman yo uthsin one — o o o band and all were given f d, bo ks , and instruction free o f o to all charge as l ng as they wished study, so that a distinguished writer says truly that no mo re hono urable ’ testimony has ever been borne to any nation s ho spitality ’ o fittin l and love f learni ng than thi s . Most g y was Ireland ’ I n sa la Sa n c to ru ct D o t ra m called m c o . The number of these Celtic mi ssionaries and the vast o f extent‘ their unselfish labours can never be known , for w o rke d n o t o r e xc e they for praise renown and, with few p it l a tions , is on y in the pl ces they have made holy that their

names are reverently and lovingly remembered . 1 06 THE CELTIC REVIEW

THE G AELIC VERSION OF THE TH EBAID OF STATIU S

PRO FESS OR M A CKI N N ON

the I T must have been, in large measure , their passion for heroic and romantic that drew the minds o f the o ld Gaelic to o f scholars the Epics Greece and Rome . They read o f G eo r i cs o f the Odes Horace and glossed the g Virgil, but o f I lia d E n eid Pha rsa lia they made versions the , the , the , T he a id and the b . To them the honour belongs o f having been the first to render a masterpiece o f classical antiquity o into a modern t ngue . While the French version o f the f o n o t 1 180 A . D . Legend Troy was done until about , a o f T o a il T ro i o r o f portion the g , the Destruction Troy, appears in the B o o k o f Leinster (circa and may have been done many years earlier. o f nl The Gaels , like others , knew the Greek epics o y o f through such Latin versions as were current . That the I lia d by Dares the Phrygian was the favourite among the t r le We s e n e o s . o fp p It favoured the Tr jans , from whom they claimed descent . o a re a ll o n These Gaelic versi ns done a uniform plan , o f li practically that the Gae c Tale . A prefatory note gives the leading events from some far- back date down e to the time when the Tale prop r commences . Thereafter o o r the original auth r is followed more less closely. But a translation, as we understand the term , is not attempted . o The version is presented in plain, ften bald, prose . The translator compresses o r expands the original text at pleasure . As a rule compression is resorted to in discussions o r of state policy, whether by gods men, and in matters o f pertaining to religion, while descriptions heroes , fights , o n o r games , with storms land sea, are largely amplified . o f Occasionally discrepancies text are noted, and so far o reconciled, but more frequently f reign customs are ex

hr o f - plained t ough the medium Gaelic folk lore .

Of these versions the late Dr. Whitley Stokes has THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 1 07

T o a il printed, with translation, vocabulary, and notes , the g

- T ro i 1881 82 I rische T exte . 1 (Calcutta, ; , ii , Leipzig, 2 1909 Pha rsa lia I rische T exts . and the , , iv , Leipzig , M er a d ilixma icc Leirtis Dr . Kuno Meyer the ug U , The ’ f o f Wandering o Ulysses the son Laertes , based upon an

o o f Od sse . 1886 unknown Latin ech the y y (London, D Nutt, ) D E n eid and the Rev . George Calder, B . . , the (Irish Texts o v o l S ciety, . The Gaelic version o f the T heba id has not hitherto been

i . . pr nted . There is a complete copy in the Brit Mus (Egerton, 1 178 . 1 3 , pp 7 It is written in a large , clear hand,

1487 . much contracted, and dated A fragment is in Dublin

2 45 a - 46 b e . . 2 o 1 98 . 0 . 7 . . n w (T C D MS H , 7 , , pp ) , the dat ’ o f hi 14 o w ch is 79 . Another copy is in the Adv cates Library

N o . Collection (MS . viii . Kilbride , This copy is written o o n in double c lumn, in a good and pretty correct hand,

- o f . . twenty six leaves parchment, folio size The MS is

- o f undated , but the first twenty one leaves it were probably fif o written early in the teenth century . It is unf rtunately o inc mplete . The MS . was for a long time without cover, o f and the first page is n o w quite illegible . At the end fol . 7 the scribe missed a co lumn which he afterwards wrote o ut on a narrow slip o f thin vellum which is preserved . o 21 22 o Between f ls . and there is a gap which corresp nds ’

o i 2 75 . to ta t u 80 . S s s . r ughly text, Books ix line to x line ri o n e The last ﬁve leaves are w tten in a less correct and, l shou d say, somewhat later hand .

Th e Edinburgh and London texts are o f common origin . It would have been impossible to produce two renderings so different fro m the original text and so un ifo rmly alike

tw o o . as these are . A noticeable peculiarity in b th MSS , o and especially in the Edinburgh c py, is the very frequent use o f fo u r b a s e fo r be n a fo r a o . andf, . g. , and f (f ) In the following transcript the Edinbur gh text is fo llo wed where E o . existent and legible . Variants fr m Egerton ( g ) are given o f o at the foot the page, but unimp rtant differences in ortho e T fo h. r graphy are not taken not of . stands the Latin text o f s Statiu . 1 08 THE CELTIC REVIEW

G AE LI C TE "T

Aro ile righ u a sa l o irm hu in n a c h o n o rac h ro gab h for la mhu s acus fe ra n n u s ar an ard- c a thra igh n - a ib in n n - alainn

- n a c o m a in n a T e ib h is in n Grcic dar L ius . Acus is do sidhe o n E idhi r ro b o mac E idhip . Acus is p sin o c in n se t na da E tio c le s mac a ildi o iregda Polinices acus . Acus is iat na b ra tri sin ro marb a chele is in c a thu gud mor na T iab ha n ta acus na n - Grec ic c o sn u m righe na h - ard - cathrach na T e ib he do c echta r leithi . Acht cena is ann sin taini o ar m e n m a in 1 d o Sta it don aird- fhili d Fra n ga c h so c in ela c h b un a dh ia 2 T iab a n ta ro c in se t aiti A ir dra min na innus o C m mac ghe n o . Acus is e an t- Aighe n o ir sin rop aird - righ na Tirde acus na in e a ic e ro Sid o n do . Acus is ui in ingen so c in ela c h dar n a

To b - c o m a in m E o ro p a . Acus is di tuc in grad h n de rm a ir co rob h - egin do tia c hta in a richt ta irb h da breith leis tar

- fa irc c e o r m u in c in n mara acus mor . Acus o sia c ht dar in ’ c ré c hu a idh n muir sin u C d do a richt fen . Acus ro uai in

- r h ingen sin aige co mor g a d a c . Acus is d o n ingin sin tuc Iop in tir - fo c ra ic c n - a dhb al tres prim ra n n in betha a in m i u ithi E ra i n u gud a o p . Age n o ir u m o rro ro ga b h fe rc c acus lo n du s a dhb al acus

irr i fu a ir e sb aid B - ra i i to s mor o a ingine; oropa mor g dha gh . u m o rro c o m a irle d o A he n o ir m o r Is i rinne ann sin g , a mac gra dh a c h do o u r ar fud mara acus tire do iara idh a she a tha r a db e rt fa b a d hia ir uan doman . Acus is ed ris muna dh a s tia c hta in fa c sin do s m can a ris acus gan a o . Is ann sin u m o rro ro sira star Ca itim din gn ad a in domain

- — acus o ile n a in ga n ta c h a na h a ib héisi mor a idhb hle tim c hella s fu a ir dhu a dh do c ha r in bith . Acus mor do acus do acus do gh a ib hthigh mara acus tire sec hn o n in domain iter muir acus ’

n i fu a ir ris ré er d im n idh . tir . Acus in ingin in sin, g ces mor Acus is ed u a de ra sin nar féde dh ta idhe c ht i n - a igid Io ip ’ trui n - radh o iti mic Sha n n cend na dee a g g d fis fair . Acus

On e might b e apt to in fer fro m thi s epithet that the G aelic versio n was made But in se the n s o o u k au er k from the o ld Fren ch versio n . that ca tra lat r w ld li e Ch c ta e h oe an d r e n o t Sta it b ut Sia es the G e t e Fren ch fo rm o f Statius (Sta ) w it is. Besid a lic version is as differen t fro m the Fren ch versio n as b o th are from the Theba id. 2 f n d/ra m ti nn rim r Texts s . C . i I . . 2 o s r The e n is u n er a n . G r adi g c t i , , iv , l a y THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 1 09

E NG LI SH TRANSLATI ON

A certain noble, revered, and honourable king , Laius to name, gained supremacy and rule over the pleasant and beautiful chief city Thebes , in Greece . Oedipus was a son f u two o his . And from Oedip s there came the handsome h ni . and stately sons , Poly ces and Eteocles T ese brothers slew each other in the great war between the Thebans and di the Greeks , conten ng on either side for the sovereignty of the great city Thebes . Now the nobly born great Frankish po et Statius undertook to trace the origin of the Thebans 1 so n hi and their descent from Cadmus the of Agenor . T s o o f Agenor was King of Tyre and Sid n, and was the father

o o . the n ble maiden, Eur pa It was this lady whom Jove loved so greatly that he had to go in the shape of a bull to carry her away over the surface of the sea and great ocean . An d when he reached Crete o ver that sea he assumed his

o wn . shape Jove cherished this lady, and greatly loved o her . He gave her the magnificent reward of naming n e o f the three great divisions of the world after her, namely o Eur pe . Now when Agenor came to know of the disappearance of his much loved daughter, Europa, wrath and great fury and sorrow took po ssession o f him . He thereupon resolved to send hi s beloved son over sea and land to search for his sister thr oughout the world . And he told him if he could n o r not find his sister not to return see his face again . Cadmus thereafter searched the stro ng places o f the ul o f o continents , and the wonderf isles the vast cean which circles the world . He encountered much danger and hard ship and peril by land and sea throughout the world bo th on f sea and land . But with all the su ferings he endured, he ur did not find the maiden d ing all this time . And the o f reason was that Jove son of Saturn , the head the gods , must not be crossed, nor his secret love revealed . Now

1 f h - T . 11 5 C . . . 6 . , i 1 1 0 THE CELTIC REVIEW

0 nach fu a ir- Sim a shia ir is i c o m a irle d o - s- rat in a m e n m a in ’ tre na ghais dul c o te m p a ll Ap a ild dei na faistn e d iara idh i r i hi fhe ssa acus eolus n adha c u th a o p in ingen . Acus is ed ad rt A a ild sirth a in u a ir ui b - fu idhb e dh b e p ris gan a , , acht éirge dh a mach a marach is in magh min- sc o tha c h maigh ’ - ta e c e ri n re idh mor a dhb a l a mach . Acus dh b c) b e da c h ’ - - le n - a bith alainn dli it is in magh min alainn sin . Acus s

- - i he l lui hfe a c u m d i te r h i no co n lu g . Acus in bai e a g a g le tsa ca th c umd a c hta c o m ura ib h - aib hle air caom , mor , acus ti hib h ro fa rse n a ria n a n a ib h se n m dhi co g righa g , acus co g solus - glana co mad cathair ordan acus oire c htu is na n - Grec

h - a in m Bo e tia o in cathair sin , acus co mad e a no Teba , ’ r in udh r e for ill ei A il t en acus t n g in d pa d . R - r ita idh ro c huir 0 a n . o sum ann sin Acus gab , acus te c hta ire tarisi u adha ar cend di ghe co sithil alainn

u m a idhi n - im de n u m 01r a ir it h - u a m a idh co acus g umpi, co a db al im do rc h a uai a c o mfo gu s do ar lar fu ala sc a ighi l irn e c d i ﬁr- - ro c o a a acus tobar alainn fonn fuar ar a lar . O sia c ht an te c hta ire do c(h)um na tibra acus tuc a sithil uan

c o n a it h ir n e mhn ac h h - f us i , as ann sin taini in ( ) a artar na h - uama co c e ithr i c e n n a ib h mor- aidhb hle furri acus c o tri lin ib h fia c ul in cach cend fo leth acus co n - de ilb h to ra tha ir o

- - 1rthe r do c o irc te c hta ire o s h f h 0 . O n a artar co . in cinn na tib ra id tuc beim da glo m ra ib an aen (f)echt cuige go ro fa adh a n m a in ro iaru m le Ca itim g can ann sin . O po fada mac Age n oir ro ui a fer m u in n tire ro fa idhe sta r fer eli da

m un in tir h - do us do c(h)um na uama, acus c(h)um in ce , n a itir a ra dha in o Cidh acus tuc i in c tua fair . tra acht caoca o c la c h to rc h a r m ui n n tir m la i ro e ri h da a dh sin . Is ann sin g Ca itim mac Aghe n oir acus ro gh ab h a éde dh acus ro tre a la im

m - b ru th le o m a in n e m h n a tra c h a arma co miled , co ferg , co ,

- ir co dorus na h uama da digail ar an ti ro marb a m u in n t .

- - i ir Acus o raini c adc o n n a ic a n a tra igh n di gfre c ra n d m o . ’ Agus do rinne sdu a gh kl ib moir di 0 fartar c o h - é irta r amal ’ - I - idhb hle t c o n n a irc se o l crann lunga a n a . O in fer mor da h - in n sa igh ro c a th a ighse t ar aen ann sin co fu ile c h 1 i b This rare wo rd appe ars later describ in g bo ws for boga da ib ca oma com ecta .

1 1 2 TH E CELTIC REVIEW

uin e c h c re hta c h - lin n te c h s t r g c cro ann sin, acu o c hu ir a n aitir fadhe o idh c hu a idh n e m h n e m hfn i , acus do a ar .

- te m o ll A a ild T ani c sum ro im e iar tain co p p . Acus ro raidh se t na dei ris ar do demam is in m o igh ar marbad (n)a n a thra c h silia d 0 fhi a c la ib h n a hra c , acus a in air sin na t h a r fo n - h aisc id tul a i h R0 tr ro e irge t fir arm g ar in g . e ab h n - uir ro im he c a th a i hsit fe fe o c h a ir fe rc a c h in , acus do g co g ro m a rb h e a c h c u i e r acus dib a cele acht aen g nama. Acus is les in c u ige r sin ro c u m d a ighe dh in T e ib h marao u re Ca itim 1 A e n ir h - é ir Mac g o . Ba o e n a o edha in c uiger sin Echio n ' ro u o i c u mda c h T e ib he m a ra e n Ca itim A he n o ir a na re mac g . Cidh tra acht ro c um d a ighe dh in T e ib h a ml a idh sin re Ca itim A he n o ir ro so in m e c h seta c mac g . Acus uoi co h

in n te ré . f hu a ir d o in m e d u a dhe oidh u a ir ro re foda Co ( ) e , 2 so a dh é fen acus a sétigh an delb a ib h n atra c h co cend se c ht ’ m - b lia da n n o c o o c ra idhi n - u a de o idh taini na dei forro , acus 2 ro i hsit c o r a ib h h u co g na p fen iar sin . Acus is do shil i d 3 fhir c hin se a d - T hia b a n d a sin ro na rig trom glana nile .

E idi ro in h - i 1 Acus is da sil p mac Lai . Acus bi Lai sin fo rla m u s acus i fe ara n du s na T e ib e fri re fata . Acus is do 4 ro thin c ha n sa ta r fa idi acus druidi in tan a tc hife a d neach c hla in d u sha e al ui fh a iti c o nid da g nach biad a g bud , imi sin d o n ithe a gach duine c la in di r o b e rthe a do do m ugugu d nili . Is and sin darala o e n d a fecht E dip mac Lai breith do n - ri a in I o c h a sta ru c ad h - e m - mor g . Acus iar breith co ] c o mm o ir c o mfh a c c a is ro a ithi n m a th a ir a n coil . Acus a g m a la irt m u u u d th o c b h a il c ra n d a na (a) g g , acht a i comard c o m re id n - fhid a id ra fa c b had E idi a m la id is in b . Acus p 5 - huid era n n o e ide an 0 TO fa c a d h e a e n ur ro c . sin, acus gab a Atc hu a la ig im o rro a ra ile mac rig ro bai ar fo ga il acus ar di b eir n o ide a n n - a c e n ul c hru n n g in geran sin na ar g is in , o dar b a c o m a in m Po lipu s a in m in gill a sin . Tani in fer sin ’ d in dsa i id n a ide a n ad c ho n d a irc n a idi n remi g na , acus in 6 - - ir n - de a rm a ir n e c e n d a il ro ib e . T uc a sta is in ir grad do ,

1 Two o r three wo rds delete d in M S. 2 b o m e b e H en e o the ere he E n b ur M Fol . b 1 e s . t S . H di gh . ( i ) c e l gi l c f rward E n b ur e x is o o e the m o m o an n s o f the E e o n ers o n b e n di gh t t f ll w d, re i p rt t varia t g rt v i i g en the o o giv at f t . 3 6 4 5 l is a h idhin en a . . id r n an terc n ta r ca e a é . righ ha sa . a c g THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 1 1 3

- l . two fought there a b oody, fierce , wound giving , gory fight ll o o f o The serpent fell eventua y, and its ven m became n ne ff o f e ect . Cadmus then went to the temple Apollo , and the gods told him to till the groun d where the serpent was o f slain , and upon sowing it with the teeth the serpent men in their warlike weapons would appear upo n the knoll . He plo ughed the mo uld ; [the men appeared] and fought nl l o n e kee y, fiercely, and angrily, unti the slew the other, nl s ho o save o y five . It was the e five w al ng with Cadmus o f the son Agenor built Thebes . It was the great leader o f who o f the five , Echion, assisted Cadmus son Agenor in s building Thebe .

Thus was Thebes founded by Cadmus so n o f Agenor . And he dwelt there prosperous and wealthy for a long time . Eventually misfo rtune overtook him ; fo r b o th he and hi s wife were changed into the shape o f serpe nts o f o f during the space seven years , until the hearts the to o wn gods relented, when they were restored their bodily N o w t shapes again . it was from the seed of this man tha l o f all the i lustrious kin gs o f Thebes sprung . And his di o f seed was Oe pus son Laius . Now this Laius held supremacy and rule in Thebes fo r a long time . It was to him that prophets and wizards foretold that his life ul o f wo d come to an end whenever he would see a child his . Because o f thi s he was wont to destroy every child born to him . Then it came to pass that Oedipus son o f Laius was o ta Af brought f rth by the great queen Jo c a s . ter his birth

(the infant) w as carried to a great wo od near by . His l n o t mother ordered that he shou d be slain nor destroyed, l ll hl but that he shou d be placed in a ta , branc ess tree in n the wood . Oedipus was left thus, and bei g alone he gave utterance to his infant wail . ’ o N w a certain king s so n named Polybus , who was ’ prowling and plundering abroad , heard the infant s plaint o as he was fastened in the tree . He appr ached and observed the plight in which the child was . He conceived a great d love for the babe , carrie it away, and reared and nurtured

VO L . VI I . H 1 1 4 THE CELTIC REVIEW

a cus ruc leis e da a ile a m a in acus da a ltro m a m a ll mac - ab a sta ir Po li u s m bunaid do fen . Is and sin g rigi a thiri tuc a sta r ri da m n a c ht h a cus a thalman fen . Acus g a f era in d a i e d a ic c i E di r le a s . d o n mac 0 g I do p mac Lai . Is and sin d o ra la don E idi p sin te c m a ill 00 h - a n b u inidi a n urlu m for fe a c htus de a a id 1 u i fhite r in a g sin cend a athar Lai . Acus c o m a d h - e E idi te c m a d u i fhite r im o rro E idi Lai p do , acus p h - e a tha ir ta c hrad E t commad a Lai do . bai cach dib ac i arra id slo in dti u i d e a rn a id a uar a chele , acus neach dib slo n dud R 0 fhe a r r e h a ir r a da chele . ad a c o mlo n n f o c fe a g a c h to rc ha ir a tha ir le h - E idi ann sin , acus a Lai p tre a in b fhi a n e o lu s acus s . E t r0 E idi fe a ra n d tu c a sta ir m a thair gob p a athar, acus a d o - c ho m ad a is n - a a ll u i chaem chele ar g b rigi do . Acus 1 fhite r- sium sin cein no 00 tarla m e n m n a na rign a I o c ha ssta 2 tro ic hthib c o m n o c hta E idib u a ir a mla id ar in rig " l , is r0 c e a c hta rde di b I arfa i e s i badar acus toll tre . g in r gan , ’ tr ththo ll tr ic hthi i r0 e o . N n sa Cid do ar (s)i an sin , ar a ml a id ﬁdb a ide c run d r0 se . Is frith me ar lar na i ard is 3 in o ho ill acus clo c e c hta r a dam chois ac 0m c o n gb a il is in 4 c hrun n frithar - m - c o ra id , acus nad cia no mo ban samla

ro - m - a ile a d ro - m - altro m a d Po li u sin . Acht acus ac p s 5 a il n a d n m a mac do fen . Acus fed sin i dissi dam fu a ir u i do ro in n u s A a ill mar me . Acus as e dul chom p , ’ 6 ’ fa istin e ia rfa idi b u i b in d a tha ir dea na , acus a g de c ait a g m t di A a ill slo n d u de n a m d o hir . Rai s p rimsa gan mo g do en duine acus (an) cet fhe r te c e m ad dam and c o mlo n n do chur 7 i ﬁ ’ 8 t it ris acus b a ge b a n d s m athar hr sin . Acus is e cet fe r do ra la cucum a sa ithli sin Laius ar se c hro n no o n c h a thra i Po tc his do ro c ha ir lim sa é a selga ac g ac , acus ’ ’ la a ir Tru a I o c ho sta m ar a dc h u a b . sin g am sin, ar si , ’ - r0 th a th a ir m a tha ir. be tra in Laius sin siu, acus is misi do A cus is me ro a ithin do chengul is in c hrun n gan da marbad

1 2 ib h a h c o sa . a g en el c . 3 4 f r - - i l in n eda cia ro m c ora dh am aidh s . cen ga l. ach 5 M n E re ds n a ua r - n ar n o h- e dh e n n o c o r h -aithis n s . . : sa S. i di ti ct g a ch f c i g ’ e dh mhe an n us c o n - shra dh rim m o b e im thurcaire u can fis m a r n o m o , ac th th lli tha m ’ ' r D ﬁarf i s do Ph li u uar fed sin in ni sid d m . atha . a gu o p s a 7 d 8 o E u ﬁ m m . . a s o g. adds c s athar THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 1 1 5

it as if it were his own child . Thereafter Polybus became o f o n king his w country and land, and he gave the regency o f to Oedipus , son Laius , the boy who was brought up by him . Thereafter it chanced that on a certain occasion

Oedipus unfortunately and unluckily met his father Laius .

Neither knew who the other was . Each asked the other ul to declare his name and kindred, and neither wo d do hi s so . Then the two fought a ﬁerce and angry duel, when father Laius fell by the hand o f Oedipus through want o f knowledge and ignorance . ’ o f Oedipus now took possession his father s territory, and hi s mother was given to him as a ﬁtting an d loving s n pouse . He was not aware o f the fact until Quee ’ ’ o c aste s o di J attenti n was drawn to King Oe pus s bare feet, with a hole through each o f them . The queen asked

How is it that your feet are bored thus said she . Easy ’ o f to tell , replied he . Thus was I found in the centre the o il w od, in a very tall tree in the forest, with a na through o f ni to each my two feet faste ng me the tree , and I have n o t di o U sc vered who it was that fixed me p in that fashion . But I was reared and nurtured by Po lybus as a son o f his o wn . And I did not know that it was n o t so until I was reproached upon the matter, and people began to say that ff o f o who I was an o cast the fl od, not knowing my father o f n o t and mother were . I inquired Polybus , but he was to permitted tell me how he found me . And what I did w as o d o f ask o f to go to Apollo , the g prophecy, and him o where I could find my native land . Apoll told me to tell to n o fir my name man, but to fight the st man who met me , and by this means that I would know who my father w as . The first man whom I met thereafte r was Laius astray o r following the chase near the city Phocis, and he was slain ’ Al " by me as you have already heard . as that that is ’ o c asta ur so , said J , for that Laius was yo father, and I am

o o . o f o fo r y ur m ther And it was I , because my great l ve o u you, that ordered y not to be slain but tied in the tree . And I have borne these four children to you— Eteocles and 1 1 6 THE CELTIC REVIEW

d c e thr ur c lo in di - ar met o grada . Acus is me ruc in sea dit I E thio c le s Po le n itc e s An n ti o n e acus , g acus Ismene an da ’ ’ D urso n E idi e n e a m a in ingin . damsa, ar p , g acus na m i o an fhis a n e o lu s gn im a sin do d nam dam, gid tre acus do ’ im o rro E idi da rala iat . Is and sin tuc p da laim in o e n he a c ht c e a c htar ul ro f a da sh acus bean as a chind iat, ar 1 b ithin lo - gun nar an a ed sun neach, ar met a naire a h - a ithli na m o r- chol sin do de n a m do 00 na fa ic tis slu a ig

so c h a id h - e no e . I m thus im o rro E idi E o thio c le s Po le n ic e s da mac p acus .

R0 e iri tn u th - c ho sn u m im u g acus tren eturu rigi na Tebe , g nar fhae m neach dib c o m ro in d na cathrach na in c hin iud a ’ ’ d a ro ile d allta n - thuc sad o n o ir h - n a lsli d eis a athar . Ni na

n - ath a ir ro dium sa c h dro c h - a ic e n ta c h da , acht badar fein co c a ithim a tha rde fh e ra in d lo a an acus ind ( ) , acus adar gach a h - e mac dib b fen bid ri a nn . i rr i R0 b a l do - u Dala m o o E di p ar sin . co dubach me m

- ro - ﬂa ithiu s n - a nach in uam thig thalman gan rigi gan , ar m a la irt n - a m u u u d ib d o acus ar g g do en . Is ann sin rigne 2 E idip lam - c ho ma irt moir acus do in n si no o lo c hta cosna l a d u a thm a ra ib iffre n a ide s T e issifo n e de b , acu co cus sin

- - - i - i m ban dea n (d)e a m n a g n (d) a sa c hta g do soh rud . Acus \ is ed so a drub a irt R0 a ili s m isi acus ro a ltru m a is co ’ ’ n - do rnes ulca im d a ile rd a tre t a slac h acus tre t a d a n ugud ’ co ro marbus m a tha ir crin o ian- aesta ac in c ha tra ig dia n a id c o m a in Fo ic c id a ro thu a sluc u d m . Acus tre sa cesta do ilgi di- thu a sla ic thi in to ra tha ir diar b a c o m a in m

to ra th a r ro T ia b a n da . Spinx . Acus is e in sin bai i tir na 2 Acus is e ro ﬁarfa ide a d do gach o e n te c m a d da in dsa igi ca 4 ( 10 a n m a n n a c e th a rc ho sta d e c ho sta tre c ho sta . in , , Acus in 5 tu lu i ro uile te na as c ud ar in c e st do marbad sin iad, cein no ’ - 00 ranao sa da in ds a igid in tan ro b a ac ia ra id m athar .

Acus ro fhiarfa id in to ra th ar na co asta c e tn a damsa . Acus

’ - a drub a rt- a c o r e s1n u air c e a th a r c ho sa c h h e s ris b in duine , in a n a ide a n n ta c ht con a da chois acus c o n (a) da laim in ’ fhe a c ht imlu a d c ho sta im o rro o c u a c ht en ac dho de , , inn a

1 3 c u n a faic d- an M S 111 11321 1 ch e s . 8 8 4 an t- ain midlz . THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 1 1 7

’

two . Polynices , and the daughters Antigone and Ismene

Woe is me said Oedipus, for my birth and the misdeeds o which I have done, though they have happened thr ugh ’ want o f knowledge and ignorance . Thereupon Oedipus seized his two eyes in his two hands and plucked them o u t o f an d his head, so that he might never see man again , that ul ul o f neither hosts nor m titudes wo d see him , because the great shame he felt after committing these great crimes . o f Now as to Eteocles and Polynices , the two sons

Oedipus . After their father became blind there arose envy and great rivalry between them regarding the sovereignty o f h o f o ul to T ebes , so that neither them w d consent ul o share the r e of the city or f the people with the other . They paid no respect o r reverence to their father ; both squandered heedlessly and recklessly their patrimony and o f substance , and each son them deemed himself the king . With respect to Oedipus : he lived in darkness and o f o r gloom as if in a cave the earth , without sovereignty o wn dominion, having by his act destroyed and deprived 1 o f himself both . It was then he made an urgent and heart - rending appeal to the dread go ds o f hell and to the o devilish, furi us goddess Tisiphone especially. And this is what he said : Yo u have so reared and nurtured me o that by your seducti n and incitation, I have committed o many and numer us evil deeds , and have slain my decrepit o f Po tc hi and very aged father at the city s. And it was by f dl o f s your aid I solved the di ﬁcult, insoluble rid e the mon ter o n e called Sphinx . This monster at time was in the terri to ask tory of Thebes . And he used every person that - e came his way what animal was it that was four foot d ,

- - two . footed, and three footed And those who could not i dl hi s solve th s rid e he slew , until I came way when seeking Th e . to my father monster put the same riddle me . I ni l n f replied that man was the a ma , inasmuch as in his i ancy o n he went about his two feet and two hands , and was thus four - footed ; but in his youth and manhood he was two

1 f 4 e Th 6 s . C . . et . , i l , q 1 1 8 THE CELTIC REVIEW

i 1 ferrd a c ht o a ic c i im a d . b I. acus ina , a da ch is amain ac ho sta im o rro se a n n ta c ht the a c ht ; tre c , , e in a acus in a lo r a ic c i im the c ht she a n o rda c ht I. a da chois acus a g ac . 2 Acus 0 TO tha im nige s in o b esta sin ro fer- sum c o ml o n d feig fuire o c ha ir fe ara m a il acus to rc h a ir in to ra th a r de sin ’ i a nn im o rro a drub a irt E idi : fa de o d . Is sin p Is tre ’ — ’ t (fh)o rta c ht su acus tre t (fh)0irithi n do rign u s na gni ma ’ ro m a tha ir tho irrc hiu s sin . Agus marbus , acus ro mo ’ th th a d a n du o - u r e m a a ir. Acus is tre s o b an us mo roso

tha n - - ib duisi - le a glas lind uar as mo chind . Acus g siu

ru m ﬁc h fe ir i fe o c hra i i t m a c i - sa E tio c le s ia a . g g i er mo b I. 3 i ro dlui e t ro di - sc a ile a t acus Pol nices , co g acus co an in ﬂa ithi us 00 na ro ib i c e a n da c ht no c o m m us ac neach dar l ro lin asta ir iu m m u s dro c h ll aile dib . Ua r d acus cia iat tres in n - (d)im iad acus tres in n - (d)im ic c in tu c sad damsa ’ - - ar mo beth dall dorob a i n uam thig thalman . ’ t c hu ala ic h im o rro e ssifo n e b ria thra E idi O T na sin p, is ann sin ro e irig in Fhuir demnach d a sa c hta c h con a trill sib do n a thra c h a ib n e m n e c h a im a ceann ac sia n ga il acus ic sib sa n a ig acus ic fé adga ire acus ac fo lu a im n ige d acus ac sugud in t- shro th a tib re c hta ic h te in dtigi dar n a c o m a in m

Co sido n n - - b o rd a ib t- shro th a ro , daig is in immel in sin bid

- - r i e a a ir a h ait acus a h adha . Is a nn s in o l n g st si co dian de in m n e da c h d a sa c hta c h o n t- sruth sa i n e n tin c ura c h , amal g te in dti i n o re tla in d la sa m u in ﬁrm a m in ti g , amal luath na o lu a i n i i c li i ta ni c d a e sc ar f m g . Acus is ad so s g tres na shl u a a ib disc iri dim a in e de a m n a c da g , ocus tres na 4 h - a ire c hta ib aduana e tla ide do a n m a nn a ib batar in n - grian 5 b ro a ib iffrin d ra a b a sta ir ul g , co g grain acus ecla adb iad lo fa ic sin a dre ic hi de a n m a ige du a ib sigi na b a idb i b ru th - de ir i ta n ic E t maire bell g si rempi sin . ar sin dar dorus n - u rb ad a c h n - iﬂrin d l E t 0 ria c ht a mach I. dar Tena r . do ’ o fo rdo rc hud a idc hi tani tar dreich talman nile amal , cor 6 (gab) u a m a n acus im e c la lucht na crich(i) acus na o e n d a 6 li id su a ic hn id dach rempi . Acus ta n ic si ar sin is in s g

i - sa n e a m a il ar fan gle n n ta ib sle b e m a il co to ra c ht c o T e ib .

1 2 3 o ccuain taidh . aithn i hus dl ui set. g . g 4 adhub han n d 5 6 E m s a. M b ro daib . o . S. . g it

1 20 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Is ann sin ro e irge d a r cet n a thra c h n e im n e a c h n aimdidi

- m R 0 i c o m b e an d a ib acus b irin ib i a cend . su ge d acus ro sluige d a ro so d a th a c h dub - glas i n - im do m a in i c in d acus a h ro e iri ro c hra it c e a n d m ulla ic . Is and sin g acus h in n hra i n e m n i ro slu a a ib a t g g bai in a laim ar na g , cu clos a b re a sm a idm u a c he a tha r a irdib G re c c i fogar acus a na . I. 00 slia b B a rn a is ar n - a irthiu r acus co sru th n - E o ra it iar n - iarta r acus co slia b n - a la in d Oe te n iar n - desco rt ocus co

- h a ir- b o rd a ib I sim o s tu a isc e rt i h h e o c iar . Acus da r a c t sin 00 d eiligthe c h d errsc a ithe c h dermar cos in c in iud c o sn u m a c h tn ud a c h T iab a n n da m a c a ib croda , acus co d li ll E idi E thio c le s o a i b . . s i ra ( ) ai i p I acu P lin ces , co erig fic h m a rth a n a c h acus im (fh)o rm a d adbul imo n fla ithius iter na da mac sin tre a slac h T e sifo n e amal da th a rb trena 1 thu ath - thu a tha c ha n a c hui n a db a il imfhula in meara g g , c o ra le a n sa t acus co ra la ga igse t a c e n ga il acus a c u ib rigi im c ho sn u m im tha irrin a ra ile a c acus ac g fri . u a i fae lsa ta r im c h u I m th s m o rro na T ia b a n da . Nir o sn m im m o flithiu c o m a irli r na da mac sin n a s. Acus is i o chind

m - b lia dn a d o sed ann sin rigi gach re gach mac dib , acus cert c ra n h a ir d o de n u m e turra ro ise d dc cia dib da in rigi ar tus . l i E t ro sia c ht E thio c l s Acus do rign e ad a m a d sin . do e in c irt c hra n n c h a ir h - n a b liadn a Po le n ic e s rigi a ri ead \ sin, acus a r h in da rb a ro c in d ad e c tra acus ar ri sin . O e im o rro in c ho m a irli ul E c io n d a ro imthn uth sin ac in popul adb , gab e m iltu s in ra b a tar ta n ic u acus iat ris rig ac a , acus serc ac s sir - in m a in e d o ib lu nd ﬁr ro bai ar e c htra ac u s ar in darb a im o rr u l i in i . o a d b a irt u a th b I. Pol ces Is and sin ara le fear ’ so im sa idh b ir so - c he n e la c h do n c hin i u d throm - glan Tia b anda gu n - ar b a choir don popul tren to ga ide fe c hta sugud i ri a ib u tm a lla ir a ﬂa thiu sa iter na g oca . Q is e ar samail n a ma(r) bis long lu c htm ar lan- adbul 0cc a tu arga n o dib

- 2 ga e th a ib c o n tra rd a ib co n a ﬁtir cia gae th ris a ra c had . 3 U alr is adbul a im n e dh acus a e c c o m n art d u in d beith n a 3 4 - E thio c les n a n m ht u ile a m . rigi acus a rig s a c in rig ac b . I ;

t i r ill o ni . amach acus u a to m a the a m in rig a a I. P li ces o ( T o be c n tin u ed. )

1 2 3 1 thn uth ha. n . fuilmid ac M S u S. n s . . M ac s ; E g . i di ti ct THE THEBAID OF STATIUS 1 21

ull o depths of her head and sk . Then she rose and sh ok so the venomous serpent in her hand over the people , that the noise and crash were heard over the who le of

Greece, to Mount Parnassus in the east , and to the river o to ul Oe te Eur tas in the west, and the beautif Mount in the

o f o in . south, and to the banks (the river) Isthm s the north ll ull And (the sound) reached specia y, distinctly, and in f o o m f rce , the valiant, c ntentious , and ste Theban race , and in i o Eteocles and Pol ces , the ren wned and distinguished o f e di o re sons O pus . A lasting feud and great jeal usy garding the so vereignty took p o ssession o f these two sons i ho n e to through the enticement of T s p . Like they were two ul mighty, furious , intractable b ls , under a strong, unyielding yoke , which strained and loosened their bands and cords

as they tugged and pulled the o n e again st the other . 1 to th e ul ur o As Thebans , they co d not end e the c ntentions o f So re the two youths regarding the sovereignty . they solved that the kingship should be given to each o f them lo t to ul every alternate year, and to cast a true as who sho d o reign the ﬁrst year . They acted acc rdingly. The king to E tio c le s ship fell by fair lot during that year, while ni Poli ces was to leave the country as an exile . After the

mighty Theban people had thus resolved, great distrust and discontent seized them against the king who ruled over

them, and love and permanent regard towards Polinices ,

the outcast and exile . It was then that a certain rich , - o o f wealthy, nobly b rn man the distinguished Theban stock to said that the mighty, excellent people ought settle ul s the r e of the country between these young , un table

o o f - kings For we are in the positi n a well equipped, huge hi s p , tossed about by two contrary winds , unable to decide Fo r ur which wind to sail by . it is a vast anxiety, and a so ce o f weakness to us to be under the rule and sway o f o ur E tio c le s ul to present king , ; it wo d be restful have the o n i d mination of the other, Poli ces . T o b e co n in u ed ( t . )

1 Th. L 138 , i . . 1 22 THE CELTIC REVIEW

PICTISH RACE AND KINGDOM

JAM ES FERG U SON

o ti u e r ( C n n d f o m p .

I I

T H E mo st remarkable feature in the usages o f the Picts hr to was their system of succession to the t one , and indeed property in land, if not all succession, through the mother . It po we rfuﬂy co ntributed to their downfall as a separate l race , and faci itated the process by which they were amalga mated with the Scots , and their own dynasty and name superseded . In no case does a son succeed his father . As in the Irish law o f Tanistry brother might succeed u bi res brother , but beyond that, when , as Bede says , ’ erven erit in du bium o f p , the succession passed to the sons S isters , or to the nearest male relation on the female side o f and through a female . The most common names the o f kings never appear as those fathers , and the fathers appear to have been men of another race o r o f another tribe . Thus the father o f Brude Mac Bile was a British king o f T a lo rc a n Ain fra it E an fre d Strathclyde , Mac was the son of , the fugitive heir of the Saxon kingdom o f Northumbria . Al o f ll pin, the father Kenneth , who was ki ed in asserting o f E o c h a idh his right, was the son the Scottish , and, accord o f Fe r u sia o f H ing to the chroniclers g , daughter ungus , king o f t o f the Picts . The name of the grea est the Pictish kings , hi s Angus Mac Fergus , suggests that father may have been o o f D alriad a a Sc t, and that his conquest was not a racial o f triumph the Picts . The custom must have arisen among l ae o f a people of loose mora s , such as C sar heard the people o f Cale do nii M e atae the interior Britain were , and the and D i c o in c i were described by o . It is perhaps more than a dence that to this day alike in the north - eastern Lowlands o f o ld and in Galloway, the regions occupied by the Picts THE PICTISH RAC E AND KINGDOM 1 23

furnish the largest statistics of illegitimate births . This law of succession was in force thr o ughout the whole of the Pictish monarchy with only three apparent exceptions in its later o o f T a lo r a n so n o f days . The ﬁrst was the accessi n g Angus , 80 who w a s so n o f An o in 7 , , if he the gus Mac Fergus , f llowed

e ni . o thre interve ng kings The sec nd was when Drust, the o f o son C nstantin, succeeded Angus Mac Fergus , who had o succeeded his brother C nstantin Mac Fergus , and the third 836 when E o ga n a n son of Angus succeeded in . In all these

cases the names of the elder kings suggest a Scottish father , and it has been thought that the latter Mac Fe rgu se s belonged to the same family as the previo us Angus and Bru de Mac o ho o f o f Fergus . It is bvious w the personal right a king foreign blo od would tend to be converted into a more per o manent tenure of the thr ne by his family . There was nothing contrary to Pictish feeling in a family o ffo reign male o n hr o descent being the t one , and it nly required sufﬁcient o f o f strength on the part a king, succeeding in right his s mother, to alter the succession to male and establish it in o o r his family . Other competit rs might arise with more less

tenable claims , but if they were successfully defeated, the o s transition to the new rder would be ea y. This is in fact o f M a c al in what happened after the accession Kenneth p , and the precise moment when the formal change was a c c o m plishe d is perhaps indi cated by the statement in the Pictish Chr onicle that in the time o f his bro ther and successor Donald the Gael established with their king in Fortevio t ’ o f E du s Ae dﬁn E c d a c h o f the rights and laws ( ) son of , one D a lria d the previous kings of the Scots . The other outstanding feature of the Pictish state was its organisation in seven great provinces , each of them consisting o f two divisions . A tract of the twelfth century Al ni Pic ta v ia states that the territory called successively ba a, and Scotia was in ancient times divided by seven brethren into seven parts . The principal part was Angus and Mearns , i the second Athole and Gowrie , the th rd Strathearn and Fo thre v e Menteith, the fourth Fife and , the ﬁfth Mar and 1 24 THE CELTIC REVIEW

S OSS Buchan, the ixth Murray and R , and the seventh

- Caithness as cis montane and ultramontane . Each province i had a subprov nce within it, and these seven brothers were

- seven kings , having seven sub kings under them . The e o n mi o f o f brothers are just p y the people seven provinces , Athfo la but the death of a Rex y , a king of Atholl , is recorded in 739. One characteristic set o f memorials o f their race appear to have been left by the Picts to later times . This is the l ul remarkab e type of earlier sc ptured stone , which is found nl o y in the regions known to have belonged to them , and in greatest numbers in Aberdeenshire and Angus . The older o f stones at any rate , on which the simpler figures the S r crescent, the sceptre , the pectacle ornament, the mi ror, the o r lamp , the serpent , the arch horseshoe , the elephant, and o o r the fish are f und alone , with subsequently inscribed crosses , appear to date from Pictish times . Those which o w a r have more elaborate cr sses and figures of and the chase , S o f etc . , may be of later date and how the impress Scottish influence ; but while there are reasons to connect some with to ni later events , it is impossible draw a defi te line , and there can be no reasonable doubt that many o f those ancient c sculptured stones , and the stone ircles once so numerous Pic ta via o f in many parts of , were the work the Old Pictish people . o f The Picts of Galloway, who retained the name their r race longest, were the first Ch istianised , for Ninian was engaged on the building o f Whithe rn when he received the o f 397 news the death of St . Martin of Tours in , before the o o f o H di terminati n R man rule in Britain . e and his sciples carried the faith into the territories o f the southern Picts ; th o f but e result of the invasions of the Pagan Saxons , the o f existence of a Pagan party among the Britons , and the general confusion and prevalent Paganism among the a n a o stasia Picts , was what the monkish writers call p in the regions where the opposing races met, and the practical disappearance o f Christianity in the land o f the Picts . THE PICTISH RACE AND KINGDOM 1 25

Yet Whitho rn or Candida Casa remained for lo ng a centre of

- o light for south western Scotland . The pe ple called the Atta c o tti , a tribe of the country between the walls , appear are among the assailants of the Roman province , credited with eating human ﬂesh and are described as more ﬁerce ' than even the Scots o r the Picts from the north . After the o rec nquest they were enrolled in the Roman armies , and it has been thought that they may have been Galwegians . There appears to be no foundation for the assertio n o f Chalmers that Galloway was co lonised in the eighth century Cru ithn e by from Ireland . The Sarran who , according to o the Bo k of Ballymote , established his power over Saxons o f o o f and Picts , married Babona, daughter L rn son Erc , and after Victory and triumph died in the House of Martain to l o about appears have ruled over Gal way, and was so n Le uri t Ca irn e c h succeeded by his g , while the o her , at

Le u ri ll Whithe rn . whose instigation g was ki ed , was Abbot of ’ s who o n e D u stric wh o The Dru t had perfect daughter , was ’ M u in t Fute rn a taught to read by St . g in , appears to have o o o n e o f been a king of the Picts of Gall way, and pr bably D rus ts who 523 528 the two reigned from to , it being not impro bable that where two kings are recorded as reigning together one was a king of the Gallo way Picts . Galam Ce n n a le h o o n e Brude p is rec rded as reigning year with , and Ce n d a lae dh 580 the death of in , he probably being a king of the Galloway Picts of whom the local to pography retains to traces . At a later period there seems have been a clo se connection betwee n the dynasty of the Argyllshire Scots and Galloway, probably due to some matrimonial relation hi E o c h i i . a dh Bu dhe s p with consequent claims Thus , the So n o D alriad a of Aidan, is found handing ver to his son , o departing to Gall way, and ﬁghting in Ireland with a Pictish o An o f l o o f f rce , while the nals U ster rec rd his death as king

627 . 74 1 Al E o c h a idh r the Picts in In pin Mac , after failu e e o n ll in his att mpts the Pictish throne in the north, is ki ed in Galloway ; and it appears to have bee n from Gallo way to re that Kenneth, the son of the later Alpin, emerged 1 26 THE CELTIC REVIEW

D alria d a l conquer , and to ﬁna ly ascend the Pictish throne

of Scone . An o f o rthu mb ria The dominion Of the gles N , established over the whole of southern Scotland in the middle of the Osw l seventh century by y, asted longer in Galloway than e elsewhere , and was probably render d easier by the close Whithe rn connection of with the church of Northumbria .

It ceased about the end of the eighth century, when the 727 bishopric , founded in , disappeared with the last Saxon l bishop in 796 . The Gal oway Picts agreed better with their Saxon o verlords than with their neighbour s the

Britons , who couple them as hostile

An gle s a n d G alwyddel ’ Let them make war .

An d i in later times they fratern sed with the Norwegians , joining in their piratical expedi tions . They are called G a ll a idhae l o r g , stranger Gaels by the Irish , and are ’ o f described as the foster children the Norsemen , and as a people who h ad renounced their baptism and had the ’

s . cu toms of the Northmen Yet , with all their adaptability o f to Saxon and Teutonic conditions , the population the rt e ins urre c inland districts at hea remained C ltic , frequent tions , under Fergus and other local chiefs , gave trouble to to o f the Scottish kings , and down the time Robert the Bruce the Galwegians could claim the privilege o f trial under the Laws o f Galloway. The main events in the history o f the kingdom of the

Picts north o f the Forth may be Shortly summarised . The o f o n e Pictish Chronicle , which two versions exist, appar

, ently connected with Brechin and one j with Abernethy gives a long list o f monarchs from the original Crui thn e to ‘ M Al in e Brude the time o f Kenneth p . It is with Mac M l ﬁn ae c ho n that de ite historic ground is touched, but prior ll to that three traditions ought to be noticed, especia y in ’ View o f Bede s statement that the southern Picts were o c nverted by Ninian . Thus it is said that in the nineteenth

1 28 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Ae thelfrid , powerfully affected the future history . Ae thel ’ frid s o E a nfrid t sons to k refuge , , the eldes , with the Picts , o and Oswald at Iona, where he was baptized by the C lumban Ae dui n to monks . The Victor took Edinburgh , which he

is said to have given his name , though it really seems to be an adaptatio n of the earlier Cymric D in e iddyn and o r Gaelic Dun Edin, from the Britons Picts , and extended E ri Anglic rule over the Picts south of the Forth . anf d so n married a Pictish princess , and their succeeded to the hr t Pictish t one . Af er the defeat and slaughter o f Ae du in o f Cae dw alla E a nfrid by Penda Mercia and the British , ’ o f took possession his father s kingdom, renounced Chris it l 5 tian . 63 y, and was soon after kil ed In a battle was Se uise D a l u ise o n fought among the Picts at g ( g the Tay) . 654 Osw o In y, who had succeeded his br ther Oswald as o f r e ll o f king No thumbria, defeat d and ki ed Penda Mercia, o f the great enemy his house , and thereafter reduced the Brito ns of Strathclyde and the Sco ts o f D a lria d a to the l o f . No t o SO 65 position tributaries n y , but in 7, when T a lo rc a n Ainfrit o f di Osw Mac , King the Picts , ed, y, who was his cousin or uncle , and may have claimed as his heir o according to Saxon ideas , subjected the greater part f the i o f e Picts to the domin on the Angl s . This dominion lasted for thirty years , and extended over the southern Picts .

During its existence , the Angles , at the Council of Whitby 664 o o in , adopted the R man in preference to the C lumban ul di o a dm in i r e , and established the cese of York, which was ’ ste re d as far over the Picts as king Oswy s domini ons Osw E c frid extended . y having been succeeded by g , an ’ 672 o f attempt in by the bestial people the Picts , as the to biographer of Bishop Wilfrid terms them , recover their ‘ o f independence failed, the monastery Abercorn was 681 di a T ru m ui n founded , and in an ad tion l Bishop, , was o f appointed over the province the Picts . Shortly afte r the Picts appear under a so vereign o f the name o f B re de i so n o f l i Bi e , his father being a k ng of the Strathclyde o f T alo rc a n Ain frit Britons , and his mother a daughter Mac . THE PICTISH RACE AND KINGDOM 1 29

He is found reducing Dunbeath in Caithness , laying waste 681 o f the Orkney Islands , and by had advanced south the M o un th r and besieged D un o tta . He seems to have been 685 E c frid o assisted by the Scots . In g , acc rding to Bede , o f led an army to ravage the province the Picts , and the o o f enemy feigning a retreat, he was led int the straits inaccessible mountains and Slain with the greatest part of hta n sm e re . s o N e c his force Thi battle, called by the Sax ns , e c hta in to and by the Gael Dun N , appears have been o f ught at Dunnichen in Angus , where sepulchral remains o s are numer u , and where there was till recently a loch l o f ca led the Mire Dunnichen . It is recorded in the lines o f Ria ga l of Bango r

s Bruidhe s fo r n o f his n Thi day ﬁght a battle the la d gra dfather, Un less the So n o f G o d will o therwi se he will die in it ; s so n o f ss wa s k in n s o s Thi day the O a illed battle with gree w rd , Alth o ugh he did pen an ce he shall lie in Hi after his death s so n o f ss was who n Thi day the O a killed , had the black dri k, ’ C s o ur su o n s S Bruidhe hri t heard pplicati , they pared the brave .

- o T ru m u in The result was far reaching . Bish p ﬂed from o o f Abercorn , which was too near the b rder the recovered ’ o territ ries to be safe , and from that time , says Bede , the ho pes and strength of the Anglic kingdom began to to ﬂuctuate and retrograde , for the Picts recovered the o territories bel nging to them which the Angles had held, and the Scots wh o were in Britain and a certain part o f the ’ o o o Britons rec vered their liberty . A quaint traditi n is t ld o f h the death of Bru id e seven years later . His body was o Ada m n a n taken to I na, and watched through the night by . Next day when the body began to mo ve and to o pen its eyes a certain devout man came to the do o r o f the ho use and ’ Ada m n a n s o said, If bject be to raise the dead, I say he o ll o to sh uld not do so , for it wi be a degradati n every cleric who shall succeed to his place , if he too cannot raise the ” ” dead . There is somewhat of right in that, said Adam o nan , theref re , as it is more proper, let us give our blessing ” Bru idh e to the body and to the soul of . He was succeeded

VOL . VI I . I 1 30 THE CELTIC REVIEW b Bru de B o N e c htan y Taran, he by Mac rili , and he by Mac D e rili o n o f , and ﬁghting went with the Saxons , the Picts the o f M a n a n n o f plain , the region south the Forth and west o f ul the Avon , unsuccessf ly endeavouring to throw off the

Saxo n yoke . ur o Early in the eighth cent y , h wever , a remarkable

c . hange took place The two Gaelic nations , the Picts and e Scots , had hitherto be n on friendly terms for over a century, a n d uni ted in adherence to the Columban form of Christi f a ni t . o f Ne c ta n D e rili o y But in the time Mac , the Legend di St. Boniface relates his lan ng in the Forth and arrival at Re stin o th Pic ta v ia in , where the king received from him the s o f 7 10 N a ita n acrament baptism . Bede tells us that in , , k o f o f ing the Picts , led by frequent study the ecclesiastical ll writings , renounced the error he and his nation had ti then h eld as to the observance of Easter, sought assistance from A o Ce o lfrid t o f the ngles and obtained a letter fr m , Abbo J to arrow, and architects build a church after the Roman manner ; that the clergy adopted the coronal tonsure , and that the Pictish nation was placed under the protection of St .

o o f . Peter , the m st blessed prince the Apostles The locality o f the scene which Bede describes is believed to have been the - o ‘ ll o f Mote hill of Sc ne , known afterwards as the Hi i l n o r Ca s e n . 7 17 Ne c ta Belief, Credi A few years later, in , t ook the strong ste p of expelling the Columban clergy and d riving them across D ru m alb a n into the territo ries of the

‘ 724 re tire d to hi Scots , and in he the cloister, from w ch , h to owever, he again emerged take an unsuccessful part in the dynastic struggle into which his retirement had plunged i uc h s . fir s country The competitors were Drust, who st c ee de d Ne c ta n l so n o f E o c ha i h , A pin, d , paternally a Scot o f o f D alria da f E o c ha idh the royal line and brother o , who D a lriad carried on the line , whose name is Pictish and must o o Ne c ta n have claimed thr ugh a Pictish m ther, himself, i and Angus Mac Fergus , who seems specially ident fied with o o f Fo rtre n n l the pr vince , though his name suggests paterna S h cottish descent . Angus fir st defeated Alpin at M o n a g THE PICTISH RACE AND KINGDOM 1 31

Crae b i M o n c re iff Ne c ta n Al Ca isle n ( ) . next defeated pin at

Credi (Scone) , when Alpin disappears into Galloway. Angus Ne cta n then vanquished , and his lieutenants crushed his fo rces on the Spey and ﬁnally An gus defeated and killed D ro m a de r Blathm i o r Kin b lethm o n t Drust at g g, , near the

t . Redhead of Angus , where the neighbouring s one at St Vigeans is believed to reco rd the sepulture of the unfortun ate ’ D ro o o f Drest or sta n . The conclusi n Bede s history o o f 731 corresponds with the accessi n Angus in , and the hi o S o st rian, in summing up the ituati n, says , The Picts at hi o f n t s time have a treaty peace with the A gles , and rejoice in being uni ted in Catho lic peace and truth with the uni versal ’ Church . s o ul o f The reign of Angu Mac Fergus , the m st powerf the o rt Pictish m narchs , which lasted for thi y years , is notable fo r o D a lriad a the Pictish c nquest of , where the Scots were enfeebled by the contests between the race o f Gabran and o f D a lr ia a . that Lorn . Three times did Angus invade d o 736 D u n a dd On the sec nd, in , he laid waste the region, took , u o two o f o f b rnt Creich , and b und princes the house Lorn o f o n in chains . An attack by the tribe Lorn the region to the so uth o f the Fo rth was met o n the banks o f the Avon T a lo r a n o f by g , the brother Angus , and defeated with heavy

o . 74 1 l ss The third invasion, in , is recorded in the brief ’ o D alria d a n w rds , the crushing of by A gus Mac Fergus . The Picts seem to have been at this time also ﬁghting with

the Angles , but in a few years the Angles and Picts are found o n o united in a j int attack o the Brit ns of Strathclyde . In 750 E adb erc t of Northumbria added the plain of Kyle to the o a t M o c e ta u c u Sax n kingdom, while in a battle (M gdock) shi in Dumbarton re between the Picts and the Britons . ’ T a l o r a n w a s . g , the king s brother, slain Two years later a battle is rec o rded between the Picts themselves in the o f 756 E adb erc t An strath the Mearns , and in and gus led o Al c l de a an army int Strathclyde , besieged y (Dumb rton) , o and received the submission o f the Brit ns . But Simeon of Durham mysteriously records that ten days afterwards 1 32 THE CELTIC REVIEW almost the whole army perished as E a db e rc t was leading it from Ov a n ia (probably Avo ndale o r Strathaven) in the Clyde i valley to Niw a n b yr g (Newburgh) . The other great event f in the reign o f Angus was the foundation o St . Andrews

n ul . o the arrival of Reg us with the relics of St Andrew . An s The tradition records that gu , having attacked either the o r ur o Britons the Saxons , and being s r unded by the enemy, ’ was , while walking with his seven comites , surrounded by a f o o . divine light, and the v ice St Andrew promised him victory if he wo uld dedicate the tenth part o f his inheritance dr to God and St . An ew . He was Victorious , and on his return from an expedition into Argyll , met near Braemar

ul Kilr m o n t . Reg us , who had landed at y , the future St An . o o f drews The result was the supersessi n St . Peter by

. o o f . St Andrew as the patr n saint the Pictish realm Angus , who is described by a Saxon chro nicler as a sanguinary ’ r o di 76 1 ty ant of the most cruel acti ns , ed in , and was Bru ide Cin o idh succeeded by his brother , and he by , who , 768 Fo rtre n n Ae d in , is found fighting in n agai st Fin , a leader of the D alria dic Scots whose name is found in the line o f to the Scottish kings , and who seems have been the first to o o o 75 rec ver the Sc ttish power fr m its low estate . In 7 1‘ C n o th Simeon of Durham records that y , king of the Picts , f ’ was taken from the whirl o this polluted life . He was o f Wro id to o h succeeded by Alpin son , who seems have ta in e d some o f the Northumbrian territory no rth o f the o f T a lo r a n T alo r a n Tweed, and he by Drest son g , and g son o f r Angus , the latter being the fi st case of a son of a previous o king succeeding , and apparently reigning ver the southern r o f Picts during the fi st part the reign of Drest . Drest was o f T a d 789 a t succeeded by a Conall son g, who , in , was o f who ul tacked and killed by Constantin son Fergus , r ed 789 820 o f over the Picts from to , and during at least part D alria da that time over . There now appears o n the scene a new force which had much to d o with the termination o f the separate existence o f the Pictish realm . This was the Norwegian and Danish THE PICTISH RACE AND KINGDOM 1 33

’ f o f D urha m o te lls . 93 o pirates In 7 , a truth , Simeon us , the Pagans from the northern region came with a naval o o armament to Britain like stinging h rnets , and verran the

country in all directions like ﬁerce wolves , plundering , tear o nl s o s ing , and killing , not y heep and xen, but prie ts and ’ levites and choirs of monks and nuns . They laid waste li o o s a ke the N rthumbrian c ast and the Western Isles , burn 802 o ing Iona in , and slaughtering the whole c mmunity o f 8 ul o the island in 06 . The immediate res t was the f un o o n e dati n of separate churches , one in Ireland and in Scot o f o o o land, as the head churches the C lumban f undati ns in o o o the two c untries . For the Sc ttish foundati n a central a o o e o inste d of an island p siti n was select d, and C nstantin

ur o f - ﬁv e founded the ch ch Dunkeld, two hundred and twenty years after the church of Abernethy was founded by o n e of hi s o predecessors . C nstantin was succeeded by his brother s D a lria d a o hi m Ae d Angu , being g verned under by , son of ’ n 834 An so n E o a n a . Boanta, and gus s g He died in , and the second instance occur s o f a break in the Pictish rule di o f o so n and a vided succession, for Drest son C nstantin o f o o T a lo r a n so n o f Wtho il his br ther and predecess r , and g ,

reign jointly for three years . There had , however , appeared o fo r o another competit r the Pictish throne , in the pers n of Al o f E o c ha idh so o f Ae dﬁn D alria dic pin son and grand n , a o o hi s to o Sc t, who must have claimed thr ugh mother, wh m o di a he owed his Pictish name , and wh m the me eval historians Fe r u i s a o f o f . call g , daughter Hungus , king the Picts The Chronicle o f Huntingdo n reco rds that in the year 834 there w a s o o a c nﬂict between the Sc ts and Picts at Easter , and o f o S many the m re noble of the Picts were lain, and Alpin , o o king of the Sc ts , remained vict rious , but being elated o with his success , he was , in another battle f ught on the ’

20th ul e . of J y in the same year , defeat d and decapitated Pital in Pite l ie B a sa l in e p or p , formerly p , near Dunde , is the

tradi tio nal site of this battle . The Pictish Chro nicle reco rds after Drest and T alo rga n i t 8 U n u s 836 to 39 . the reign of Uven son of , from He is 1 34 THE CELTIC REVIEW

E o a n a n n the g son of A gus , who had hitherto reigned over D a lria d a o f , and is the third instance of the son a former monarch . It is to be observed that all three cases are the o f two Fe r u se s sons kings whose fathers were the g , and o f probably all the same family, which, though apparently nn Fo rtre n n Specially co ected with the region of , is suggested by the names o f its members to have been o f Scottish male e n de a v descent, while the character of the succession that it ur d 8 o e . 39 to establish was Scottish In the year , an invasion o f the Danes struck the Pictish state a mortal o An n f bl w . The als o Ulster record a battle fought by the o f Fo rtre n n E o a n a n Gentiles against the men , in which g o f o f Ae d son Angus , Bran son Angus , son of Boanta , and n others in umerable were Slain . This destruction of the line o f Fergus and drain o n the Pictish strength gave o f o f o o r Kenneth son Alpin , the king the Scots , his pp ‘ u K i t ni ty. The Chronicle o fHun tingdon tells us that yn ad us Al succeeded his father pin in his kingdom , and that in the seventh year of his reign (which corresponds with the year i wh le the Danish pirates , having occupied the Pictish shores, had crushed the Picts , who were defending them a e K n adiu s selves , with great slaught r, y , passing into their his remaining territories , turned arms against them , and having slain many, compelled them to take ﬂight, and was the ﬁrst king o f the Scots who acquired the mo narchy of the ’

o f Al l o t . whole ban , and ru ed in it over the Sc s The Pictish o o k n Wra d o f B a r o it Chr nicle menti ns two more i gs , son g , a n d wh o o n e who reigned three years , Bred , reigned year, o and is the last o f the Pictish kings in that Chr nicle . These 844 reigns bring us to , which was the twelfth year Of ’ o f Kenneth s reign over the Scots , and the Chronicle Huntingdo n again tells that in his twelfth year Kenneth o n e encountered the Picts seven times in day, and having ’

r . destroyed many, conﬁ med the kingdom to himself The Al r o f Pictish Chronicle states that Kenneth son of pin, ﬁ st

Pic ta v ia fo r . the Scots , governed happily sixteen years Two a to Pic ta v ia years , however, before he c me , he acquired

1 36 THE CELTIC REVIEW courage o f his chiefs by the apparitio n o f a man clad in nl o glittering ﬁsh scales , who as a heave y messenger f retold victory and how the great lords of the Picts were in vited to a co uncil at whi ch they were treacherously Slain o r to

a banquet, where the seats were undermined, and the guests precipitated into hollow places where they were easily murdered, and the Scots took their land, reaching o o fro m sea to sea . That there was s me f undation for these traditions , and that there were scenes marked by treachery d a n assassination , as well as hard ﬁghting in the ﬁeld, is o o f o indicated by the lines in the Pr phecy St . Bo r han

wa s s n o f s s a n d s o s It by tre gth pear w rd , V o n s V o n s By i le t death , by i le t fate him in s o n s By are deceived the ea t the ﬁrm e . s in un n n He hall dig the earth , c i g the art, D n o us o s a n d a ger g ad blade , death pillage , ’ n f s n f s s I the middle o co e o high hield .

According to some accounts , the Scots emerged from o D alria d a o Galloway, rec nquered , and fr m thence invaded

Pic ta v ia . o o e Acc rding to an ther, which se ms to refer to o f O SS the return the Columban clergy, they entered R from

Iona and proceeded south as far as Scone and St . Andrews , but the numbers indicated represent more than a missionary ’

. n o t enterprise It is perhaps , says Skene with reason , an unreasonable conclusion that the Scots invaded the Pictish territories in two bands— one under Kenneth across D ru m alb a n against the southern Picts , and the other from ’ sea by Loch Broom again st the northern Picts . o f o o The true character the revoluti n was , h wever, rather

dynastic than racial . The common characteristics and the comparative numbers of the two peoples put any such who lesale extermination as that accepted by the mediaeval

ul ul o u t o f . historians , and pop ar cred ity the question l o f n The fami y Ke neth Mac Alpin, being backed by the o e o f full force of the Sc ts , succeed d where that Angus ul o f Mac Fergus had failed, and established the r e male o succession . The Scottish chiefs who foll wed Kenneth THE PICTISH RACE AND KINGDOM 1 37 would proﬁt largely in lands and power and probably most in the central districts around the capital , and between these o o s to and Argyll , and it is pr bable that a Sc tti h superseded a large extent the Pictish po pulatio n do wn the co urse o f o o the Tay, in Balquhidder, and Strathearn . But thr ugh ut the country generally the mass o f the populatio n remained the Caledo nian Gael whether called Picts or Scots . The Pictish rule o f successio n wo uld facilitate n o t only the change in the transmissio n o f the cro wn but the amalga o f to mation the two races . Its inﬂuence is be traced o o o l ng after, when Sax ns and N rmans , by marriage with the great Celtic heiresses , were at once accepted as the

e leaders of the C ltic tenantry of Buchan and Angus . ’ ’ ’ o Pic to s dele v it Cin a diu s s dele v it The expressi ns , , are to probably true as referring the chiefs of the Picts , more e t esp cially in the central districts , but no ex erminating c o nquest could have taken place witho ut its being recorded o o f n n in the Irish annals . On the c ntrary, the deaths Ke eth o s Ae d and his three success r , Donald, Constantin, and , are recorded a s tho se o f kings of the Picts the co untry is still o o f Pic ta v ia Cru ithe n tu ath o r Fo rtre n n sp ken as , , ; and it is n o t till the death o f Co nstantin in 877 that the name Scotti appears as applicable to the inhabitants o f the old ’ o o f Pictish territ ry . Indeed , after the death Constantin s o Ae d to o f br ther , there appears have been a revival the E o c h a o f o f Pictish sentiment, and , son Run, king the o s o S o f o Ae d Brit n , whose m ther was ister C nstantin and , and who therefore had a good claim as an heir by Pictish o n o o custom , was placed the thr ne , having ass ciated with C ric o r him as his governor y Grig , who became the Gregory the Great of the monkish historians . They were driven o ut after eleven years , and with the succession of Donald , o f e son Constantin, the new order was ﬁrmly establish d , e o nl the law of tanistry, which appears to have be n s lem y adopted as o n e of the Scottish laws of E dﬁn by the Gael at ’ o f Forteviot in the reign the previous Donald, Kenneth s brother, became the permanent rule , the country became 1 38 THE CELTIC REVIEW

s o f Alban, and the royal race king Alban . From that it fo r was but a step to the name Scotia the land, and that o f o Scots for the who le pe ple . The Pictish had been super seded by the Scottish kingdom , and the whole Gaelic race o f Northern Britain were henceforth to be known as Scots .

T H UG AR M AI G H D E AN A CHUIL - BH UI D H E

L E"AN D ER CARM I OH A E L A , LL . D .

H E l T following song was taken down from Mrs . F ora n n ée D o irni e Maclen an , Matheson, , Kintail . Mrs . Maclennan died a few weeks afterwards , full of years and honours , and f l o full o o d songs and f old traditio ns o f historical value .

She was a worthy member of a worthy family, who took an intelligent interest in the so ng literature o f their country . Al hi D o irn ie . S Her brother, Mr exander Matheson, pmaster, , rescued much historical lore th roughout the extensive Killc h tha Kill i h o f o m alla in Killdub ha c . parishes , , and He to Al M a c b a in hi gave valuable assistance Dr . exander in s H is r o e M t M r to th heson s o . y f , and Alexander Mackenzie H istor o the M a c ken z ies n d H isto r o the in his y f , a in his y f M a c ra es to , and several others writing upon historical ’

. o f . subjects Some Mr . Matheson s MSS are in the posses o f hi sion his ghly excellent sister, Miss Betsy Matheson , D o irn ie o o hr o , while thers have been l st t ugh lending . o ll This s ng was composed to Miss Christina Maccu och ,

t o f . eldest daugh er of Macculloch Park , Dingwall

Tho g ag gfgdac l air a n each i

Cha do leidid ro - e mbath i, Buara m o rm n a n lei in n leis i v g N a s o s n ro b h agam t ra .

Seisd — n mai hdea n u bhuidhe . Th gar g a ch il , n m a i hdean u b huidhe Th gar g a ch il , Thn gar m aighdea n a chuil b huidhe ’ ib h f o sa D h fhear b u du e e g . TH U G AR M AI G H D E AN A CHUIL - BH U I D H E 1 39

’ m n Sin sa ibhreas o i hrea chd Na n ro bb a ga s a o [ g ] , Cro dh u s c a o ire reidh us o ib hre , g g , N n ar lei in n o i h a n a o ib hn is ail g g ,

Le fear fo ill n o fo irn ea rt.

S - m i hd an u b huidhe eisd. n a e Th gar g a ch il , n m a i hdea n u b huidhe Th gar g a ch il , T hugar maighdea n a chuil b huidhe ’ D i h f sa h fhear b u du b e e o g .

T hu a dh tai h a n n an n g g dhi eilea , n fa ic eadh 1 fo ille Far ach fear , n cluin n eadh u c o ilich Far ach i g th , n ir a n sm e o ra c h Far ach go .

Seisd - n m ai hdea n u b huidhe . Th gar g a ch il , u m ai hdea n u b huidhe Th gar g a ch il , T huga r m aighdea n a ch uil b huidhe ’ D h u duib he fe o sa fhear b g .

LATI ON

his o s The carle h r e, n o t s He did eat her very well , Vow s upo n me had I let her with him ” a n If I had wealth d riches.

‘ Chorus — n o f o They gave the maide the yell w hair, n o f o They gave the maide the yell w hair, They gave the m aide n o f the yello w hair T o ma n o f s the blacke t beard .

n s a a n d su s n Had I the e t te b ta ce , No ut a n d s s s a n d o s heep, teed g at , Truly I wo uld n o t have allo wed the m aide n o f n With deceitful m a n o r o ppressive .

C — horus. n o f o They gave the maide the yell w hair, n o f o They gave the maide the yell w hair, They gave the maiden o f the yello w hair T o m n s the a o f blacke t beard .

o us u o n a n s n They gave her h e p i la d, she o u se e n o u u m a n Where c ld g ilef l , Where she co uld hear n o cro win g c o ck N r o j o yo us vo ice o f mavis. 1 40 TH E CELTIC REVIEW

Chorus — n o f o They gave the maide the yell w hair, n o f o They gave the maide the yell w hair, They gave the maiden o f the yell o w hair T o m an o f s the blacke t beard .

This was all that the Singer could remember o f this ' f . o o song Volumes songs and poems , st ries and traditions died with this worthy woman . ul Miss Macculloch was very beautif , and very handsome ,

ad . h and had many mirers She married the Rev. Farqu ar o f t o f Macrae , minister Kintail , and cas ellan constable nn n s ea r Eilean Do an . Mr . Farquhar Macrae was the ta i i t o f o f G ille c rio sd a the Macraes , and the second son Macrae , f ri it L u o I n v e n e , o c hd b h a ic h . The Macraes had been noted for their b ig and manly forms , and for their black hair and black beards . Since the time o f Christina Macculloch some Macraes have been

s. fair , with fair hair, fair beards , and fair complexion This brought about the terms G lau n Mhic - rath Dhuibh — ‘ 1 agus Cla n n Mhic - rath Bhalu the Black Macraes and the ’

. t Fair Macraes But the erm ban , fair, is not always applicable to the descendants o f the fair Chr istina Mac c ull o ch o f , some them having retained the paternal complexion . Al ha ta c h a i . C Mr exander Mackinnon, Coire n , Skye , o f M a c Kin n o n S was the of Strath , Skye , an ancient family o f high standi ng in their day . His grandfather was punished and imprisoned fo r having given food to Prince Charlie when starving , and praised

r . and commended fo having entertained Dr . Johnson ’ M a c Kin n o n a s Mr . Alexander , better known Corrie , M a c D o n a ld was factor for Lord in Skye , and for Sir John o f l Orde in Uist . He was a big , handsome man good y presence and good ability, and was known and respected o f throughout the West . He was the fair Macraes through his mother, who was fair and handsome . A Macrae from M a c Kin n o n Kintail came to Mr . about a farm , and in order to li ingratiate himself with the man in power, the app cant T H UG AR M AI G H D E AN A CHUIL- BH U I D H E 1 4 1

’ ﬁ a a ib h fhe in Fhir a for the farm said : Agus tha o s g , ‘ ’ - do Chlan n E b . Choire , is ann Mhic rath ain a ta mise Gun ’ c uidic he a dh Dia Olanu Mhic - rath Dhuibh ma s ann do Chla n n ’ - lu thusa . Mhic rath Bha a ta , arsa Fear a Choire And ’ o S o f you know yourself, C rrie , that it the Fair Macraes ’ that I am . May God help the Black Macraes if it is ’

o . of the Fair Macraes that th u art, said Corrie The man

was exceptionally swarthy, with intensely black beard and

hair unusually long . l ~ o f . Ei ean Donnan , island St Donnan, stands at the c o Lo c hdub ha ic h jun tion of L chalsh , Loch Long , and . h These t ree arms of the sea join or disjoin here , resembling

the arms of the Isle of Man . o o The island of D nnan is accessible by fo t at low tide ,

and accessible by boat at high water . It is a small , high

island with ancient, picturesque ruins upon the summit . ui Old S The r ns are and dilapidated , having uffered from age o the and war in the past, and fr m age and neglect in present . l Eilean Donnan is an extreme y cold, exposed situation , being o pen to all the winds that blow up and down all the l o f o . O d arms the sea c nverging upon it In his age Mr . ff o Farquhar Macrae su ered from his cold, exp sed residence , and he was removed from Eilean Donnan to Innis a’ hr uite ir S C . , some distance up the ide of Loch Long The o f place looks right across Loch Long , the mountains Loch a lsh o f being in the foreground, the mountains Skye in the

S - i background, while behind these stands , phinx l ke , the — Singu lar Sgur o f Eigg the Isle o f Eigg having been the ’ scene of St . Donnan s martyrdom and of other tragedies . Latterly the strong man and the powerful preacher a became frail and inactive . Mr . Farquh r Macrae died at ’ Chru ite ir 1662 - h is Innis a in , in the eighty second year of

. e . so n age He left sev ral sons and daughters A was Mr . o a o f o o f J hn Macr e , minister Dingwall , who wr te a history a o n n a c h a the M craes . A grandson was D dh Mor nam pic s o Fe a rn a i Big Duncan of the cups , who wr te the g Manuscript . ’ Chru ite ir o w Innis a means mead of the harpers , the 1 42 THE CELTIC REVIEW

1 land that belonged to the harpers of the Macraes a’nd

Mackenzies . o di o ut The harpers enj yed these land till they ed . After that the place became the drilling and manoeuvring ( ground of the local volunteers during the time o f the . s Napoleon scare , Here all the eligible men of these wild,

’ o e to . m untainous districts met to prepar themselves meet

the French . if to And probably it would be difﬁcult, not impossible , ﬁnd within the lj n ite d Killgdo m s men o f greater b one and Si new , of greater height and strength , than these Macraes , a M a c le n n a n s M a c c alm a n s o f M ckenzies , , , and Mathesons o f Killia lla in — o r Kintail , Lochalsh, of whether black brown ,

o r red o r . dl ll fair swarthy, grey Kin y men all ti roused, and then h The Rev . Farqu ar Macrae removed from Gairloch o o f h several years bef re he ceased to be minister Gairloc ,

and before he became minister of Kintail . His responsible

position as castellan constable of Eilean Donnan, required t o his presence and at ention in th se troublous times . The following account o f this good and great man is ’ o s i extracted fr m Scott s Fa t .

a a e Farquh r Macr e translat d from Gairloch , 16 18 admitted in , at which time there was no desk, no

l c fo r . pulpit , and no col e tion the poor (in Kintail) He was o ld hi s ih o , weak, and deprived of livel o d by his son and

- 1662 . successor , and died in aged eighty two He was a o f o sound , eloquent, and grave preacher, whom Bish p " nf Maxwell said he was a man of great gifts , but u ortunately ’ 16 1 1 . l t lost in the Hielands He married , s December , e o f o f Christian, eld st daughter Macculloch Park , and had — o f o o f ﬁve sons Alexander Inverinate , Mr . J hn, minister hri Dingwall, Donald, his successor, C stopher and Thomas , d o f the besides aughters , whom eldest married Malcolm o f ul Macrae , killed at the battle A dearn, and afterwards l Wil iam Mackenzie .

1 44 THE CELTIC REVIEW

ul , t ad View of general , c ture and to welcome hem

’ ro n o t o nl u o n o light they th w, y p questi ns of race o ae i ul and language , but up n medi val h story, sec ar and

ecclesiastical, upon folklore , comparative religion and o the development of Eur pean literature . Sympathetic and quick to reco gnise any genuine effort to advance the

general interest in Celtic studies upon these lines , Mr . Nutt w a s ll o f always the warm friend , and the inte igent critic young writers who seemed to him to be working for the o d dl cause he loved , and pers nal a vantage seemed har y to enter into his calcul ations where the advancement of

‘ Celtic studies claimed his aid . Thus , he threw himself heart and soul into the establishment of the Folklore and C m m ro do ria n o y Societies , by wh se means he hoped that the general bearing and importance of o ur native fo lk lore (derived in large part from the ancient races of these a a n d G o d el ul isl nds , the Brython the l ) wo d become more o n e widely recognised , thus , at a time when publisher after another refused to have anything to do with an

undertaking so hazardous , ﬁnancially, as the publication o f o f Irish Gaelic manuscripts , the founders the Irish Texts Society found in him a cordial helper and willing publisher dl while his personal interest, sound advice , and frien y sympathy have been a source of strength to all these societies . uttfs Mr . N o wn literary work lay principally in the direction o f establishing the j ust claims of Welsh and of Scottish and Irish Gaelic literature to be regarded as form ing part o f the general current of Eur opean culture develop o ul ment . The series o f small booklets entitled P p ar ’ Studies in Mythology, of which several are by his own S hi hand, will serve to how the wide manner in w ch he o to regarded this subject . His wn contributions the Celtic a n d M edioeva l Roma n c e Ossia n a n d series include , the Ossia n ic Litera ture T he Fa ir M tho lo o Sha kes , y y gy f ea re Le en d , Cuc h la in n the I msh A chilles g p u , and the of the H o l G ra il i y . This latter volume contains a brief synops s IN M E M ORIAM : ALFRED NUTT 1 4 5

o f S t ies n L en d o the H o l G ra il his larger ud o the eg f y , in o fi ts n r which he develops the thesis Celtic origi , and t aces

many o f . its ro ot ideas b shad owy realm o f ) o o ' Welsh Folk myth l gy, he believes (with

u d o ur o o . m ch likelihoo , in pini n) that they had their origin o n r u s 1 888 This volume the Holy G ail , p bli hed in by the ’ o N t o o i a s . F lkl re S ciety, will perhaps rema n Mr utt s mos important perso nal contribution to the history o f litera

. o ture He is , however, more widely kn wn to the reading o o f T he Vo a e o B ra n o f public as the auth r y g f , a study o r a s s"to Celtic beliefs regarding an elysium , he prefer ’ - o o u s call it, an Other w rld . In these v lumes he s mmarise n i o f o the chief Irish legends , contai ng traces the d ctrine o f to e a life in the unseen, and submits them an exhaustiv c o mparison with Classical and with fo reign mediaeval ideas ” o n s is n an e . the am subject . The study founded upo ‘ ’ he o f Bra n t ancient Irish poem ‘called t Voyage s , edi ed and t d b fo l s . o r transla e y Dr Kun Meyer this work, which re ate the call of Bran by a fairy maid , and the wonders that n t e e s o r s he fi ds in Magh Mell , h Pl a ant Plain Iri h n ely siyg . Besides these two contributed a large number o f o f impo rtance to Fo lklo re Reco rd the , and other as less directly upon the subject that seemed , time went o n o , m re and more to attract his mind . His notes and intro ductions to b oo ks published by his firm o n Ce ltic o first- subjects r se to the impo rtance o f hand studies . [ l Perhaps , indeed, the most thoughtfu and searching piece o f o riginal work that ever fell from hi s hand was his intro d u c tio n s to c the collections o f S ottish Fenian tales , pub lished n c in Wa ifs a n d Stra ys of Celtic T raditio . They o n tain an elaborate and careful analysis o f the Ossianic o r ni Fe an literature , Scottish and Irish , and have done more than any previous studies to place these Ossiani c pieces in their true historical and literary perspective . If it was as he himself says in the title - page to his Studies o n the H o l G ra il to o y , J . F . Campbell that he wed his first

V ’ OL. VI I . K. 1 4 6 THE CELTIC REVIEW

love for Celtic tradition, he richly repaid the interest so

N ’ if months of Mr . utt s l e were spent in France , in an e ndeavour to reco ver health that showed signs o f break ’ ing down . I am feeling better, he wrote to the President ’ o f the Folklore Society only a few days before his tragic

death , and hope that a quiet summer in the open air will give me back my full working powers ; but I am ’ to o r ff still unequal any seri us o prolonged e ort . Even t here , however, he was amusing himself with his favouri e ’ xstudie s di o f f , and the annotated e tion Matthew Arnold s

" Stud o Celti c Li tera ture Lectures on the y f , which has his to appeared since death , is a dying tribute his interest ” i n had Th e the cause he at heart . general contribution ’ o f to e Mr . Nutt s life C ltic studies cannot be summed

u p by passing in review a list of his published works . It will always be felt that his real co ntribution was made b hful y his fait and unswerving adherence , in public and

in private , to a subject to which he attached the ﬁrst hi s importance . At the beginning of career these studies o f l had hardly emerged from the closet the specia ist, and they were popularly regarded as the more or less useless hi o he di hobby of a few p l logists . Before ed , he saw them to o f elevated their true place in the current history,

philology, literature and folklore . It is his highest praise that this great change owed much to his personal ﬁdelity r a n d perseve ance .

H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATH EN

ALI CE M I LLI G AIir

(Co n tin ued fro m pag e 50)

DA WN broke in lines o f scarlet thr ough the grey of the

e . the s astern sky Then sun mounted , and the carlet H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATHEN 1 47 kindled from liquid gold to living ﬁre and light, and the o s ﬂ or of the sea was illumined in splendour . The last shred o f dr nk li w o n mist were u up by the sun ght, or s ept away a

- freshening wind that set the waves a dancing . H e lgeb io rn came o u t o f the swo o n of darkness and oblivio n shuddering with a co nscio usness o f pain and death o n o t o like c ldness , and for a little while cared to kn w that w a s o f o he alive at all . He lay upon a ledge r cks under a

ll o . steep cliff, where the bi ws had ﬂung him His limbs were numb , and cumbered by the clinging of wet garments . h ad o o Blood c ngealed in streaks up n his brow, and the s o skin of his arm was t rn with great scars , in which he felt r nf o the smarting of the b ine . His head reeled with co usi n o to and faintness , and he f und it hard remember what had o i come to him ; his eyes , pen ng wearily, were dazzled by a great brightness of the blue heavens , through which

- myriads upon myriads o f sea birds were whirling . It was

o - as if a great sn w storm whitened the sky, but instead of

o - the silence of sn w fall , here was clamorous shrieking from

ll . innumerable shri voices He giddied at the sight , and o s his " o cl ed eyes against it , c ntent to lie there faintly and o f i to o f take in the breath life , listen ng the liquid lapping o f the sea against the rocks , and the unceasing cries the birds . Out of that stupor he was raised o f a sudden by what seemed a human voice calling to hi m . In spite of aching limbs he sat up and lo o ked ab o ve hi m where the sound o came from . At ﬁrst he saw n thing but the gloom of over uf - hanging rocks , t ted with sea pinks and heath , but a voice lli not very far away kept ca ng as if to cheer him , and he o ul o f was thinking it w d be some the shipmen , saved from li l the wreck ke himself, til at length he recognised this said dl o u o lou y in Gaelic , Patience with y , p or man Patience, ’ o t I am coming as quickly as I can , but the r cks are s eep .

- At last a swarthy, grey bearded face was seen peering over

the heathy ledge , and in a little space after his rescuer had

scrambled down and was at his side . 1 4 8 THE CELTIC RE VIEW

H el e b io rn g sat erect now, and in his weakness sickened almost with dread for he knew by the brown garb o f the man and the ro ugh cross hanging round the neck o f him k o f o n e o f that this was a Christian mon the Gael , the Culdees

- o r G o d . servers He had slain many of that kind , and that ’

. No w was how he knew , he thought, when he sees that

I am a Viking, he will take a sharp stone and cleave my ’

n o . brains , for I have strength to struggle against him

He tried to lift his right arm , that mighty arm which o f o had slain so many, both priests and warriors . The b ne o f a n it was broken, and he groaned I n p , and thought , I l am help ess , except maybe that I might deftly trip him ’ into the sea from this slippery place .

He was ready to attempt such defence , but the stranger, o f l o s o instead ooking for a st ne , knelt down with o thing words and tenderly touched the broken arm . A pity ’ to o u no that it should become powerless y , he said , and f ll need o that while I have ski to mend it . I had the healing ’

n o t . art once , and great fame for it . I trust I have forgotten H e l e b io rn o g had knowledge ab ut wounds and fractures , as o warriors who g to battle should have , and when the ﬁrm o f nk to ﬁngers the mo began feel about the broken arm , he ’ to n e resigned himself that handli g , s eing that all was done with skill . It was n o t long till the priest had brought the broken ’ H e l e b io rn s bone together, and was tearing long strips from g mantle to bandage and sling it . No w G o d Fla may be praised and n n a n his servant , Co lum c ille mi o f " and , ghtiest saint these seas That arm ’ will have its might in it again ere many days . o f Co lum c ill e H el e b io rn At talk , g remembered the song o f Cre e vin hi s to o f , and tears gathered in grey eyes , think ho w she was lying drowned in the fathomless blue water . ’ o u Sorrow has come upon y , poor stranger, said the

’ H el e b io rn i n Sorrow, said g , tak g up the Gaelic word and slowly ﬁnding other words o f that speech to follow it . H E LG E BI ORN TH E HEATHEN 1 4 9

o n ul Sorrow is me tr y, and desire to know if any other ’ ’ o f my ship s company is saved . e The monk st pped nearer to the water, and looked up

and down the rocky ledge . He saw only an aged grey seal basking in the sunlight and shook his head . n l has It is o y here , where yourself been washed up , o fo r o that we need l ok any ther . The walls of the island

l . are steep . It is on y here that a landing can be made I o o n o to I have l ked , and there is one be seen, so , though to grieve say it, it must be that all your companions have ’ perished . Tears o f sympathy began to gather in his clear eyes that

were blue as the sea with the brightness o f ﬁre in them . H e l e b io rn o g th ught to himself, If he knew they were ’ ul n o t Norse plunderers he wo d weep , and he racked his ﬁn d o f memory to words Gaelic to ask further . Is there any sign o r remnant of the ship s Under the cliffs yonder, between this i land and the

little one , it seems to me there are some spars ﬂoating on ’ the waves . o H elge b io rn raised himself to look . Th se will be some f ’ ll o . u the oars , he said Alas where are the arms that p ed ll them , where is the shapely swift ship that leaped the bi ows so buoyantly He had much to d o to keep himself from bursting forth into a song o f lamentatio n fo r his D eer of urf o ul ll o o T o hi the S which c d leap the bi ws no m re . de w his sorrow, and to silence his lips , he bo ed his face unto

his knees . ’ The sea is unfathomable around the island, said the o o m nk this island and the ther are like mountain crests, s u ri ing above the waves o t of that vast abyss . The ship n o t o has broken , but g ne down into the depths . God rest ul o f s the so s those that perished in her But ri e now, and ul be thankf that you are in life yet . There was surely the o di fo r prayer of some pi us person interce ng you , poor o r o u stranger, maybe prayers in some church that y have ’ enriched . 1 50 THE CELTIC REVIEW

H e l e i rn o o o t g b o c uld not f rbear smiling grimly . N ’ prayers from a church , I think, he murmured . But there was a woman o f Ireland who invoked the protection o f ’

Co lu m c ille .

’ f k o A wo man o Ireland . The eyes of the mon s ftened i w th tears his lips trembled with eagerness . Can it be that you are from Ireland , dear stranger H e l e b io rn g spoke slowly, saying words that were not true in his uncertain Gaelic .

I am indeed from Ireland , good man , but have been a long time in captivity and servitude amo ng foreigners . There was a girl o f Ireland on that ship with me it is for her I am in grief, not for the Vikings and seamen of Orkney, who lie dro wned down there ; nor need you regret that to they are dead , for they were grim heathens and enemies ’ all priests . The Irishman stood o n the slippery ledge o f ro ck a nd gazed down into the crystalline depths with mournful o br oding eyes . to k ho w Alas my greater grief he said , thin they o f have lived and died without knowledge the Lord , without ’

o r o f . penitence , the grace baptism o u t v o f He spread his arms abo e the water , in act

. H el e b io rn t blessing g wa ched in silent wonder , and saw his thin lips move as if he spoke to the Unseen . It was in prayer he was that way some time . ’ o f A woman Ireland lies there , he said at last, with waves above her instead o f her native ﬂowery so d yet the f ’ prayer o a man o f Ireland is spoken over her . ’ Yo u o f H e l e b io rn are one the Irish Gael , said g , feign ing some joy as if greeting a kinsman . Of what name ‘ a n d tribe are yo u 2 ’ o f o o f tirb e o f - o f Erc , son Lor the the Dal cas Clare , said the monk . Such was I by birth ; by calling , a servant in the brotherhood o f the house o f saintly Fla n n a n

- - — o f Cill da lua a n unworthy bro ther banished here fo r my ’ sms .

1 52 TH E CELTIC REVIEW n o to oars were swung , but which had come anchor there o in the lonely ocean fo r ever and everm re . He thought of ho w o the Sagas , that tell sometimes a hero ch se instead o f ur o n mound b ial this way after death, to be laid ship hi s o n deck, with all arms girt him , and resinous tree logs piled for his bed , and then, with ﬂame and smoke wrapping dr him , to ift seaward and return no more . It was thus that the Gods o f Asgard had done with the body o f Baldur H e l e b io rn a the Beautiful , and g had m de a song desiring r that destiny at last fo himself .

Lay me n o t lo w fo r o n With clay cl thi g, n o o un Make me m d , n o s o n s a n d n Set t e t i g , Min e be in death The bed o f Baldur On bro ad ship bo ard A n n d weapo s with me . Heap high the pi n e P s fo r o lace hield pill w, Wax well the sheets Fo r ﬁre to fo ld me Wait fo r a wi n d An d to tide take me , Then se n d me sailin g n n u At eve i g o tward .

It seemed to him as if he was n o w aboard such a burial s far o f' liv in o u t hip , that had drifted from the land g men, into the ocean solitude . o f He was as good as dead, for with the loss his ship a n d his band o f Vikings a career o f war and pride was o e to T o ul nl o ut cl s d him . Orkney he co d o y come as an l — a w b y reason o f hi s derision of the Jarl. Among all the o f Sudre la n d N o rdre la n d n o f isles y and y , he k ew none where he would be safe from the vengeance o f the pursuer . nl In Ireland, coming without a retinue , he could o y take service as a humble swordsman, and he had been accus to m ed to command . H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATHEN 1 53

o o n s dr As he st od there the summit of the i let, awing

breath after the steep climb , these thoughts rushed rapidly o his o thr ugh mind, and instead of lo king towards Alba and s wa s to the I les with any repining , it the sunset land he

gazed ; that mysterious , unexplained realm into which many had sailed and returned to say there was naught but ocean o others had go ne and c o me back n more . Some said these o s dr had perished ther , and these mostly the poets , eamed

that they had fo und a world better than any kno wn before . ’ H e l e b io rn o o o f g , l oking westward, th ught the poets o dreams , and wondered if he c uld ﬁnd a ship in which to

sail westward , to discover whether any such land lay there . There was in truth a great country beyond the wide t n o . sea , but it was very far, and for his ﬁnding The hermit was silent as H elgeb io rn stood surveying

the seven islets and the ocean wastes . ’ o It is a fair pr spect and a peaceful, he said at last, n o r hi nk o can I t it s litary, though I have been alone here ’ for many a year . Is there n o other man o n any o f the islets asked H e l e b io rn g . N o other ; yet with the sea- birds and the swimming o u seals for company I can be well content . The seal, when y k o come to n w him, is gentle and human, and the birds with ’ o u o f their clamour keep y from missing the sound voices .

But in the winter, when the birds go , and the nights o to are l ng, it must be a melancholy thing be companion ’ less . ’ ul to Nay, said the C dee , he who has eyes see and a heart to understand need never be without the companion ’ o f his so ul . H e l e b io rn g wondered, but did not question him . They were walking now towards where a grey building stood o f among the heather . It was unmortared stone , ﬁtted

o . lo w deftly, and built up to f rm both wall and roof A , - o o o n e n e square headed d r pierced gable , and leani g besid curra ch it was a wicker covered with hide . 1 54 TH E CELTIC REVIEW

’ o H el e b io rn This , then , is y ur house , said g ; you have ’ built it strongly . ’ ‘ o f No , said the Culdee , it is the house the Lord .

Come , as is ﬁtting , and render thanks for your deliverance , f ’ from the death o dr owning .

s - He tepped through the square headed doorway, and o H el eb io rn c o r d fell up n his knees . g , a pa e so behin , imitated his actions . For a minute they were together , with clasped hands held up towards something that was to hardly be discerned in the sudden gloom . The heathen o o o f man had often entered an rat ry this kind , but never o f in this humble way . He knew the fashion the Christian o altar, and the sort of vessels and b oks that should be o f nl about it . There was no gleam gold here , o y a large o f o o n plain cruciﬁx w od, and a white book the simple stone Al table . ong the wall behind it, the hermit had made a fanciful deco ratio n by applying shells and bleached bones H l i o o f . e eb o rn to a rough c ating mud plaster g , instead o of praying as they knelt, let his eyes wander ver that rude

- ﬂa n e d mosaic , where he discerned the three g spine bones o f ll whales and smaller ﬁshes , the sku s and delicate pipe l o f o f - nl ike bones birds , chips fragile egg shells brow y o f freckled, seal tusks , lumps stone rough with roseate

o - c raline , limpet shells and mussels with the pearly side

o u t. o o f It was like the w rk a child , and had given the

- deviser innocent, child like delight . s H el e b io rn As he rose from his knee , and saw g admiring o his handiw rk , his eyes beamed with pleasure . ’ Ah , he said , I will bring a light some time again and le t T you look into it carefully . hat is how I employ myself in the long winter evenings when it is to o dark to work at

. da the books I am never idle . Some y, perhaps , every ll wall wi be covered like that, and my little island church will be as beautiful as the dwelling o f a sea fairy . But ’

o . come now , you must have f od There was a beaten p ath from the doo r o f the oratory H el eb io rn to to another building , which g had not taken be H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATHEN 1 55

o t a house at all . It l oked to him like a cairn of rough s ones ,

- o f but proved to be a beehive shaped cell . A drift blue

smoke came o u t of the low doorway . I have a little ﬁre there to - day instead of at my hearth

w a s to o o . outside , for the wind str ng and blew the ﬂame up ’ o I want it only to smo ulder . He t ok an earthen cooking

vessel fro m among the ashes and sho o k it up in his hand . ’ I am extracting red dye , he said, to brighten the letters ’ o o o o o of the h ly b k . He dipped his finger int the c ncoction Ah ’ o u t o . and drew it stained as if with bl od , he said, n o w s it is doing well , but , where hall I find a vessel in which ‘ to make warm fo od fo r yo u 2 There was n o thought with me at all when I kindled the fire that there wo uld be a o human creature needing meat fr m me this day, and I have o u used all the vessels . Yet it is hot drink y must have ’ to put the c o ld shivering from yo ur bones . H el e b io rn o o ff g to k his wet garments , and lay in a bed o f heath with only a mantle over him whilst Erc took the

rest o u t and spread them o n the heath to dry in the sun . o n s He set stones them, le t they should blow away over the

cliffs into the sea , and as he ﬁngered them , wondered at the ﬁne texture o f the wo ollen clo th and the bright colours

and subtle interweaving of the embroidery . h o ff to o T en he went milk a g at, and soon had a bowlful to fo r o warm his weary guest, and some c arse hard bread to d . di offer with it His labour not cease there , for the wounds where the skin was torn by the rocks had to be o dressed and washed, and not till this was done did he g ll to away, saying , I wi have my share of writing do before ’ o sund wn . the m o ulde r o f In that dark cell , with /s red ﬁre warming H l i o e eb o rn nk . him , g sa into sleep and dreaming He th ught

a . he was at last de d indeed, and laid on a ship of burial

s o hi - At the helm t od a w te robed steersman , whose face was o —hidden by a hood , and they went out int the Ocean together dead Viking and unknown pilot . The sun went down , and strange stars shone above him where he lay and he 1 56 THE CELTIC REVIEW

nl o f rose sudde y up from the bed death and cried aloud , o to dl See , they have forg tten kin e the funeral pyre , and ’ now I must sail and sail , and can never come to Valhalla . ’ o n And then, as he stared the starlight sea , he saw a woman s graceful form rise from it, breast high , lightly as the crest o f o f a rising wave , with wan face and waving white arms . o f By the shine that illumined water he saw her clearly . re e vin t It was C . She stre ched her hands out tenderly towards him then her voice came Co lu m c ille is p o wer ’ ful upon the sea . He has brought thee hither . And at that he knew who the white - robed steersman was Colum ll o f o n ci e Iona, whose followers he had slain . He rose up ul the deck , and sought his sword to slay this C dee like the 10 rest , but where sword and shield should have been laid ’ at a Viking s burial he found nothing to hand, and cried aloud in fury , I am without a sword, without a shield ,

- ﬁr - e . m without funeral or warrior fame Ho Valkyr wo en , o f o u choosers the slain , how can y have me for Valhalla , with never a death - wound o n my breast Then that white wraith o f Cre e vin spre ad forth her to o n arms him , as if to say Come to me and the smile her lips was so sweet and alluring that instantly his rage the ll was gone , and he cared about quest of Valha a no more , l and when his dead love , stil smiling , sank into the silvery ’

t . wa er, he murmured softly, My ship shall anchor here

And saying these words he woke . o f Startled , he leaped from the heart the gloom , and o o ld o n t saw thr ugh the cell door the hermit seated a s one , using the last light of the sunset glow in writing his book .

Stars throbbed in the roseate ﬂush , the sea was unseen but f u . o murmuro s A deep , mysterious sense peace and calm fell upon his heart ; it was as if he waited for some voice o ut o f o f to to hi m n o w the heights heaven call , that he was far from the din o f battle and could hear . The hermit rose suddenly from his work and fell upon

his a his . knees , with hands cl sped upon breast He was n H el eb io rn saying the eveni g prayer. g noticed the simply H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATHEN 1 57

w o o f o u girt go n and hood , and th ught the mysteri s pilot o f hi s o f un dream , and with a sense alterable destiny n o w o repeated, waking , the w rds he had murmured in : Cre e vin o . sleep My ship shall anch r here Yes , sweet ’ o f s Ireland , my hip shall anchor here .

That was the ﬁrst o f many days in Eilean M o r for Helge b io rn l the Heathen . Many and very peacefu were the days f o . Yo u n o his life there will be wondering , doubt, how a ll who peace was tolerable to him at , had been used to the crash o f battle how rest in that small island did n o t fret o n o o f him after far sea r vi g , how the compani nship the gentle hermit w a s endured by o n e who had moved always o o am ng warrior bands , rej icing in feasting and revelling , ur o f o o f shouting and singing , capt e fair w men and sharing Yo u o plunder . will thi nk that the island was as a pris n

to fo r o . him , and he ever l nging to be free from it But though at the ﬁrst he felt a sullen rage against the fate that had dealt thus with him , it was not in the nature o f o his mind to be downcast by any misf rtune , and far o r from brooding mourning in his forced seclusion , he went about blithely and actively, and busied himself in o f li every possible way. There was in him a sense de ght o f in the strangeness the life he led , an insatiable curiosity to understand the ways o f the hermit ; to know what Saga he was recording so carefully o n the leaves o f precious vellum, what thoughts he was thinking when his eyes closed and his lips moved for many an hour in the day . I will learn the secrets o f the priests better thus than by cleaving their skulls , and it behoves the warrior to be ’ o wise in all ways . But he durst not questi n the hermit, n o r o wn o f betray his ign rance o the Christian faith, so he could o nly watch and give ear to anything that was said, and he ﬁngered the lettered pages curiously, as he to o d helped the old scribe mix the c lours , but could not rea 1 58 THE CELTIC REVIEW

o s a word there . All this time c nver e between them was o H el e b io rn o o in the Gaelic t ngue , which g sp ke sl wly and ul caref ly, excusing his difﬁculty at times by reminding the ’ o other, I was a l ng time dwelling among the Vikings . n o w The hermit had more time for writing , for Helge io rn o o r b saved him all trouble in pr curing preparing food . e He it was who h rded the goats and milked them , who o o f s ﬁshed fr m the currach around the rocks the i land, or

- to o k eggs from the sea birds to serve for a meal . There was a little plot of herbs growing under the shelter o f the rough o wall , and a st re of corn in a dry place beside the oratory . It is brought me yearly by the men who co me for the ’ fowling , the monk explained ; they bring materials for my writing , too , and take the written books away . I will have more than ever before to give them because o f thy helpful companio nship but alas they will take thee at ’ to o o . their g ing next time , for I am vowed s litude H el e b io rn o g p ndered on this , and said nothing against : m it, only asked When do they co e , these fowlers you ‘ o 2 speak of , and fr m what place

ad . They are Christian men , Gaels from Eilean F a They need the flesh and feathers of the rock fowl , and fill their Al boats at every coming . as it vexes my heart to see ll o o ur them ki the j yous living things but Lord allows it, and I have instructed them how to slay them without pain . t None are wounded now by s ones as they used to be , nor o r left to flutter away with broken wing limb . None are o o r o n killed save th se that can be netted laid hands , and n o t these die swiftly and unhappily, for they know not " "’ what death is . Alas alas he exclaimed , beating his a breast, would that I could secure n ample mercy for my

- . to fellow creatures To ﬁght, to wound , shed blood, to o f take life ; such is the greatest glory kings and rulers , f not the administering o law and j ustice . When shall wars o f have an end , and the cry the orphan and desolate be heard o n earth no more H elgeb io rn listened with a strange gleam in his eye that

1 60 THE CELTIC REVIEW — hollo w to the green water h o w the eider duck tenderest — o f broodi ng mo thers strips its breast bare o f the so ft down to line its nest and the so lan go o se sits with its web - foot o n o n e o f its egg and hatches it so , instead by breast and wing warmth ; and the great auk nestles near to the egg o n o t but d es cover it . He knew that the egg o f the fulmar o r n o t fo r o ul petrel must be taken fo d , else the nest wo d be o quite forsaken , and no ther laid . He took other eggs , ad o f fo r o f inste this , the use Erc and himself ; but the ll o il fulmar he ki ed sometimes for its , which was wanted o f to give light in the short days winter . And other rock fowl were killed and steeped in brine , to be stored away in a pit lined with stones and covered over . But, though r he hunted them so at times , the innocent creatu es were fearless of him . When he strode across the springy turf the burrowing pu fﬁn peeped o u t at him with friendly eye the guillemo ts never stirred as he went by their nesting

rocks . When he let himself do wn over some precipitous o cliff, and t ok up his perch facing the sea, after a brief screeching ﬂight the birds would come back to roost in o n e o f long rows beside and above him . He became as

. o f the ﬂock When a shoal silvery ﬁsh darted past, pur o the sued by the tumbling p rpoises , birds and man became

- comrade hunters together . Where the little black currach k was launched and the line sun , there the white wings di ﬂuttered and circled and ﬂashed, and the vers swooped down , to emerge gorging their prey, and the dark cormorants d scudde along with outstretched necks . o f o When, in times fair weather, the Viking r wed far ’ o u t and far away into the ocean s breast, and lay adrift , watching the sea gleams and the white clouds overhead ,

- and dreaming strange dreams about the over sea country, sw1m m 1n the island birds were all about him , g, diving ,

o n . reappearing, or floating above him slow, deliberate wing They rejoiced like their human comr ade in the fair weather o f dl o to and times win ess tide, but had no reas n wonder o - se a fo r ll ab ut the over country, in their winter trave ing H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATHEN 1 6 1 i might they not yearly visit it . At n ght, boat and birds came home to gether the little black currach darting over the waves with lift and dip o f oars that seemed like wings in their beat when watched by the o ld hermit from the cliff o t a n o b und co ast . He trembled a y pr longed absence , fearing that so me day his co mrade might n o t return . The s o tr ng , terrible waves of sea might claim him as they had claimed his shipmates . But every such anxious waiting o li t had had a happy end , when thr ugh the gathering twi gh H el e b io rn li o g climbed the cliff path, the ght currach b und o n o u t his back, while the hermit reached a helping hand to o f li ff bring him up the last ledge the c , which was sheer , and the ro osted birds j o stled o n e ano ther like scho o lboys l in a row as he went by them , and chattered shril y as if o o n e o n e sc lding another, and here and there shrieked in o his face as if to b ast, Ha slow comer we are here before ’ thee . H el e b l o rn o o When g fished insh re , around the island r cks , fo r s o to he had the seals rivals . When he pu hed sl wly in o f ul o f the very depths the va ted gloom a great cave , he sc u fflin would hear a g and flapping , then a plunge , and a o f o ul o ff o pair them w d swim int the water , raising their t o n to dark , flat heads at leng h , and pushing scramble with li o n awkward agi ty to a rocky slab . There they would sit and peer with gentle human eyes at the intruder , when i he emerged into dayl ght again . There were wonderful o f to o h o w n o t stories to be told the seals , that they were mere brute beasts , but men and women suffering under e sp lls of enchantment, and sometimes it was said they were o l permitted to return to their own shape , and c u d be seen o n o n o nl afar capes and islands mo ight nights , sporting and hl dancing with agile feet, and singing sweet uneart y songs o f o e that told all their joy and all their w . But if any 10 fisher ventured near to watch them , the spell resumed its nl power, and he found o y the furry sea creatures with the awkward fins and gentle eyes flapping and tumbling o n the rocks .

VOL . VI I . 1 62 THE CELTIC REVIEW

H el eb io rn l g became very familiar with the sea s , but he n ever saw them dance , and he never heard them sing , and ,

i ul . ndeed , he had doubts that any such thing co d be o n The Hermit, questioned the subject , said gravely n o t n o t n o r o f Yes , it happens , but here , and in Iona , any ’ o fo r o f Co lu m c ille G the h ly isles the power , by od s grace , is more than the power o f enchantment ; and where his to servants dwell , the sea people never dare beguile the s o f dr i ons men , enchanters and u ds have no power , and d ’ the law of G o in nature is steadfastly obeyed . ’ o f Co lum c ille H e l e b io rn Tell me more , g said ; and ’ o o f o i then he heard at length the st ry the ap stle s l fe , from the days of his gracious and saintly boyhood in northern to l o Ireland his death before the a tar in I na , after he had b rought the faith to Alba and the isles . There was o n e thing H e lge b io rn desired to hear more e o o f t ven than the st ry the great island saint , namely , hat o f Fo r Erc himself . what sin was he exiled and con ‘d emend to live in solitude What manner o f life had he led in his youth Had he known love and renounced it o r been beguiled by women o r wronged by men " He n o t wondered, but did ask . Yet a day came when he was to hear. But before that was the winter and the exodus o f the b irds .

A great stillness fell upon the island at their going . o f Threefold deep seemed the stillness the ﬁrst days , after the clamo ur and tumult o f assembling myriads which n heralded the departure . Autumn had come , not know b o f o n . y the reddening woods those treeless islets , but by p urple vapo urs and frosty lights ab o ut the south - going sun e o i , by a chillin ss in the crisp sea air, and the sh rten ng o f l e b io rn the daytime hours . It was then that H e g was most busy adding fuel to their store o f the turfy so d ; he dr ied

and piled the thickest knots and twigs o f heath . The tide s ometimes brought in its sweep mo st precious freight o f H E LG E BI ORN THE HEATHEN 1 6 3 — dr iftwood branches o f ﬁr and pine from some wo odland o f Al n o w coast ba and the isles , and and then strange resinous fragrant branches , which came from the unknown s ﬁr over ea land, st messengers from the America that was

to be to the old world that as yet knew her n o t. H el e b io rn fo r li g , grappling driftwood in his ttle hide o covered currach , to k these messengers from the green waves that bro ught them ; scann ed them wi th eager eyes

and understood . to o And Erc the Hermit, , when he looked at these ’ boughs which never grew o n any tree o f Scotland s o r o f ’ o o to Norway s forests , l ked the sunset land with his vague ,

- h . seer like eyes , and said , T ere is surely a country there ’ o Blessed Brendan in his v yaging found it, and , by God s ill w , some shall ﬁnd it again and plant the faith there ’ where these strange branches once budded . w a s o n o n e Such their talk autumnal eve , when the sea

l - was mi k white and calm, and lightly veiled with rising

s - r vapour , and in that trange sea silence arose a clamou o f and shriek departing birds . On all the islets they o n assembled in their millions . When they roosted the

rocks the islands were like seven pyramids of white marble , o r seven snow- clad hill peaks soaring from the pe arl - pale

sea . o f But suddenly there was a rising , a rush wings , a swarm o ing of birds , ﬂ cks thick as bees , but innumerable . They to o o o cried one an ther, s aring , swo ping , swerving , marshalled

by their leaders into rank for the winter ﬂight . Over the island o f their summer nests they hovered ; Erc and the Viking loo king ab o ve their heads saw a living clo ud and o f were dazzled by the quiver the wing beats , deafened by ll o the shri cries in which the bird ﬂ cks uttered their farewell . se a to o f Then above the grey , away the verge the

sk - vague y, they went in long zigzag lines , or wedge shaped o r o ni d t troops , c mpact compa es , accor ing to the ravelli ng

instinct of each vagrant tribe . A sadness glo omed on the ’ Hermit s brow ; he stretched o ut his hands after them as 1 6 4 THE CELTIC REVIEW if in blessing ; H e lge b io rn even tho ught he saw tears in the sad blue eyes . Erc turned at length with a smile as if excusing his weakness . ’ l o u Til y came , seafaring stranger, he said, these little r peo ple were my nearest neighbou s . When I came here in expiation o f my sin I scarcely knew how I would endure o f the doom silence and solitude but in good truth , their cheerful chattering and shrewish scolding made me almo st ’ imagine I was back in the world of woman kind again .

He laughed a little at his joke but , sighing , added , Now it will be very silent and lonely in Eilean Mor . It will be ’ - long lonely without our blithe bird peo ple .

THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE

M I YD ss . LO E . J L

LI TE RATU RE in a spe cial sense may be defined as that o f t hi body li erary compositions , w ch, to the exclusion of ni merely tech cal works , are occupied mainly with works that are spiritual in their nature and imaginative in t heir form , whether in the world of fact or in the f o u world o ficti n . That the Mabinogion admirably f lfil ni o ur this defi tion is task to show . The tales embodied in the Mabinogion will be foun d to be eminently l a s spiritua in their nature , dealing they do with the spiritual world of magic , and describing as they do hi characters w ch are superhuman, and where the super natural is treated as the most natural thi ng in the world . s The e tales are also , in a marked degree , imaginative in — form here imagination and fancy have a free hand, de c o ra tin all i r w g that they touch, and nte eaving history and mythology elegantly and artistically in a way that appeals most forcibly to all who read them . Their inestimable o ld - world charm and delightfully light fancy claim the THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 1 6 5

attention o f the reader from beginning to end . The litera o f di ture a nation reﬂects its life and customs , embo es its s o main characteri tics, and acts as a mirror to its hist ry,

o di . social c n tions , and religious conceptions Here we find reflected the national character and highest aspirations o f o o o o a people . The Mabinogi n, d ubtless , c ntain a far m re truthful po rtrait o f Wales and the Welsh than will be o to o f und in the po etry o f the period . The bards were to o conservative , and their poetic effusions were artificial ul i to be pop ar amongst a free , merry, and witty people l ke o nl the Welsh . Their p ems were mai y elegies and eulogies o o o n to the great princes , mingled ccasi nally with a poem a theological subject, so that what we get here is chiefly a hl n e o o f i o . descripti n court l fe , and that a hig y flattering

There was but little in this poetry to interest the masses . In the Mabinogion we do not find the cumberso me and archaic diction of the contemporary po etry ; o n the con tra r y we have here an easy, fluent, and simple style , which would be easily understo od by all . The conservatism of o fo r the p ets is seen, instance , in the fact that they clung to the traditio nal hero Cadw a ladr long after the literary o f h a renown Arthur d been established . It should perhaps o be observed, h wever, that the historical life of the period is better represented in the poetry o f the time than in the a o o o M bin gion , where hist ry is obscured by mythol gy and imaginative fancy . o n e The term Mabinogion is an artificial , and is used to denote the collection o f tales embodied in the Red Book o f e Hergest, and translated by the Lady Charlotte Gu st under n to that title , but, strictly speaki g , the term refers exclusively o o the F ur Branches , though nowadays it is f und a convenient o VVledi designati n for the Four Branches , Maxen g, Lludd Lle l Kulh h v e s w c s . and y , and Olwen, and the Romance There has been considerable di scussion as to the exact o f M i o meaning the term ab in o g . S me uphold that it is ’ o f o a derivative maban, having a plural f rm Mabinogion , and this theory seems corroborated by the fact that the word 1 6 6 THE CELTIC REVIEW is used as the syno nym of the Latin in fa n tia in Pe n ia rth 14 M a b in o i I e su MS . , where g Grist is given as a trans ’ M i lation o f I nfa n tia Jesu Christi . Thus the name a b n o gi o f o r may be taken as referring to any narrative early life , used as a term o f contempt by the bards who regarded the stories as childish ones . Another View concerning the o f ni original meaning this term, and the Opi on held by Sir

n m a b in o i - in - Joh Rhys , is that g means the stock trade ’ o f m a b in o o r o f a g, apprentice bard . In corroboration this view is mentioned the occurrence o f the name in such a conn ection in one o f the triads in the M yv yria n Archai ’ ology. That the bards combined the functions o f sto ry tellers with their pure bardi c functions is evident from M a b in o i o o f certain allusions in the g , where we are t ld ’ G ilv a e thw s - e li Gwydion and y skill in story t l ng , when they ur f f went as bards to the co t o Dy ed . The tales embodied in the so - called Mabinogio n m ay be Pw ll Pe n de ﬁ classiﬁed into the Four Branches , namely y g

Dyfed, Branwen Ferch Llyr, Manawyddan Fab Llyr , and M a tho n ﬁr w . Math ab y, forming the st class In the second l class are p aced the Dreams , namely, the Dream of Maxen VVledi Rho n a b w Lle v e l s dl g, y , and Lludd and y , and thir y

. iff the Romances These tales d er greatly in character, the most noticeable difference being the absence o f Ar thur o f o f from some the tales , and the different treatment Arthur his o in those tales where name is intr duced, in fact, the antiquity o f these stories can be gauged to some extent by o their treatment f that personage . On this basis the ur r Mabinogion can be divided f ther into th ee classes , the VVle di ﬁrst class comprising the Four Branches , Maxen g, ’ Lle v el s do r and Lludd and y , which not even mention A thur s Kulh c h . ta w name The second class con ins and Olwen, and Rho n a b w nl o f the Dream of y o y, in which the treatment Arthur is very different from that o f the Romances whi ch o hi ro f rm the t rd class . Different views are held as to the p bable explanation o f the absence o f Ar thur from the ﬁrst o f class . Some hold that the absence of all mention Arthur

1 6 8 THE CELTIC REVIEW

o from the treatment of the her in the Romances , which form the third class . The tales of the second class are the oldest o f the Arthurian group , and in them we get a very primitive treatment of the legend . Here Arthur is dis tin c tl y a Cymric hero , and his court is distinctly a Cymric c o G elliwi n ff urt, and further the court of gj Cornwall di ers c o nsiderably fro m the magnificence and splendo ur o f the o rm a n ised ur Cae rb e o n Pe re du r N co t of , described in , Lun e d Owain and , and Geraint and Enid . In the earlier e tales the adventures described are collective on s , which are undertaken by Ar thur in c o njunction with his knights a n d Arthur is as much an aspirant for renown as any o n e lo o f o . o n o his f l wers In the Romances , the c ntrary, the a dventures chroni cled are those of individual knights who who travel about the country in search for encounters , and substitute military pro wess for the magic and cun n ing o f u lhwc h r K and Olwen , and who undertake adventures me ely o o for the sake of renown . In the earlier st ry, h wever , we i find a definite o bject . Thus the winn ng of Olwen is the d irect cause o f the many marvellous adventures o f Kulhw c h a n d o f his helpers , and there is also incidentally the object di o o f I n rid ng the c untry certain pests . the Romances Arthur is not the prominent and imposing figure of the early o o a n st ries ; he is barely menti ned at all , d his court is m erely a rendezvous for tho se knights who travel the co untry to Ar in search of adventure , referring thur as their patron , n d li a cal ng themselves hi s knights . One very marked difference between the Romances and the other stories o f to n i the Mabinogion , is the prominence they give k ght e rrantry and chivalry. This element is not found in the l purely We sh stories for instance , nothing could be more unchivalrous than the punishment inflicted upon Rhi annon

n i - and Branwen . In these later stories , k ght errantry and chi valry have been substituted for the magic of the earlier o n nes , and unseen forces are here represe ted by seen forces , thus strength In Owain and Lu n e d I s depicted concretely as a o li n . THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE

It is interesting to trace parallels in Irish lite rature o o to o s with the Mabin gi n, and n te the allusions to Iri h o F characters which ccur here . In the our Branches the s o f o n e o cene of the st ries , namely Branwen, is placed in s o o Ireland, and Iri h top graphy is w ven into the tissue Of o the st ry, and we get a Goidelic legend like y Pair Dadeni o intr duced . In Ku lhw c h and Olwen there are many ur references to characters which figure in Irish literat e, Cn c hwr o o to o such as y , which c rresp nds the Irish Conch bar Lla w E ra in t o Lludd , corresp nding to the Irish Nuada Air e t Lle ub er g Lam , a prominent figure in Irish literature B e u tha c h Llen lle a u c ddel D un rt o W a . , y , and many thers o o f o to o f M reover, the style these st ries is similar that Irish tales , for instance , there is a great fondness for descriptions , o n minute and detailed, in both literatures ; stress is laid o o o f skill in conversation, great l ve and appreciati n beauty is o s o sh wn, and the effect of l ve are similarly described . ’ o d Kulh wc h s Perhaps , also , we have a corresp n ence between to o o threat utter three sh uts as a protest, sh uld Arthur o o f o refuse his request, and the Irish cust m pr testing o o f o against a wrong by fasting at the d or the ffender . There wa s a goo d deal o f travelling to and fro between Wales and Ireland in the Middle Ages ; but had travel been s ul the way in which Iri h literature influenced ours , we sho d find prominence given to the characters which figure in the

Munster cycle of legend . But this is not the case the Irish characters which ﬁgure in the Mabino gio n belong to the s n o t Ul ter cycle , proving that Irish did inﬂuence Welsh literature directly . The key to the problem may perhaps be fo und in the numerous traces of Northern British elements o o f und in the Mabinogi n , as will be shown later. The legends o f Ulster wo uld co me into the knowledge o f the so t British of Strathclyde , and en ered our literature in that

way. to It is interesting , also , trace in the Mabinogio n links o o which c nnect Wales with N rthern Britain , and this will o help to show what inﬂuences went to f rm these sto ries . 1 70 TH E CELTIC REVIEW

In the Four Branches there are a few names which have analogues in the northern groups . The name o f Pwyll occurs as the name o f o n e o f the warriors mentioned in the G o do din , and Arawn , the King of Annwn , who takes such M a b in o i o f Pw ll a prominent part in the g y , may perhaps be o f C n v a rc h parallel with Arawn, son y , whom Geoffrey con

n e c ts . o n s u with the North With the migrati o thwards , the North became unfamilia r country,and gradually sto rie s were wo ven c o ncerning the strange and weird inhabitants o f o f that region , and the country Caledonia came in time to f b e l o . , regarded as the and Annwn Manawyddan fab Llyr is undoubtedly the same as the Irish Mananna n m a c :

’ n a s M a n a wid a n M a n a u id Lir, and as his name is give and o B the in one of the p ms of the Black ook of Carmar n, it may well have been that he was regarded as connected with o f o Manaw the North , in the legends of the North Brit ns . In the genealogies Llew is found as a brother o f Urien; a

prominent ﬁgure in Northern legend, and in another gene — alogy there is found a Lo uhé Lleu Hen son of G uitge i e G u t n G w d e n . g , later y y These may possibly have been associated later with Lleu and Gwydion o f Gwynedd lo cal M a b in o i s legend, for in the g of Math the relation hip between o i n o t Lleu and Gwydi n is tacitly impl ed , though deliberately

stated . There are no links with the North in Maxen VVle di o f g, but the Helen the legend was connected with

York . There are no Northern elements in Lludd and Lle v el s y either, but it is quite possible that the name Lle v el s fo r Lliwe l dd y may be a mistake y , a name invented o Liw e l dd o ld fr m Caer y . the name for Carlisle , and the o n name Lludd is als , doubtless , con ected with Northern Cre u rdila t o f legend , for , the daughter Lludd , has Northern o f connections . There are many traces Northern elements Kulh c h Kulhwc h hi in w and Olwen . mself and his father ’ Kil dd Kil dd s y have Northern associations , and the name of y Kel ddo n a father is given as y , name apparently invented o Ce l ddo n u l fo r a e fr m Coed y , the reg lar We sh name the C l d o n ia n o he o f Be dw r K n dilic F rest . " T names Kei, y , y , THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 1 7 1

Ade in a wc v a h M o dro n a re o Annwas , and Mabon ass ciated with the North in an Arthurian poem o f the Black Book o f Bra twe n M n a wc Carmarthen . and Moren y may be compared with the G o do din names Bra dwe n and Moryen and with the names Twrc h mab Peris and T wrc h mab o o f Twrc h o Annwas , may be c mpared the name that ccurs G o rc ha n K n v e l n tho n E id o l in y y . Rhun fab w , y , C fwlc h Clu tn o E idin Ur e n o y , , and y Reget als have Northern Kulhwc h connections . There is a reference in and Olwen to G wl a wt G o o din o G wl e t g g , who is pr bably the same as yg d i o f Pr d n G o o din mentioned in the G o do d n . Cado y y and Ca w o f Pr d o s y yn have clear Northern c nnection , as is also o M ellt o n e o f the case with Mab n ab , whose name occurs in

~ o f I n o f the poems of the Black Book also . the Dream Rho n ab wy some of the proper names mentioned have

o . Fo r clear c nnections wi th the North instance , there are I dda c Co rdd Pr de in G wa rthe t so n o f found here w y , gy G w ddn o o f Kaw, Elphin son of y , Owain son Urien , Gures o f so n o f o f M o dro n son Reget, Edern Nudd, Mabon son , Pe re dur Pa ladr D r sta n o f T a llwc h o Hir, y son , M ryen M a n a wc Lla c heu o f Ad a o n T a lie ssin , son Arthur, son of , so n and Gildas the of Kaw . The Romances contain very o f o o nl few elements Northern c louring, the y links being o o f Ur e n C s me the names such as Owain ab y , ynon ab Cl dn o B Pe re dur E fra w to y iddin and , whose father g is said have possessed an earldom in the North . In wain and Lun e d there is a reference to the three hun dre swords o f o f K n v a rc h o B o n edd the family y , which is also f und in r le o f o G w G o dd . o f y y g Like Caw Pictland , the fame Cyn n Cl dn o E iddin h as o ab y waned c nsiderably, as they were both evidently very important perso nages in early No rthern o o o f legend, Cyn n having the distincti n being the chief o f G odo din o ld c o m hero the , an Welsh battle poem m m tin e o ra g the Battle of Ca tra e th in North Britain . T o ul appreciate f ly the value of the Mabinogion, we must mi o exa ne their structures and f rmation, we must study s o o to o f their plot and style , and pr ceed see what phases 1 72 TH E CELTIC REVIEW

o f life , and what aspects nature appealed to the Welsh more o n e especially. The ﬁrst thing notices about the Four o Branches is that they f rm a complete and coherent whole , o and seem to be four chapters in one story, the her of which o f Pr de ri is Pryde ri . The key to the whole is the death y sad o to it was his end that endeared his mem ry the Welsh , hi s o dying as he did, in the service of pe ple , and by the cunning of Gwydion ; for the sympathetic scribe takes care ’ to inform us that Pryde ri s death was not due to his having been defeated in battle , but to the use of magic by Gwydion . Then naturally we come to the cause o f the quarrel between Pr de ri y and Gwydion, namely that the latter had stolen the o f swine which were the special property Dyfed , being the Pw ll o f gift of Arawn , the King of Annwn , to y , the Prince f o f Pr de ri Dy ed and the father y , as a reward for services P ll M a b in o i o f P ll done him by wy . The g wy may be divided e into three parts ; the ﬁrst, by telling us how the swine cam into the possession of Dyfed is connected di rectly with the M a b in o i o f ho w o g Math , which tells the swine were st len o f o f Pw ll by Gwydion . The second part the story y tells o f Pw ll hi n c o n se us of the marriage y and R an on, and the Pw ll quent enmity between Gwawl and y , and so connects M a b in o i o f a ll the story with the g M nawyddan, which te s ’ how Gwawl revenged himself upo n hi s rival s so n Pryde ri by causing his kinsman Llwyd fab Cilc o e d to place a spell

. o f Pw ll o f upon Dyfed The third part y tells us the birth , di i o f Pr de r . sappearance , and subsequent restoration y We therefore see that the M a b in o gi o f Pwyll unites together

. o f three of the four branches The story Branwen, the daughter o f Llyr has no part in the plo t o f the Four Branches it is merely an embellishment upo n the hi story

o f m o f to o D o n . the fa ily Llyr , as opposed the family f Ano ther analysis o f the Four Branches might be made o n o f o o e the basis st ries c nnect d with the Rhiannon , Don, and

Llyr cycles . The importance and signi ﬁcance o f this division will be seen later when the indi catio ns o f paganism ll o found in the Four Branches wi be c nsidered, since THE MABINOGION AS LITERATURE 1 73

hi n R a non , Don, and Llyr are in all probability ancient

Celtic deities . The stories connected with Rhiannon are embodied in the M a b in o gi o f Pwyll and Manawyddan the stories grouped with Don in the M a b in o gi of Math ab M a tho n w nn o f y, and those co ected with the family Llyr i n the M a b in o gi of Manawyddan fab Llyr and Branwen o o f ferch Llyr . It is interesting to note the t pography e the stories grouped under these three headings . Th tales whi ch belong to the Rhianno n cycle are to pographically conn ected with Dyfed and Gwent ; the stories o f the Don cycle contain allusions to Gwynedd ; while the legends ni concer ng the Llyr cycle have a far wider area, their o nl o o f topography not y extending ver the whole Wales , but embrac ing Ireland also . This is in keeping with the fact that Be n dige itvra n the son o f Llyr is regarded as the o f o f crowned king the island Britain, and not merely as l o f a prince like Pwyl . The study the topography of the Four Branche s is interesting as sho wing the various elements i o wh ch g to form the stories , but the transplanting o f the ‘ tales fro m o n e district to another is o n e o f the chief diﬂi c ultie s in the way o f an analysis of the legends into their Th e o f G ri component parts . story w Wallt E uryn and T eyrn o n T wryf Vlia n t belong in a ll probability to the G w e n tian fo r T e rn o n recension , y is said to live in Gwent

Is Coed, the district between Newport and Chepstow . N O doubt in the case of the G wri legend we have an instance of the transplanting of the story from the regio n o f the o f hi Wirral promontory Cheshire , w ch is called in Welsh

G wri G wri . Cil , meaning the retreat of It is possible the story was transplanted into Gwent through a confusion o f — — Ca erlle o n - o n - identity between Chester and Caerleon Usk . o Pw ll Pr de ri o The st ries connected with y and y , on the ther to D im e tia n o hand, belong the recensi n , as they contain f o o many references to places in Dy ed, the m st c nspicuo us

being the reference to Narberth in Pembrokeshire . Although the story o f Pwyll bears a very close relation to the

Rhiannon legend , yet she herself was most probably not 1 74 THE CELTIC REVIEW

regarded as a native Of Dyfed , for we are told that, after ’ Pw ll her marriage at her father s court, she and y set o u t towards Dyfed . It is quite possible that legends concern ing Rhiannon prevailed in the districts o f M a e syfe d and ’ Ardu dw fo r E v e dd o f l y, y , the name Rhiannon s father, sti l M a e s fe d H v e d survives in the name y , for Maes y y , and in the M a b in o gi of Branwen the fabulous birds o f Rhiannon Ardu d w . are connected with Harlech in y Moreover, accord ing to o n e legend the grave of Pryderi is said to be at di Maentwrog, in the same strict, showing that the legend o f Rhiannon was widespread in Wales .

( To be co n tin ue d)

OLD IRISH SONG 1

LFRE D E RCE VAL RAVE S . . A P G , M A

I N o i o f the dim m rning twil ght Ancient Erin, legend ’ Fili s o r t describes her , musical bards , as constant at endants upon the king and chieftain .

’ M r . r r . the Am e ic a n ic tu As Alfred M Williams , critic , p e s ue l o o Orﬁdd q y puts the traditi n, Surr unded by the y, o r ul d n o f instrumental musicians , who f ﬁlle the fu ction a o modern military band , they watched his pr gress in battle fo r o f the purpose describing his feats in arms , composed o f n birthday Odes and epithalamia , aroused the spirits cla s c a o in e s men with war songs , and lamented the dead in the , o r ll keens , which are sti heard in the wilder and more primi ’ o o f tive regi ns Ireland . o f o f We must, course , discount much the legendary o col ur which enthusiasts like Walker take o n trust . But this is the picture o f the early Irish bard presented to us l by the chroniclers . Amongst other privi eges , he wore

1 A e ure to the Ro a I n s u o n o f re n B s Wo o dd Sm E s . l ct y l tit ti G at Britai . a il ith, q ,

Vic e ~ Presiden t in the r , chai .

1 76 THE CELTIC REVIEW

more troubleso me and impo rtunate than ever . They were in the habit o f travelling abo ut the co untry in companies o f o o f o thirty, comp sed pupils and teachers , and each c mpany o t o f had a silver p , called the Pot Avarice , having chains o f bro nze attached to it by golden hooks . It was sus o f ni pended from the points of the spears ne of the company, which were thrust thr ough the links at the other end o f s al the chain . The reason that the pot was c led the Pot of Avarice was because it was into it that whatever o f gold o r silver they received was put, and, whilst the poem was being chanted, the best nine musicians in the company played music round the pot . If their minstrelsy was well received, and adequately paid for , they left their blessing behind them in verse ; if it was not , they satirised their audience in the most virulent terms o f which their po etical l to vocabu ary was capable ; and , be it Observed, that the o f ll in satire an Irish bard, to whom there sti clung the ul pop ar belief the mystical attributes Of the druid , there ’ attached a fatal malignity . At the time o f the conversion o f Ireland to the Chr istian to o f faith , the bards were said number a third the male 5 A D rum c e a tt 90 . D . population , and , in , a Synod was held at ,

Ae d o f . by , king Ulster, which greatly reduced their forces ul r Indeed, such was the pop a irritation against them, that had it not been for the friendly intervention o f the states - o ll ul man poet, C lum Ci e , they wo d probably have been banished altogether .

The Fili , or bard, no doubt was a minstrel as well as a t o f poe , in the ﬁrst instance , but in the course time there di would appear to have been a further bardi c fferentiation , r s and we learn that perfection in the th ee Mu ical Feats , di i o f o r or three styles of playing, gave the gn ty Ollamh, f o to o f . Doctor Music , the professors the harp Now what were the three Musical Feats Here they are well described o l in a weird d folk tale . T u a tha D a n an n Lugh (the da king) , and the Daghda hi (their great c ef and druid) , and Ogma (their bravest OLD IRISH SONG J77

champion) , followed the Fomorians and their leader from o f M o tura o ff the battleﬁeld y , because they had carried ’

U a ithn e . the Daghda s harper, by name The pursuers o reached the banqueting ho use o f the F morian chiefs , and so n o f E la tha n E latha n there found Breas , the , and the ’ o f D elb a th o son , and als the Daghda s harp hanging upon

the wall . This was the harp in which the music was spell o it o n o t b und, so that w uld answer, when called forth , o o until the Daghda ev ked it, when he said C me , D urda b la Co irc e tha irc hu ir two o f ; come , the names the

. Ca mh m harp Come , Samhan ; come , , from the ouths o f o harps and pouches and pipes . The harp came f rth

from the wall then, and killed nine persons in its passage

and it came to the Daghda, and he played for them the

three musical feats which give distinction to a harper , viz . , Su a in tra i he the g (which , from its deep murmuring , caused G e a n tra i he sleep) , the g (which , from its merriment, caused G o lltra i he laughter) , and the g (which , from its melting plain tiv e n e ss G o lltra i he , caused crying) . He played them the g , until their women cried tears ; and he played them the Gean tra i he g , until their women and youths burst into laughter Su a in tra i he he played them the g , until the entire host fell

fell asleep . It was through that sleep that they (the three champions) escaped from those Fomorians who were ’ desirous to slay them .

This passage is o f threefold interest . It indicates the popular belief in the introduction o f music into Ireland T u a tha D a n a n n by the da , a mysterious race , by some o f regarded as an offshoot the Danai , whom tradition li declares to have conquered and civi sed the country, and

then to have disappeared from it into fairyland . Again , it contains the ﬁrst reference in Irish literature to the harp o r c ruit ur , destined to become o national instrument . o f o f Lastly, it describes three styles of Irish music , each whi ch we have characteristic examples that have descended

. G e a n tra i he ro to the present day For the g , which was p o f a n re re vocation mirth d frolic and excited spirit, is p V L O . VI I . M 1 78 TH E CE LTIC REVIEW

s - ented by the jigs , reels , planxties , and quick step marches G o lltra i he o r l ill the g , the sorrowfu music , st lingers in the o f o ur keens or lamentations , and some superb marches o f the wilder and sadder type and the Su ain tra ighe sur

vives in many a beautiful Irish hush song . The Irish sleep - compelling airs have not attracted the

notice they deserve . Moore ignored them altogether, but

. o f o ut Dr Petrie prints many them , and points their resem blance to the slumber- tunes still in vogue in India and e a l lsewhere in the E st . They certain y support the tradi f tion of the oriental a fin ities o f the Early Irish . The first period o f Irish bardic literature may roughly be said to be that o f epic poetry interspersed with songs . Fine e xe mplific a tio n s o f these are to be found in the Silva G a delica o f , a recent translation of a series . Early Irish tales ’

. r by Mr Standish Hayes O G ady. The music to which they were sung has perished o r become dissociated from o f s these lyrics , but some their mea ures are identical with n o w those of rustic Irish folk tunes . We come to the A bardic period, thus described by the poet Spenser in Vi ew of the S ta te of I rela n d I ren — o f . There is amongst the Irish a certain kind o i o f people called Bardes , which are t them nstead Poets , w hose Profession is to set forth the Praises o r Dispraises o f men in their Poems or Rithm e s ; the which are had in so high Regard and Estimation amongst them , that none dare displease them for fear to run into Repro ach to ad nf through their offence , and be m e i amous in the o f all mouths men . Fo r their verses are taken up with a general applause , a n d usually sung at all feasts and meetings by certain o n ther persons , whose proper functio that is , who also receive for the same great rewards and reputation amongst ’ them . It would appear that the poet Spenser made a study o f o f his - o f the Irish poetry day, and a music book the six ’ te e n th beth s Vir in a l B o o k century, misnamed Qu een E liz a g , OLD IRISH SONG 1 79

o n e o f Ca llin o Castura m e contains three Irish airs , which , , ’

Sh a ke s e re s H en r V. is evidently alluded to by Pistol in p y , o n di Cale n o who , meeting a French sol er, cries , Quality — ’ c u sture li O stiu ir . me clearly, A Chai n g, an thu mi

Here it may be well to give , in full , the famous passage ’ View o the Sta te o I rela n d to in Spenser s f f , relating the f hi s character of the bardic lyrics o day . E u xus — do . But tell me (I pray you) have they any art in their compositions or be they a nything witty o r well o ul fav ured, as poems sho d be — I ren ceus . o f Yea, truly, I have caused divers them to

be translated unto me , that I might understand them ; s o f and urely they were favoured sweet wit, and good ill o f o l o f invention, but sk ed not the g od y ornaments poetry yet were they sprinkled with some pretty ﬂowers c o m eli of their natural device , which gave good grace and mess unto them ; the which it is a great pity to see so o f abused, to the gracing wickedness and vice , which with

good usage would serve to adorn and beautify virtue . o As of a most notori us thief and wicked outlaw, which o f o n e o f had lived all his lifetime spoils and robberies , o f their Bardes in his praise will say, That he was none dl o the i e milks ps that was brought up by the fireside , but that most o f his days he spent in arms and valiant enter prizes that he did never eat his meat before he had w o n it with his sword ; that he lay not all night slugging in a c a b b in l under his mantle , but used common y to keep others waking to defend their lives ; and did light hi s o f candle at the flames their houses , to lead him in the hi s ni hi s Darkness ; that the day was ght, and the night o f day, that he loved not to be long wooing wenches to hi m o yield to , but where he came he took by f rce the spoil ’ o f o other men s love , and left but lamentati n to their lovers is o f o that h musick was not the harp , nor lays l ve , but : l the cries of people , and clashings of armour and final y di that he ed not bewailed of many, but made many wail

di . when he ed, that dearly bought his death 1 80 THE CELTIC REVIEW

Do yo u not think (Eudoxus) that many of these praises might be applied to men of best deserts , yet are they all o f yielded to a most notable traitor, and amongst some Fo r n o t o f. the Irish ﬁnally accounted the song , when it was ﬁrst made and sung to a person of high degree there , ’ f r was bought (as their manner is) o forty Crowns . The lyrical epoch alluded to by Spenser is the second f d era o bardic poetry in Ireland . It embraces the perio of the English struggle for supremacy in the country that terrible time o f internecine war which alike brutalised the Saxon and the Celt . In times such as these it was

to . impossible compose long narrative poems . As Mr ‘ li s o o f Wil ams well puts it, The in pirati n the bards was turned to more direct appeals for war, rejoicings for victory, and lamentations for misfortune and defeat . The poetry took ’ a more lyric form , and became an ode instead of an epic .

Irish Music and Song had now fallen o n evil days . The nf o f dow all of the great Celtic families , and many the great Anglo - Irish ones who had espo used their quarrel with suc c essiv e o o ur fo r English Governments , f rced national bards , in want of better support, to wander from castle to castle , stead o f remaining as leading ﬁgures in the great households . ’ Turlough O Ca ro la n was the most remarkable o f these 16 0 wandering lyrists . Born in the year 7 , he early lost

- his sight through small pox , but solaced himself for this o f deprivation by the study music , in which he made I rish M o n thl Review astonishing progress . The y gives s o f this in tance his wonderful musical memory, and his extraordinary power o f musical improvisation . At the o f ni house an Irish nobleman, where Geminia was present , Carolan challenged that eminent composer to a trial of s kill . The musician played over on his violin the Fifth o f Concerto Vivaldi , and it was instantly repeated by

o n . Carolan his harp , although he had never heard it before The surprise of the company was increased when Carolan a asserted th t he would compose a concerto , himself, upon the spot ; and he did then and there invent a piece that OLD IRISH SONG 1 81 hi has since gone by his name . But t s story is evidently fo un da inaccurate , for whilst it is probable that it has a o f ll tion in fact, Carolan cannot have had this trial ski v with Geminiani , whoever his Italian opponent may ha e o o f been . Carolan composed upon the butt ns his coat, o o o f the butt ns serving for the purp se the lines , and the s intervals between them for the paces . Carolan did n o t adhere entirely to the Irish style of

composition, and his musical pieces show a considerable

Italian inﬂuence ; yet, as Mr . Bunting writes , he felt the

full excellence o f the ancient music of his country . He

was a most proliﬁc composer . One harper at the beginning o f this century was alone acquainted with about a hundred

of his tunes , and many were at that time believed to have

been lost . o f 1 98 o Passing over the period 7 , which d es not furnish

ﬁr st- o to many lyrics of rate quality, we now c me that — important epoch in Ir ish lyric literature the Granard o and Belfast meetings of harpers , promoted with the bject o f to reviving the taste for Irish music , which had begun

decay . These meetings , which took place about the year 1 792 di , were very successful, and awoke in the stinguished fo r Belfast musician, Mr . Bunting , such an enthusiasm

Irish music , that he henceforth devoted his main efforts to l its collection and pub ication . Of the Belfast meeting he writes thus vividly All o ld o f the best of the class harpers , a race of men fo r then nearly extinct, and now gone ever , were present ’ —H e m so n O N e ill rmi o p , , Fa ng , and seven thers , the least H e m so n able of whom has not left his equal behind . p realised the antique pictures drawn by Ca mb ren sis and fo r o in Galilei , he played with long cro ked nails , and his perfo rmance the tinkling of the small wires under the deep o m n s of the bass were particul arly thri lling . He was l o n e who the on y played the very o ld music o f the country , and this in a style of such ﬁni shed excellence as persuaded o ld a mb re n sis me that the praises of the Irish harp in C , 1 82 THE CELTIC REVIEW

u l o a dm ir F l er, and others , were no m re than just to that o f o able instrument and its then pr ess rs . But more than ’ — anything else the conversation o f Arthur O Ne ill who H e m so n o f although not so absolute a harper as p , was o f l gentle blood, and a man the wor d, who had travelled o f — over all parts Ireland won and delighted me . All that the geni us o f later poets and romance writers has feigned of the wandering minstrel was realised in this man . o f There was no house of any note in the north Ireland, o n o n e o n as far as Meath the hand, and Sligo the other , ’ in which he was n o t well known and eagerly sought after . What are o ur grounds for believing that many of the airs played at the harp meetings are very ancient ‘2 o f o f First , the testimony the harpers, most them very Old men , at the Belfast meetings one hundred years ago , who smiled on being interrogated by Bunting as to the

o f so - antiquity the called ancient airs, and answered, They are more ancient than any to whi ch o ur popular ’ n f tradition extends . Moreover , Bunting i orms us that o f though coming from different parts Ireland , and the o f pupils different masters , the harpers played those ancient o f e tunes in the same key, with the same kind expr ssion , ssa and without a single variation In any essential pa ge , ’ e d or even in any not . He a ds , This circumstance seemed the more extraordi nary when it was discovered that the most ancient tunes were in this respect the most perfect , admitting o f the addi tion of a b a ss with more facility than such as were less ancient . Hence we may conclude that their authors must necessarily have be en excellent per in o f formers , versed the scientiﬁc part their profession, and that they had originally a View to the addition o f i harmony in the composition of their p eces . It is remarkable that the performers all tuned their o f instruments upon the same principle , totally ignorant to the principle itself, and without being able assign any fo r o f o r o f reason either their mode tuning, their playing ’ the bass . And here it may be mentioned that the ancient

1 84 THE CELTIC REVIEW The antiquity of individual airs has distinct historical o conﬁrmation by Bunting and thers . The tune called Thu ga m a r fein an sa mhra dh le inn was sung to welcome the landing of the Duke of Ormond by a band o f Virgins who went out to meet him from Dublin . Again , the ancient Irish air Summer is coming is the same song practically ’ ’ a s Summer is a comin in, which is reputed as the ﬁrst o f in piece music set in score Great Britain . Bunting o n o f claims that air, therefore, for Ireland the ground the extreme improbabili ty o f its having been borrowed by the ancient Irish from a country that has no national o f o wn music its (the Welsh excepted) . Their ignorance ’ o f ds the English language , he ad , and their rooted aver ff sion to their invaders , were e ectual bars to any such ’ r plagiarism o adoption . Besides the remarkable similarity between o ur lullabies a n d those of the East already touched on , there is a marked c orrespondence between some o f the early Norse and ancient Irish tunes . The distinguished Swedish harpist , S e n o n o f d , who visited Dublin the occasion the Moore e o f o ur o ld C ntenary, showed me that some Irish airs — for instance - the Cruiskeen Lawn were almost iden tical with early Norse ones ; the question for settlement o f i o t course being , whether the Ir sh g them from the Danes o r the Danes from the Irish , though the musical reputa o f o ur tion ancestors , amongst whom the Danes formed maritime settlements at Dublin , Waterford , Limerick ,

a n d to . elsewhere , points the latter conclusion Then there is the strong internal evidence o f extreme antiquity from the o ld - world characters o f such airs as the March ’ from Fingal . ‘ To what poetical measures were these o ld airs sung 2 to n o t We have, fortunately, some clue this , only in the modern Irish words to them published by Dr . Joyce , but o in the important fact that we have Irish p ems , as early ni i to o as the nth century, wh ch will sing s me of the ancient e ’ airs for xample , an invocation for God s protection upon OLD IRISH SONG 1 85

o f his coracle , by Cormac Mac Cullinane , King and Bishop

di 903. Cashel, who ed in This measure is identical with ’ that o f Shenstone s lines

n s u n s s My ba k they are f r i hed with bee , o s u u s n u s to s Wh e m rm r i vite leep , My gro tto es are shaded with tree s ’ s An d my hills are white o ver with heep .

’ urr n o t Professor C C y puts the case very strongly, but , to o o o f I think, strongly, when he says , Th se verses King ‘ o M Cullin a n e n o w o n e o o ld C rmac , almost th usand years , which sing to the air o f For Ireland I wo uld not tell who ” i o she is , is adduced as an nteresting fact, pr ving that a o f fragment of a lyric poem , ascribed to a writer the ninth so century, and actually preserved in a MS . book old as 1 150 o f the year , presents a peculiar structure rhythm , exactly co rresponding with that o f certain ancient musical ll - di compositions sti popular and well known, and, accor ng o f i to tradition, the highest antiqu ty . I believe such a fact is unknown in the musical history o f any other nation o f Europe and yet in ours very many such instances could be adduced o f ancient lyric music still in existence , in minutely exact agreement with forms o f lyric poetry used n o t only in but peculiar to the most ’ u r ancient periods of o native literature . A large pro portion of the Irish airs are in eight- line u two o meas res , consisting of quatrains ; th ugh originally it would appear that the verses consisted o f four lines

o f . only, in which event the range the air was very limited to But, as time went on, the strain appears have been repeated , with a variation , and then added to by means o f o f a strain different character, the ﬁnal musical measure o f being a repetition the ﬁrst strain . S tanzas built up to suit such airs largely co nsist o f sixteen lines , which are quaintly called curving eight lined verses —the meaning of the word curved referring o f to the second part eight lines , which are added to the 1 86 THE CE LTIC RE VIEW

fill o r first eight to up the curve turn, second part of the tune . m a o f Finally, it y be worth while to state the case the r r Scottish claim to I ish ai s , and the Irish claim to Scottish melodi es . A pedantic attempt has been made to specify o f certain Irish musical characteristics , the absence which o n e will prove of the airs in dispute to be Scottish . But Sir Robert Stewart j ustly points o ut that the so - called li unfai ng characteristic of Irish , as of Chinese , melody to omit the fourth and seventh of the scale , is by no means a sure test . In many Irish airs these intervals are wanting in others they both exist . In some they are omitted in the first strain and are present in t he second part o f the f . o r o air Again , the presence of the submediant sixth

to - o f the scale , supposed be a never failing test an Irish air, is equally emphatic in the Scottish air Auld Lang ’ Syne , and many other Scottish tunes . The Scottish airs may be roughly classed as Highl and o tunes and L wland tunes . The ﬁrst class have a close a ﬁ ni t i the n o nl y w th Irish music , and wonder , for not o y o f are the Highland Scotch North Irish descent, but the Scotch of the West coast were for centuries closely c o n n e c te d o with their kinsfolk across the N rth Channel, and a constant exchange o f min strelsy must have therefore gone between them . The Lowland Scotch tunes form a di t large and s inct body of national melodies , composed by national musicians , and not found in Irish collections . In Ireland there is a much larger body o f airs acknow ledged o n all hands to be purely Irish and n o t found in

Scottish collections . Outside these airs there is a large number common to

As . i and claimed by both countries . Dr Joyce p thily t t o f pu s it, In regard o a considerable proportion them it is now impossible to determine whether they were

originally Irish or Scottish . A few are claimed in Ireland nl that are certai y Scottish, but a very large number claimed o f - by Scotland are really Irish , which the well known air PAN - CELTIC NOTES 1 87

Eileen Aroon or Robert Adair is an example . From the earliest times it was a common practice amo ng the

Irish harpers to travel in Scotland . How close was the musical connection between the two countries is hinted by the Four Masters when, in recording the death of Mac o f Carroll , they call him the chief minstrel Ireland and Scotland " and there is abundant evidence to show that this connection was kept up till towards the end of the ’ last century . Ireland was long the school for Scottish ’ wa s o f : Harpers , as it for those Wales Till within the o ll memory of pers ns sti living, the school for Highland was poetry and music Ireland, and thither professional ’ men were sent to be accomplished in these arts . Such facts as these sufﬁciently explain why so many Irish airs have become naturalised in Scotland . It is not correct to separate and contrast the music of Ireland and that of Scotland as if it belonged to two different races . They are in reality an emanation direct from the heart o f o n e Celtic people ; and they form a b o dy of national melo dy superior to that o f any other ’ nation of the world .

PAN - CE LTIC NOTES

IRISH LOND ON NOTE S

The G aelic League o f Lo n d o n meets every Mo n day in the Furn ivall fo r n s u o n in s n u E n n Street Hall i tr cti the Iri h la g age, leme tary , I termediate a n d n fo r u o f s sto a n d L u u n . Adva ced , the St dy Iri h Hi ry iterat re der Mr a n d ss E n o u a n d fo r s n n in G C o un ss Hegarty Mi lea r H ll , i gi g a aelic h ir, der Mi U n a Ra e s s fo r C n Oﬁic e s Hall , the rehear al which take place at the e tral , 7 7 Fleet Street . ’ u a n d n s n s e ss s so o us o . . Ad lt childre cla e are al held at vari l cal ce tre , g C K n s n o n Fu o s G an d s o lapham , e i gt , lham , F rre t ate, Haver t ck Hill , at which every n o w an d again a Plaraca o r a miscellan eo us en tertain men t is held o n s s n o f o n o f I s o r n u s s n n n an d c i ti g the perf rma ce ri h bili g al play , i gi g, reciti g dan cin g . 1 88 THE CELTIC REVIEW

L n o n s n n o u in The o d Iri h childre have, I k w, great aptit de learn in g Irish a n d so me o f them who had n ever bee n befo re in Irelan d were a s reward fo r their success at G aelic League E xamin atio n s sen t o ver to the Old Co un try last summer . P ’ Fro m year to year St . atrick s D ay Co n certs have been held in the d s n n o n s r o o s a n . o Metr p li , the e are very largely atte ded i deed A c iderable p po rtio n o f the lays are sun g in Iri sh a n d the Iri sh pipes a n d harp are in

n a n d s s - n n o n n s is n o w o n s evide ce , Iri h tep da ci g by the champi da cer a rec g i ed in n n feature the e tertai men t . Fo r the last three years the Lo n do n Co un ty Co un cil has en do wed classe s in s n u u a n d s o o ut o f s a n d s Iri h la g age , literat re hi t ry , the rate , thi year n n su ss s n Seo samh . o s i e ch cla e are bei g held , Mr J eph Campbell ( Mac Cathmha o il n o s so u a s ) bei g the m t ght after a teacher . is n o s n o was wo n It a table fact that i ce the B er War, which largely by n o f s o o s a n d in o n s u n o f u n the galla try the Iri h tr p , c eq e ce which Q ee Victo ria o rdered the wearin g o f the Shamro ck by the Irish tro o ps o n parade ’ o n P s D a s d is o o n in Lo n o n St atrick y, that fe tival ay c mm ly celebrated the d Co un cil Sch o o ls by the wearin g o f the Shamro ck a n d the si n gin g o f Irish so n s s u s a n o f n f E D a has g . Thi circ m t ce the n o w gen eral celebratio o mpire y ’ n o n o f s to o P o n n s D s an d St. called the atte ti teacher the ther atr al Sai t ay , ’ ’ ’ n s D a D a G o s D a D s a n d s n t s . . b ut o A drew y, St avid y la t lea t, St e rge y are n As s n s u bei g celebrated . a re ult the E mpire day d o i g gather p the usi so n s a n d n s o f o u n n s s m c, g da ce the f r atio with a pirit that greatly n n e ha ces their effect .

MAN" NOTE S

YN CH E SKAG H T G AI LCKAG H

’ The Secretary s last Report

ss M o so n as H o n o o n n s n o Mi rri , . Secretary, read the f ll wi g i tere ti g rep rt o n the Operatio n s o f the year

D r Cla ue . g .

I su in o n s s o f o n e s n It will , am re , be acc rda ce with the wi he every pre e t that this repo rt sho uld begin by ren deri n g a tribute o f respect a n d gratitude to o o f D r C u who has ss s n o ur s n n u the mem ry . lag e, pa ed away i ce la t a al

n . wa s o n P s n o f n L n u o a n d wa s meeti g He ce re ide t the Ma x a g age S ciety, s n f it f r u to o as o o e o s u s o M n . al j dge a x m sic He will be re membered, , a Co un o o f C sso n o its o un t o n in 1900 to cill r the eltic A ciatio fr m f da i , , h n n e o f its s frien s death . The Man x La guage So ciety has lo st in him o be t a n d o s n us s su o wa s u n n n o t o n m t e th ia tic pp rters. He a tr e Ma xma he ly

o o e n s in - o f n u b ut t k a de p i tere t the fo lk l o re a n d literature the la g age , PAN - CE LTIC NOTES 1 89

- T o us his o ss is himself had a tho ro ugh kn o wledge o f his mo ther to n gu e . l was s so s n an d so un in his an d irreparable . He alway a e d advice , had the n As o o f n wisdo m which co mes fro m kn o wledge an d experie ce . a l ver Ma x us o s u o a n d wa s o n s us an d m ic he did m t val able w rk, a rec g i ed m ical critic,

man y beautiful traditio n al Man x airs o we their pre servatio n to him . n n e o un o n We ho pe to publish durin g the co mi g year a Ma x prim r , f ded n is an n z Kn ee . s s . the Berlit y tem, by Mr. J. J It admirable primer, e tirely o ut in n a n d to s u n s. o u Ma x, will be a great help t de t It will be br ght at a ’ o n o f o f Pil rim s po pular price . An excellen t Man x tran slati part the g P ha s in ro r s L. . e s M . S . s C o g , by the late Mr Jame all w , a member, appeared la E xaminer a n d s o u s in o o o . tra n s the , will h rtly be p bli hed b klet f rm The —‘ ’ o n is o o s o o a n d o o o n . ti very g d, m th , idi matic right g d Ma x I t is n s n to n o fo r s u s o n o n i tere ti g te that, the ﬁr t time , lect re the m der

Celtic revival are bein g given in co n n ectio n with the Paris Un iversity . So me co rresp o n den ce has taken place between o ur S o ciety a n d Mo n sieur o n G o u who is P s n o f E o n o o n o f M rva blet, the lect rer, re ide t the c mical Secti n R n s d n I n o n e f hi o n o o n n an s o . o s the U i egi ali te Bret e , him elf a Bret u s s o f o n in o ur s n fo r lect re he gave a ketch the m veme t I la d , which we were to to u n s w so n o o n an d has s n glad be able f r i h him ith me i f rmati , which i ce n u s in La R v u o u s o f u s a s s in so o bee p bli hed e ue . S ch a c r e lect re thi imp r tan t a ce n tre a s Paris must be regarded a s a great en co uragemen t by th o se wh a n ul n f o C o n o r o . have the eltic m veme t, y partic ar bra ch it, at heart

It is very much to be ho ped that the fo llo win g appeal will meet with a hearty respo n se fro m th o se to wh o m it is addressed

‘DUN DE ALG AN ’ PURCHASE FUND

Dunda lk , 1 91 1 .

D EA SI R o r AD AM —I n o n o f n u s o wa R M , the m th Ja ary la t year a bl w s ‘ ’ s u fo r s sto an d A a o o D un D n . n o n tr ck Iri h Hi ry rch e l gy ealga , latterly k w a s C s o n o un D un d a n n n C s o n o a tlet w M t, alk, a cie t eltic tr gh ld, where Cu u n was o n a n d has n s u to use o f ch lai b r where he lived, bee ec red the the

u . ask s men an d o n a o o s s s o n s an p blic We Iri h w me , arch e l gi t , hi t ria , d

s u n s o f o - o o an d o to su s o s t de t f lk l re, at h me abr ad , b cribe t ward the repay n o f u s n a n d s its u me t the p rcha e mo ey to ward pkeep . Dun D ealgan is an impo sin g fo rt o verlo o kin g the to wn a n d bay o f un s a n d o f n D . o o Cu u s dalk Thi f rt , the birthplace h me ch lai , the Iri h s f R d n o s eerlesh. o o e C t s Achille , the p her the Bra ch ycle , wh e grea deed , l' o m ss n o So s o s n n o n s a s c pre ed i t h rt a life , are till ri gi g d w the year , they h o n sin o C s n s s o n n D un o n n ave d e ce bef re the hri tia era, thi till d mi a t , d mi a t o s a n d un has n s u yet h ary with year , withal practically defaced , bee re c ed o o n s o o ss o f o r o disﬁ ure fr m private w er hip, fr m the p ibility partial c mplete g 1 90 THE CELTIC REVIEW — n a n d is n o w—ii is o u s to n n fo r me t, it y r wi h be mai tai ed ever, free fro m I s o u s the G o th a n d free to the G ael . it y r wi h " D n wa s o f fo r s in C n Co u in D u n a d D un ealga f ered ale the ha cery rt bli , n the n n a s o us o n its su n o s an d n u n dersig ed, feari g that, the h e mmit had bee cl ed u fo r so s o u fo r s sum a n d ten an table me year , it might be b ght a mall , perhaps u n £200 a n d n in n s c o mpletely damaged , g ara teed , placed a te der the ame o f

n an d G . s . n was a n d Redmo d Magrath Harry Tempe t The te der accepted, s has n n o f s n s o n the depo it bee adva ced by ﬁve the ig ato rie j i tly . The s to s balan ce mu st be ho rtly lodged co mplete the ale . o o s to s D un Co Lo u a It is pr p ed ve t the with the . th Arch eolo gical to s to use o f u a s u s an d So ciety , be pre erved the the p blic , a headq arter us u ca n n o r in an o o un n m e m, if it be arra ged , y ther way which may be f d o P s n o n s o n to s . o o s o u c iderati be the be t r vi i will be made that, h ld the

o n us s o n . is So ciety ever bec me exti ct, the tr t will till be carried It hardly n ss to s n o o ss o n o r n n o f n ece ary tate that c mmi i , a ythi g the ki d , will be paid a n o f o s n s a n d n o x n s s i n s to y th e i tere ted , e pe e will be charged aga t the

un n o ut- o f- n s purchase f d o ther tha mere po cket o e . I su m o f £1000 to u s o n a n d n s t will take a clear the p rcha e m ey, by i ve t n n su o an d s o n o f Dun a n d o n me t e re the pr per repair pre ervati the , we call s o o n n o o s in Lo u a n d o n in all Iri h pe ple with c ﬁde ce , b th th e th bey d it, I n an d o n s s in u o s to su s o un rela d, bey d the ea , tr e patri ti m b cribe the am t n ss twice o ver if it were ece ary . P s do n o ut Will yo u do yo ur share " lea e t p it o ff. Yo u s u r faithf lly , l I M S . EN Y ELL NG H A t Pr es. Co Lo u A H R B , Bar , . th

- d A Y H I TWO TH V P s o do . M R W R , ice re . . G EM PEST d do do A Y o . . . H RR . T ,

IRISH TE "TS SOCIE TY

n n u n o f s o 20 n o u At the A al Meeti g thi S ciet , held at Ha ver Sq are , — —y Lo n o n M r. a u o in H n Se c ss E n o o . . d S m el B yle the chair the , Mi lea r u s n n n n u R o s s H ll, pre e ted the Thirtee th A al ep rt, which tated that the ﬁr t ’ u s o f R o n M ac E lea n s n o f Poems o o f the three vo l me ev . J h r editio the f ’ D avid OBrua dair n n n o f s a n d o appeared at the begi i g thi year, f rmed the ’ s u o fo r 1 8 u s un o in S o ciety p blicati n the year 90 . Altho gh till av idably s in u o n o f o u s the Co un o n arrear the p blicati their v l me , cil are d i g their u o s to n u to a n d is o s o tm t bri g them p date , it h ped that the peedy c mple tio n o f the remain in g two vo lumes o f this wo rk will en able them to s su E di o ha s o n s o ss achieve thi re lt . The t r already made c iderable pr gre with his s o n o u o s to s n to ss o s . ec d v l me , which he h pe e d pre alm t immediately ’ s o u n o w ssu s o s o f O Brua da ir o n to The ﬁr t v l me , i ed , deal with the p em d w the year 1 666 each po em bein g prefaced by a n in tro ductio n dealin g with

1 92 THE CE LTIC REVIEW

E ui in wa s to n o n Co un o f Pro fesso r . Q gg elected ﬁll a vaca cy the cil the

- an d o n o o f s re fo r n o . S o ciety, the h rary ﬁcer were elected a ther year

LITE RATURE

n so n C L u in n s o f G s o is D r: G eo rge He der , eltic ect rer the U iver ity la g w, ’ preparin g fo r publicatio n a n ew an d en larged editio n o f Nico lso n s G aelic s is to n o s ff to Proverb . It expected give ma y pr verb which the Sheri had n n f s keep back o wi g to wa t o pace . Ro so n ura is o n n ew o n o f Rev . C. . n The M bert , J , e gaged a editi ’ D i t r f r is n u al in e s G aelic c iona o o . M a c p y, a w rk which he excelle tly q aliﬁed n is o u n s o f G an d s o u o o Macalpi e p p lar with lear er aelic, there h ld be a g d sale fo r this impro ved editio n . ’ M a ain t mo l c r o the The n ew editio n o f the late D r. cb s E y ogi a l Dictiona y f

aelic La n ua e is u s E n s n . G g g p bli hed by ea Mackay , Stirli g The Macdo n ald Histo rian s have issu ed a large vo lume o f G aelic po etry thro ugh the No rthern Chro n icle . ha s u s . G n o u f G u M rs. K o s o s o . W ra t p bli hed a v l me aelic t rie (thr gh u M o n n n s o f G Mr . H gh acd ald , Oba ) , which ma y reader aelic will be glad to have . The No rthern Chro n icle Publi shin g Co mpan y have al so issu ed abo o k The Rulers o Stra ths e E o f C ss s a n d su n en titled f p y, by the arl a ili , a ppleme tary

- hire a n d co tla nd . f ld Ross s S . vo lume o O by Mr . W Macgill A delightful vo lum e o f tran slatio n s o f o ld Irish po etry by Pro fe sso r

n d . L n n is u s Co s an Co o o . Kun o Meyer p bli hed by table , d The ﬁrm o f D avid Nutt have published a n ew editio n o f the small n ss n a n d ss n L r u Nu t vo lume o O ia O ia ic ite at re by the late Alfred t .

s u s n b o o k/e n title d M on umen ta H istori ca Celtica The ame ﬁrm are p bli hi g a , in s i o n n s to C s s u o s. s the refere ce the elt cla ical a th r It prepared by Mr . ’ n n As s o is n ss h D . o o to o s w W . i a H lder great w rk ly acce ible th e o read G erman a s well as the classics in the o rigi n al there sho uld be a secure place ’ f D n n r s o o . o Mr . i a b k ’ n ew o n o f n o s Celtic Litera ture n A editi Matthew Ar ld , with critical o te s b A u has N . y the late lfred tt, appeared a in cen D r u A vo lume o f M nxRem is ces by . J . Clag e has been published by

C s o n . o n n s u n s n o o a n d Blackwell, a tlet w It c tai m ch i tere ti g f lkl re , the n n n n Ma x an d E glish are giveh o faci g pages. R eviews o f these a n d o ther vo lumes will appear here . f Th Andr ociet (The Journal o e St. ew S y)

PU B L I S H E D Q U A RT E RLY

’

l 1 1 1 Pric e 6d . - n et. Vo . v . N o . 3. LA M M AS 9

C O N T E N T S

H A RLAW B E V M . B T R T ABO T . A A T H E U H U y N RRO N .

I I M A M I LT O N O F RA N C O U R - LL A . B . G AM I LTO G I . W H y J . H N R ERSON

' E B TT N M O R I A L. RB R C . w . D . T H E O E U M y . J

I D - LI G TS FRO M T H E PR I VY CO U N C I L RE G I TE R B C F E S . . . S H y . M

ACLA H LA M C N .

Y N m B M H I I N E ARL E . Poe A W A D E E S D E I JU ( ) y J ES TEH E D . I

B h R v . L LM L t e e C C . CA NA I N [ 5 CL] U. y MA O MA ENNAN

T H E BLU E BLA N KE T .

I F T H E T I T L B I A RE Av . AT T H E S G N O H S E . y N

N D N B KE M M I E . A E D . M AC W E ST O F SCO T L O T S . y G LEN

A D RE V E W S H T BR . I T E S CO A O .

T M E N T LE TTE R T O T H E E D I T O R . N O E S AN D CO M S .

T he o ts o f T H E T A D W I T chief b jec S . N RE SOC E Y are to stim ulate the study o f

S o tt s sto r to ﬁn the l o f o t in th m k h B c i h Hi y, de e p ace Sc lan d e a in g o f t e ritish

E m i a n d to s n t in th e C t o f S t n S tt s o t p re, repre e api al c o la d c o i h S cie ie s thro ugho ut

th e W o rld .

L M mb s £2 2 A n n u l Sub s t o n to S co tia o st ife e er hip fee, a crip i , p An n u l 0 5 r e a f e ,

Affil t o n fee fo r S o tt sh So e ll t e s b o 1 18 n n u . ia i c i ci i a r ad , £ , . a a y

A t o n s fo r mb s s o ul b e ss to T H E T ASU pplica i Me er hip h d addre ed RE RER, T A N D R E wSO CI TY 6 CASTLE T T S . S E D I B G H . E , 5 REE , N UR E S T A B LIS H E D O V E R A C E N T U RY.

INSURA NCE CO M PA NY

I N W H IC H A RE V ES T E D T H E S H ARES O F T H E RA I LWAY PASSEN G E RS

U R C CO . A N D T H E O C M RI I U R C ASS AN E EAN A NE NS AN E CO . LT D .

C LAS S E S F IN O S U RA N C E .

FI E — IFE R L .

A ID E NT F A LL KI C C S O N DS .

AC C D E N S A ND LLN E . L I T I S S O S S O F PRO FITS . ’ E M PLO E RS L A B L T . PLAT E Y I I I Y G LAS S . M O TO R AR A D E N T T C C C S . F D E L T I I I Y G UA RA N E E . T RD PA RT IT N T H A B L A N . I Y LI I Y . U I Y L FT A D E N T A N E . I C C I S . M RI

B U RG LA R A N D T E FT . T RAN S T F E IT Y H I O S C U R I E S .

REVENUE 1910 E E E E EE

TOTAL FUNDS E E EE E E 2 1

CLAIMS PAID E E E E LIFE PROFITS mm " 1

T he Co m po un d Re ve rsio na ry Bo n us d e cla re d to N o rth British a n d M e rcan til e Pa rtici pa tin g Po li cy- ho lde rs fo r th e Q uin que n n ium e n din g 3I st D e ce mb e r 1 9 1 0 w a s a t the ra te o f

‘ 1 1 r r a n n um— m o n th n u 05 . e e n t. e an in cr s o f 28 . c n . er n n u e Bo s £ , p c p ea e per e t p a

f h r v uin n n um o r t e p e io us Q que i .

I f ta ke n a s a e riie n ta e o n the o ri i n a l sum s a ssure d in the Po lic ie s t is Bo n u s is p g g , h

e uiv a l n o a n a dditio n Of r 3 13 . r n t. e r n n um r 18 55 . 0d . e t t om £ 8 . 0d e c o £ q f , p e p a ( ,

fo r u n u n n ium o n o ld s Po l i s to £1 105 . 0d . er n . er nn um the Q i q e ) the e t ic e , p ce t p a

o n tho se recen tly e ffected .

" d Applica tio n fo r Ag en cy in uite . E D I N BURG H — 64 PR NCE CH I EF FFI C S I S S O E — L N DO 61 T RE AD NE E DLE RE E E O. O N H ST T,

A B m ters to H IS M a e st E d in b ur h : T a n d . CO T L Pr g . NS A E , j y