Popular Tales of the West Highlands
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% .yw tj. 0,>/v -2. 8 A POPULAR TALES OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS POPULAR TALES OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS ORALLY COLLECTED ®ith a ^ran0lation By the Late J. F. CAMPBELL NEW EDITION ( Under the auspices of the hlay Association) Volume IV. POSTSCRIPT. OSSIANIC CONTROVERSY—BRITISH TRADITION, PROSE, AND POETRY—MYTHOLOGY HIGHLAND DRESS CELTIC ORNAMENT, ETC. ETC. ALEXANDER GARDNER 33ublisi)er to '%ix f^lajtstg tije ©.uem PAISLEY ; and 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON 1893 . — CONTENTS. Page Postscript ..... 1 OSSIAN, 5. Points for Argument, 6. State- ment of the case, 7. Current Opinions English, 8; Scotch, 9; Irish, 10; Irish Argument consideredj 12 ; Lowland Scotch 24 Authorities—Heroes of Ossian, 25. Refer- ences to Fenian and other Traditions, and to Ossianic Heroes and Poems in Old Writ- ings, chronologically arranged. 35 Published Evidence and Books . .96 Popular Ballads . .114 Current Gaelic Traditions, etc. 119 Internal Evidence, etc., 131. Published Gaelic Ossian, 132. Opinion of MacNair . 131 Essay on Gaelic Poetry by H. MacLean . 147 Letter from John Dewar . .197 Letter from D. K. Torrie . .198 Letter from Archibald Sinclair . 202 Letter from Alexander Carmichael . 209 Conclusion .... 227 Ossianic Proverbs and Family History . 231 Page II. TRADITIONS—British Traditions . 237 Welsh Stories, etc., compared with Gaelic 246 III. MYTHOLOGY—Aryan Theory, etc. 274 West Highland Stories . ... 286 Supernatural History—Water-bulls and Water-Horses, Boobries, Dragons, Fairies, etc. .299 Icelandic Sagas . .314 IV. A PLEA FOR GAELIC . .315 List of Sanscrit Words, 317. Topography, 320. Some words common to Gaelic and English, 323. Other Languages, 325. Old Saxon .... 325 V. HIGHLAND DRESS 333 VI. CELTIC ART and its probable origin 348 VII. MUSIC .... 369 Conclusion 370 List of Ballads orally collected 373 References to written and Printed Ballad 374 List of Stories collected . 379 Index .... 429 OSSTANIC BALLADS ORA LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. VOLUME IV. Page Frontispiece. J. F. C. 1. An ancient stand-up Dog-Fight, from a Cross at Dupplin - - - - - 24 2. Belted Plaid. Ancient Highland Dress, from a Stone at St. Andrews - - - 36 3. Figures from Grave-stones at Kilberry and Skipnish, in Argyleshire - - - 45 - 4. Grotesque Figure - - - 53 5. Dancing to Pipe Music. Highland Dress, 1829 54 6. Figure from Holbein's Dance of Death - 55 7. TheElk, from "Pontoppidan" - - 155 8. Sketch from Nature, made on the Tana Eiver, - Eussia, 1850. J. F. C. - - 259 9. Direach ghlinn Eiti, or Fachan, as described - 298 10. Highland Family Party returning from the Fair, 1829 - - - - face 304 11. "The Great Sea-Serpent," "The Walrus," and "The Sea-Horse" - - - 309 12. Grave-stones in Islay and at Skipnish 330-331 13. Highland Dress in 1560. From a Picture - 333 14. "Irliinders" (?) Mackay's Kegiment, 1631. From a Print - - - - 340 Vlll. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 15. Highland Dress in 1742. From a Book of Uniforms ----- 344 16. Pipers and Peasant Boy. Highland Dress in 1848, from Nature - - - - 345 17. Bosses from St. Sebald, Nuremburg. " Gram- mar of Ornament " - - - - 348 18. Design from a Stone at Gavr Innis. J. F. C. 349 19. Interlaced Pattern from an Eastern Bronze - 351 20. Design from a Hindu Bronze Vessel - - 353 21. Figure dressed in the Belted Plaid. From a Stone at St. Andrews - - - 356 22. Figure, from a Hindu Bronze - - 357 23. A bit of Carnac, sketched in 1855. J. F. C. - 364 24. From a Stone, found about 1830 under ruins in Loch Fionnlagain, Islay - - - 366 25. Design from a Norse Powder-Horn - - 366 26. The Tail-piece. From an ancient Gaelic MS. 372 I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. J. Stuart for per- mission to copy from his valuable work called "The Sculptured Stones of Scotland." The stones themselves are valuable records of the past, but liable to injury, and Mr. Stuart's work is care- fully executed from drawings made from stones in particular dis- tricts. It is to be hoped that the work may be continued, for there are still great numbers of sculptured stones in Scotland which have not been drawn, and which are works of art. Many of these have been buried by sand drifts, broken through care- lessness or mischief, or defaced and spoilt within the last twenty- years. One ancient chapel was made a piggery, and some of the thin gravestones were rooted up and broken by these fat suc- cessors of the Culdees. POSTSCRIPT. A AVORKMAN has reason to be grateful to any one who will give him an honest opinion of his work ; and he is fortunate if he has many able advisers, for when a number of independent opinions are brought to bear upon any one subject, a new light is thrown upon it. One critic may be a kindly, good-natured man, who wishes well to the work and its author, but knows little of the subject. Such a man will praise the work, and agree with the conclusions and arguments contained in it, and there is not much to be learned directly from him : but every man has a subject of which he knows more than his neighbours, and is apt to bring his special knowledge to bear upon other things, so it is a marvel if something is not learned from the criticism of any clever man. Another may be more skilful, though new to the subject. He will take the arguments and make them his own, and use the information which he acquires, and draw his own conclusions ; such a man sheds a new light on the matter, and there is much to be learned from him. A third may have a theory of his own, by the light of which he peeps about, and pokes into holes and 4 I ; 2 POSTSCRIPT. corners to pick out that which suits his own purpose, and nothing else. From new materials so gathered, such a man will build up a structure of his own ; and there is much to be learned from one who so treats another's work. Then comes one with more extended views, who has studied the question, and knows a great deal about it, and is conscious of power, and who views the new work all round and round, and turns it upside down and inside out, and throws a new light upon it—the electric light of superior knowledge. But the eyes of such men are apt to be dazzled by excess of light ; they have looked at so many large objects that they over- look the small ; their vision is telescopic, they can see microscopic details ; and a short-sighted theorist, with his dim lamp, will poke out many things which he of the great light and the strong eyes will never see. But whoever reviews a book fairly, teaches something to its author, and he who knows most about the subject teaches most. Then come friends—one with pleasant praise, which, if he be a wise man, is a valued reward and a whole- some cordial ; then one with unpleasant disj^raise, which, if wisely administered and well taken, may be a useful tonic ; then one who picks out the worst bit, for which no one has a good word, and says it is the very thing which he should have expected, and he shakes hands and departs radiant with the consciousness of a compliment well turned. One says the work is learned, perhaps because he has not tried to understand it another more truly says that it is not. One says that it is too long, another that it is too short ; one, that it should all be written over atrain, another, that it POSTSCRIPT. 6 never should have been written at all ; and so by degrees the workman gets to know his errors. But at last there may come a great giant of a critic, armed with a brilliant intellectual sword of light, which makes smaller men quake ; an author in his clutches feels that he is a small mortal in the presence of a very big one, that he must resign himself to his fate, and prepare for the worst. He may be cut up into little bits or eaten alive, and if so, he is quite sure to dis- agree with the great man, but he must submit. He may hope to be as indigestible as Tom Thumb, who survived being eaten many times ; but he may also hope to be raised up on the giant's shoulder, thence to see the world, or to be placed in the rim of his great hat, like Grimm's tailor, there to walk about in the sunshine, and admire the prospect. He may be crushed under the giant's great splay feet, or helped on his journey by his long legs, but unless some other giant interferes, or a dwarf shews him a mouse-hole to creep into, he cannot escape. But when all is done, giants and great men, pur- blind and keen-sighted, Grudgeon, Strongback, Bola- gum Mor, and the rest of the gifted men and genii, friends and foes, are all working for good, and bringing stores of knowledge. If they are friendly, the mortal has need of friends ; if unfriendly, he will, at all events, learn to keep out of their way ; and if by any chance they should happen to go by the ears, and fight over his contemptible little body, he is not worthy to be the cause of such a fight who cannot pick up something worth having on the field of battle when the fight is done. It would be ungracious not to thank those who have done me good service, so I thank my reviewers 4 POSTSCRIPT.