DOCSLIB.ORG

Transactions of the Ossianic Society

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Transactions of the Ossianic Society m m iim ^tí?í>w-ái{M,f,c.§ TRANSACTIONS OF THE OSSIANIC SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS THE OSSIAMC SOCIETY, FOR THE YEAR 1856. VOL. IV. t9iO)z\)e> y:)9mnu)'5\)e9ic\)V9i. DUBLIN: PRINTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COUNCIL, 70R THE USE OF THE MEUBERS. 1859. OR, FENIAN POEMS, EDITED BY JOHN O'DALY. DUBLIN : PRINTED FOR THE OSSIANIC SOCIETY, By JOHN O'DALY, 0, ANGLESEA-STREET. 1859. PIUNTID BT OOODTVI», 60N, AND NEIHEnCOTT, 79, MARI.B0I10UGII-STREKT, : re ®$siró Bmb, Founded on St. Patrick's Day, 1853, for the Preservation and Publi- cation of MSS. in the Irish Language, illustrative of the Fenian period of Irish History, &c.j with Literal Translations and Notes. OFFICERS ELECTED ON THE 17th MARCH, 1858. "William S. O'Brien, Esq , M.R.I. A., Cahirmoyle, Newcastle West. Rev. Ulick J. Bourke, Professor of Irish, St. Jarlatli's College, Tuam. Rev. Euseby D. Cleaver, M.A., S. Barnabas, Pimlico, Lo7idon. John O'Donovan, LL.D., M.R.I.A., Dublin. Standish Hates O'Gradv, Esq., Erinagh House, Castleconnell. Cniinril Rev. John Clarke, C.C, Louth Professor Connellan, Queen's College, Cork. Rev. Sidney L. Cousins, Bantire, Cork. Rev. John Forrest, D.D., Kingstown. Rev. James Goodman, A.B., Ardgroom, Castletown, Berehaven. William Hackett, Esq., Midleton, Cork, Rev. Patrick Lamb, P.P., Newtownhamilton. Michael Lysaght, Esq., Ennis. Michael J. Mac Carthy, Esq., Derrynanoul, Mitchelstown. M. M'Ginty, Esq., Bray. Professor John O'Beirne-Crowe, A.B., Queen's College, Galway. John O'Daly, Esq., O'Dahfs Bridge, Kclls. John O'Duffy, Esq., 26, Great Brunswick-street, Dublin. Rev. John L. O'Flynn, 0.S.F,C., Churck-street Friary, Dublin. Rev. John O'Hanlon, C.C, 17, James's-street, Dublin. James O'Mahony, Esq., Bandon. John T. Rowland, Esq., Drogheda, ayid Abbey -street, Dublin. Andrew Ryan, Esq., Gortkelly, Castle, Borrisoleigh. George Sigerson, Esq., Queen's College, Cork. John Windele, Esq., Blair's Castle, Cork. immiiin nf liiililirntinn. Professor Connellan. |Standish Hayes O'Grady, A.B. Jonh 0'Donovan,LL.D.,M.R.LA. Rev. John O'Hanlon, C.C. Rev. John L. O'Flynn, O.S.F.C. George Sigerson. Esq. Rev. James Goodman. John Windele, Esq. Edward Wm. O'Brien, Esq., 40, Trinity College, Dublin. Mr. John O'Daly, 9, Anglesey-street, Dublin. The main object of the Society is to publisli manuscripts, consisting of Poems, Tales, and Romances, illustrative of the Fenian period of Irish History; and other documents illustrative of the Ancient History of Ireland in the Irisli language and character, with literal translations, and notes explanatory of the text. Subscriptions (3s. per annum) arc received by tlie Treasurer, by any member of llie Council, and by the Honorary Secretary, with whom the publications of the Society lie for distribution, and Iruni wliom pros- pectuses can be obtained. GENERAL RULES. 1 Tli.at the Society shall be called the Ossianic Society, and that its object shall be the publication of Irish Manuscripts relating to the Fenian period of our history, and other historical documents, with literal translations and notes. 2. That the management of the Society shall be vested in a President, Vice-presidents, and Council, each of whom must necessarily be an Irish scholar. The President, Vice-presidents, and Council of the So- ciety shall be elected annually by the members, at a General Meeting, to be lield on the Seventeenth Day of March, the Anniversary of the So- ciety, or on the following Monday, in case St. Patrick's Day shall fall on a Sunday Notice of such meeting being given by public advertisement, inviting all the members to attend. 3. That the President and Council shall have power to elect a Trea- surer and Secretary from the Members of the Council. 4. The receipts and disbursements of the Society shall be audited an- nually by two Auditors, elected by the Council; and the Auditors' Re- port shall be published and distributed among the members. 5. In the absence of the President or Vice-President, the Members of Council present shall be at liberty to appoint a Chairman, who will not thereby lose his right to vote. Three members of the Council to form a quorum. 6. The funds of the Society shall be disbursed in payment of expenses incident to discharging the liabilities of the Society, especially in the publication department, aud no avoidable expenses shall be incurred. 7. Every member shall be entitled to receive one copy of the Society's Publications ; and twenty extra copies of each work shall be printed for contingencies. 8. The funds of the Society shall be lodged in Bank, in the name of the President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Society, or any three members the Council may deem proper to appoint. 9. The Council shall have power to elect additional members, aud fill vacancies in its own body. 10. Members of Council residing at an inconvenient distance from Dublin shall be at liberty to vote by proxy at elections. 1 1. Membership shall be constituted by the annual payment of Five Shillings, which sum shall become due on the 1st of Jauuary in each year. 12. The Ossianic Society shall publish every year one volume, or more, if their funds enable them. 13. No change shall be made in tliese Rules, except at a General Meeting, and at the reconnnendation of the Council ; the proi)oser and seconder of any motion for such change, shall lodge a notice of tlieir intention in writing, with the Secretary, twenty clear days before the day of General Meeting. 14 That all matters relating to the Religious and Political differences prevailing in this country, be strictly excluded from the meetings and publications of the Society. FIITII ANNUAL REPORT. HEAD OK THE 17th DAT OF MAKCH, 1858. It is now nearly six years since the Ossianic Society was ushered into existence by a few individuals who saw the neglected and sad state of the MS. literature of their country, and of that portion in particular known as Ossianic, which no one seemed to value. A meeting was held and a committee of gentlemen, Irish scholars, en- rolled themselves determined to commence operations in the vast field open before them, and try the experiment as to whether anytldng could be done in the shape of printing, and preserving from destruction the poetry, and legends ascribed to Oisin and Caoilte, the ancient bards of Fenian history. The result of their labours is that there are now three handsome volumes of Ossianic Literature rescued from distruction and in the hands of the members, a fourth is just ready for press and will shortly appear. These volumes have elicited the warm praise of the Irisli as well as of the English press ; and the result is that there are now on the roll of the society, five hundred and thirty-two members. The Council have great gratification in announcing that during the past year, one hundred and five members joined the Society ; and it is cheering to find that such a spirit exists in behalf of their labours. The Council deeply regret the unavoidable delay which has occurred in the publication of their recent volume, " CóttujseAcc GljlAianjubA Asur 5blti%nt)e," which could not be well avoided ; as the gentleman who under- took the editing of the book was called out of the country on business on various occasions, while the book was going through press ; but care shall be taken in future that delays of this sort shall not occur. The Council feel great pleasure in calling attention to the labours of kindred societies formed in America and Australia. One established in Philadelphia under the careful management of a committee of Irishmen (of which we may name two most indefatigable members, John Burton and Patrick O'Murphy, Esqrs.), has sent the sum of fourteen pounds, the subscription of members for copies of our last volume. The Australian Celtic Association, established in Sydney has sent seven pounds ten shillings, and the books are on their way. It is cheering to find that in these distant regions of the globe. Irishmen do not forget the Hterature of their native land ; and that they exult at the thought of hearing once more the poems and tales so often recited by the SeAt)cu)6e, or story-teller, at their father's firesides. The mission of the Ossianic Society is a noble one, and the Council hope they will receive that support from their countrymen, which will enable them to preserve every fragment—no matter how small or trivial which may tlirow light on the past glories of their native land. this With view they come before you this day ; their labour is one of love for the neglected literature of their country, and tliey sincerely hope that an Irish public will meet them in the same spirit. BOOKS PRINTED BY THE SOCIETY. I. Cac 3bAbttA ; or, the Prose and Poetical Account of the Battle of Gabhra (Garristown), in tlie county of Dublin, fought A.D., 283, be- tween Cairbrc Liffeachair, king of Leinster, ami the Fenian forces of Ireland, in which the latter were conquered, and their ranks finally broken up. Edited by Nicholas O'Keabney, (Out of print.)* II. Feir Ci5e C\)or)'A]y) Cbli)') Sf)ló|be ; or, The Festivities at the House of Conan of Ceann Sleibhe, a romantic hill which is situated on tlie borders of the Lake of Inchiquin, in the county of Clare. Edited by N. O'Keakney, (Out of print.) This document contains a colloquy between Fionn and Conan, in which much liglit is tlirown on tlie Ancient Topography of Munster ; and also on the llabits and Customs of the Fenian Chieftains.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Celtic Encyclopedia, Volume II
    7+( &(/7,& (1&<&/23(',$ 92/80( ,, . T H E C E L T I C E N C Y C L O P E D I A © HARRY MOUNTAIN VOLUME II UPUBLISH.COM 1998 Parkland, Florida, USA The Celtic Encyclopedia © 1997 Harry Mountain Individuals are encouraged to use the information in this book for discussion and scholarly research. The contents may be stored electronically or in hardcopy. However, the contents of this book may not be republished or redistributed in any form or format without the prior written permission of Harry Mountain. This is version 1.0 (1998) It is advisable to keep proof of purchase for future use. Harry Mountain can be reached via e-mail: [email protected] postal: Harry Mountain Apartado 2021, 3810 Aveiro, PORTUGAL Internet: http://www.CeltSite.com UPUBLISH.COM 1998 UPUBLISH.COM is a division of Dissertation.com ISBN: 1-58112-889-4 (set) ISBN: 1-58112-890-8 (vol. I) ISBN: 1-58112-891-6 (vol. II) ISBN: 1-58112-892-4 (vol. III) ISBN: 1-58112-893-2 (vol. IV) ISBN: 1-58112-894-0 (vol. V) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mountain, Harry, 1947– The Celtic encyclopedia / Harry Mountain. – Version 1.0 p. 1392 cm. Includes bibliographical references ISBN 1-58112-889-4 (set). -– ISBN 1-58112-890-8 (v. 1). -- ISBN 1-58112-891-6 (v. 2). –- ISBN 1-58112-892-4 (v. 3). –- ISBN 1-58112-893-2 (v. 4). –- ISBN 1-58112-894-0 (v. 5). Celts—Encyclopedias. I. Title. D70.M67 1998-06-28 909’.04916—dc21 98-20788 CIP The Celtic Encyclopedia is dedicated to Rosemary who made all things possible .
    [Show full text]
  • Irish Children's Literature and the Poetics of Memory, 1892-2016
    Irish Children’s Literature and the Poetics of Memory, 1892-2016 A Thesis submitted to the School of English at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. February 2019 Rebecca Ann Long I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the Library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. _________________________________ Rebecca Long February 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………………..i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………....iii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………....4 CHAPTER ONE: RETRIEVING……………………………………………………………………………29 CHAPTER TWO: RE- TELLING……………………………………………………………………………...…64 CHAPTER THREE: REMEMBERING……………………………………………………………………....106 CHAPTER FOUR: RE- IMAGINING………………………………………………………………………........158 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..……..210 WORKS CITED………………………….…………………………………………………….....226 Summary This thesis explores the recurring patterns of Irish mythological narratives that influence literature produced for children in Ireland following the Celtic Revival and into the twenty- first century. A selection of children’s books published between 1892 and 2016 are discussed with the aim of demonstrating the development of a pattern of retrieving, re-telling, remembering and re-imagining myths
    [Show full text]
  • Honour and Early Irish Society: a Study of the Táin Bó Cúalnge
    Honour and Early Irish Society: a Study of the Táin Bó Cúalnge David Noel Wilson, B.A. Hon., Grad. Dip. Data Processing, Grad. Dip. History. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Arts (with Advanced Seminars component) in the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. July, 2004 © David N. Wilson 1 Abstract David Noel Wilson, Honour and Early Irish Society: a Study of the Táin Bó Cúalnge. This is a study of an early Irish heroic tale, the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of the Cooley). It examines the role and function of honour, both within the tale and within the society that produced the text. Its demonstrates how the pursuit of honour has influenced both the theme and structure of the Táin . Questions about honour and about the resolution of conflicting obligations form the subject matter of many of the heroic tales. The rewards and punishments of honour and shame are the primary mechanism of social control in societies without organised instruments of social coercion, such as a police force: these societies can be defined as being ‘honour-based’. Early Ireland was an honour- based society. This study proposes that, in honour-based societies, to act honourably was to act with ‘appropriate and balanced reciprocity’. Applying this understanding to the analysis of the Táin suggests a new approach to the reading the tale. This approach explains how the seemingly repetitive accounts of Cú Chulainn in single combat, which some scholars have found wearisome, serve to maximise his honour as a warrior in the eyes of the audience of the tale.
    [Show full text]
  • "The Wanderings of Oisin"
    W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Working together with Lady Gregory and John M. Synge, he was the director of Ireland's National Theatre Society, better known as the Abbey Theatre company. His first rather patriotic plays T h e "The Wanderings of Oisin" Countess Cathleen (1892) and Cathleen ní Houlihan (1902) were mainly written during the time of his long liaison with Maud Gonne who strengthened his enthusiasm for Irish It was W. B. Yeats who in his work drew heavily on old Irish historical and folk materials and thus contributed n a t i o n a l i s m . notably to what came to be called the Celtic Revival. "The Wanderings of Oisin" is a mystical narrative poem about Oisin, the poet of the Celtic Fionn cycle who spends 300 years in the pre-Christian Otherworld. After returning from the Otherworld he has a passionate conversation with St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, in which he is full of praise for the pagan values he has experienced there. – W. B. Yeats, "The Vo c a b u l a r y E x p l a n a t i o n s Wanderings of Oisin" in W. B. Yeats, The Poems (revised), ed. by Richard J. Finneran (New York: Macmillan, Intro/1 to draw on (v.): to use s.th. for a particular purpose O i s i n / ɒ ' ʃ i : n / or Ossian: legendary Irish poet and warrior; 1989), pp. 355; 363ff. - Intro/5 pagan (adj.): / ' p e i g ə n / pagan religious beliefs and member of the mythical Fianna / ' f i : n a / band and son of customs do not belong to any of the main religions of the Fionn mac Cumhaill /fɪn mə'ku:l/, the hero of the Fenian or 1 Oisin.
    [Show full text]
  • Espelhos Distorcidos: O Romance at Swim- Two-Birds De Flann O'brien E a Tradição Literária Irlandesa
    Universidade de Brasília Instituto de Letras Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literaturas Paweł Hejmanowski Espelhos Distorcidos: o Romance At Swim- Two-Birds de Flann O'Brien e a Tradição Literária Irlandesa Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Literatura para obtenção do título de Doutor, elaborada sob orientação da Profa. Dra. Cristina Stevens. Brasília 2011 IN MEMORIAM PROFESSOR ANDRZEJ KOPCEWICZ 2 Agradeço a minha colega Professora Doutora Cristina Stevens. A conclusão do presente estudo não teria sido possível sem sua gentileza e generosidade. 3 RESUMO Esta tese tem como objeto de análise o romance At Swim-Two-Birds (1939) do escritor irlandês Flann O’Brien (1911-1966). O romance pode ser visto, na perspectiva de hoje, como uma das primeiras tentativas de se implementar a poética de ficção autoconsciente e metaficção na literatura ocidental. Publicado na véspera da 2ª Guerra, o livro caiu no esquecimento até ser re-editado em 1960. A partir dessa data, At Swim-Two-Birds foi adquirindo uma reputação cult entre leitores e despertando o interesse crítico. Ao lançar mão do conceito mise en abyme de André Gide, o presente estudo procura mapear os textos dos quais At Swim-Two-Birds se apropria para refletí-los de forma distorcida dentro de sua própria narrativa. Estes textos vão desde narrativas míticas e históricas, passam pela poesia medieval e vão até os meados do século XX. Palavras-chave: Intertextualidade, Mis en abyme, Literatura e História, Romance Irlandês do séc. XX, Flann O’Brien. ABSTRACT The present thesis analyzes At Swim-Two-Birds, the first novel of the Irish author Flann O´Brien (1911-1966).
    [Show full text]
  • Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race by Thomas William Rolleston
    The Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race by Thomas William Rolleston This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race Author: Thomas William Rolleston Release Date: October 16, 2010 [Ebook 34081] Language: English ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE*** MYTHS & LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE Queen Maev T. W. ROLLESTON MYTHS & LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE CONSTABLE - LONDON [8] British edition published by Constable and Company Limited, London First published 1911 by George G. Harrap & Co., London [9] PREFACE The Past may be forgotten, but it never dies. The elements which in the most remote times have entered into a nation's composition endure through all its history, and help to mould that history, and to stamp the character and genius of the people. The examination, therefore, of these elements, and the recognition, as far as possible, of the part they have actually contributed to the warp and weft of a nation's life, must be a matter of no small interest and importance to those who realise that the present is the child of the past, and the future of the present; who will not regard themselves, their kinsfolk, and their fellow-citizens as mere transitory phantoms, hurrying from darkness into darkness, but who know that, in them, a vast historic stream of national life is passing from its distant and mysterious origin towards a future which is largely conditioned by all the past wanderings of that human stream, but which is also, in no small degree, what they, by their courage, their patriotism, their knowledge, and their understanding, choose to make it.
    [Show full text]
  • Fíanaigecht in Manx Tradition FÍANAIGECHT in MANX TRADITION 1
    Fíanaigecht in Manx Tradition FÍANAIGECHT IN MANX TRADITION 1 GEORGE BRODERICK University of Mannheim Introduction: The Finn Cycle In order to set the Manx examples of Fíanaigecht in context I cite here Bernhard Maier's short sketch of the Finn Cycle as it appears in Maier (1998: 118). Finn Cycle or Ossianic Cycle. The prose naratives and ballads centred upon the legendary hero Finn mac Cumaill and his retinue, the Fianna. They are set in the time of the king Cormac mac Airt at the beginning of the 3rdC AD. The heroes, apart from Finn, the leader of the Fianna, are his son Oisín, his grandson Oscar, and the warriors Caílte mac Rónáin, Goll mac Morna and Lugaid Lága. Most of the stories concerning F[inn] are about hunting adventures, love-affairs [...] and military disputes [...]. The most substantial work of this kind, combin- ing various episodes within a narrative framework, is Acallam na Senórach . The ballads concerning F[inn] gained in popularity from the later Middle Ages onwards and were the most important source of James Mac- pherson's "Works of Ossian" (Maier 1998: 118). The individual texts of the poems and ballads concerned with the Finn Cycle seemingly date over a period from the learned scribal tradition of the eleventh 2 to the later popular oral tradition of the early seventeenth century. Sixty-nine poems from this corpus survive in a single manuscript dating from 1626-27 known as Duanaire Finn ('Finn's poem book') (cf. Mac Neill 1908, Murphy 1933, 1953, Carey 2003). According to Ruairí Ó hUiginn (2003: 79), Duanaire Finn forms part of a long manuscript that was compiled in Ostend in 1626-7.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mast of Macha: the Celtic Irish and the War Goddess of Ireland
    Catherine Mowat: Barbara Roberts Memorial Book Prize Winner, 2003 THE 'MAST' OF MACHA THE CELTIC IRISH AND THE WAR GODDESS OF IRELAND "There are rough places yonder Where men cut off the mast of Macha; Where they drive young calves into the fold; Where the raven-women instigate battle"1 "A hundred generous kings died there, - harsh, heaped provisions - with nine ungentle madmen, with nine thousand men-at-arms"2 Celtic mythology is a brilliant shouting turmoil of stories, and within it is found a singularly poignant myth, 'Macha's Curse'. Macha is one of the powerful Morrigna - the bloody Goddesses of War for the pagan Irish - but the story of her loss in Macha's Curse seems symbolic of betrayal on two scales. It speaks of betrayal on a human scale. It also speaks of betrayal on a mythological one: of ancient beliefs not represented. These 'losses' connect with a proposal made by Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, in The Myth of The Goddess: Evolution of an Image, that any Goddess's inherent nature as a War Goddess reflects the loss of a larger, more powerful, image of a Mother Goddess, and another culture.3 This essay attempts to describe Macha and assess the applicability of Baring and Cashford's argument in this particular case. Several problems have arisen in exploring this topic. First, there is less material about Macha than other Irish Goddesses. Second, the fertile and unique synergy of cultural beliefs created by the Celts4 cannot be dismissed and, in a short paper, a problem exists in balancing what Macha meant to her people with the broader implications of the proposal made by Baring and Cashford.
    [Show full text]
  • The Patriarchal Devaluation of the Irish Goddess, the Mor-Rioghan Kelley Flannery Rowan Florida International University, [email protected]
    Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 1-19-2005 Monstrum in femine figura : the patriarchal devaluation of the Irish goddess, the Mor-rioghan Kelley Flannery Rowan Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14030210 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Rowan, Kelley Flannery, "Monstrum in femine figura : the patriarchal devaluation of the Irish goddess, the Mor-rioghan" (2005). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1058. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1058 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida MONSTRUM IN FEMINE FIGURA: THE PATRIARCHAL DEVALUATION OF THE IRISH GODDESS, THE MOR-RIOGHAN A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Kelley Flannery Rowan 2005 To: Dean R. Bruce Dunlap College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Kelley Flannery Rowan, and entitled Monstrum in Femine Figura: The Patriarchal Devaluation of the Irish Goddess, The Mor-rioghan, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. Lesley Northup Erik Larson Christine Gudorf ajor Professor Date of Defense: January 19, 2005 The thesis of Kelley Flannery Rowan is approved.
    [Show full text]
  • A MAD GOD's DREAM by Donald Smith
    1 A MAD GOD’S DREAM By Donald Smith Late afternoon in Edinburgh, the streets ablaze with July sunshine. It was impossible to go straight from a chill rehearsal studio to the shades of Haymarket Station, so Ciaran turned upwards round the Castle Rock. From Johnston Terrace he climbed the precipitous stairs to Castlehill and was rewarded by a panorama of the city undulating towards the Pentland Hills. What had Hugh MacDiarmid called this town - ‘a mad god’s dream’. If so the god had been drunk on nectar, on sun-drenched pleasures, on golden IPA. There was something lofty in Ciaran’s perspective. I’d better descend, he thought, before I’m tumbled. He started down the Royal Mile, sweat runnelling over his brow. This route reminded him of the day, less than a year before when he, Peter, and Madge Drummond, had met at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Nothing had felt the same since; urged on by Madge, Peter - the Royal Lyceum Theatre’s Director - had upgraded Ciaran’s project to a full company production. Later came the mind-blowing news that it was intended for the Edinburgh International Festival - mainstage! Was that only ten months ago? For the young writer it was a revolution comparable in its effect to Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or MacDiarmid’s Drunk Man Looks at a Thistle’. Which said something about Ireland and Scotland, though exactly what eluded Ciaran at that euphoric moment. This young artist had a full-scale production before he even had a fully written script.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Graves the White Goddess
    ROBERT GRAVES THE WHITE GODDESS IN DEDICATION All saints revile her, and all sober men Ruled by the God Apollo's golden mean— In scorn of which I sailed to find her In distant regions likeliest to hold her Whom I desired above all things to know, Sister of the mirage and echo. It was a virtue not to stay, To go my headstrong and heroic way Seeking her out at the volcano's head, Among pack ice, or where the track had faded Beyond the cavern of the seven sleepers: Whose broad high brow was white as any leper's, Whose eyes were blue, with rowan-berry lips, With hair curled honey-coloured to white hips. Green sap of Spring in the young wood a-stir Will celebrate the Mountain Mother, And every song-bird shout awhile for her; But I am gifted, even in November Rawest of seasons, with so huge a sense Of her nakedly worn magnificence I forget cruelty and past betrayal, Careless of where the next bright bolt may fall. FOREWORD am grateful to Philip and Sally Graves, Christopher Hawkes, John Knittel, Valentin Iremonger, Max Mallowan, E. M. Parr, Joshua IPodro, Lynette Roberts, Martin Seymour-Smith, John Heath-Stubbs and numerous correspondents, who have supplied me with source- material for this book: and to Kenneth Gay who has helped me to arrange it. Yet since the first edition appeared in 1946, no expert in ancient Irish or Welsh has offered me the least help in refining my argument, or pointed out any of the errors which are bound to have crept into the text, or even acknowledged my letters.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 FIONN in HELL an Anonymous Early Sixteenth-Century Poem In
    1 FIONN IN HELL An anonymous early sixteenth-century poem in Scots describes Fionn mac Cumhaill as having ‘dang þe devill and gart him ʒowle’ (‘struck the Devil and made him yowl’) (Fisher 1999: 36). The poem is known as ‘The Crying of Ane Play.’ Scots literature of the late medieval and early modern period often shows a garbled knowledge of Highland culture; commonly portraying Gaels and their language and traditions negatively. Martin MacGregor notes that Lowland satire of Highlanders can, ‘presuppose some degree of understanding of the language, and of attendant cultural and social practices’ (MacGregor 2007: 32). Indeed Fionn and his band of warriors, 1 collectively Na Fiantaichean or An Fhèinn0F in modern Scottish Gaelic, are mentioned a number of times in Lowland literature of the period (MacKillop 1986: 72-74). This article seeks to investigate the fate of Fionn’s soul in late medieval and early modern Gaelic literature, both Irish and Scottish. This is done only in part to consider if the yowling Devil and his encounter with Fionn from the ‘The Crying of Ane Play’ might represent something recognizable from contemporaneous Gaelic literature. Our yowling Devil acts here as something of a prompt for an investigation of Fionn’s potential salvation or damnation in a number of sixteenth-century, and earlier, Gaelic ballads. The monumental late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century (Dooley 2004) text Acallam na 2 Senórach (‘The Colloquy of the Ancients’) will also be considered here.1F Firstly, the Scots poem must be briefly investigated in order to determine its understanding of Gaelic conventions.
    [Show full text]