GUTH NA BLIADHNA volume ii. 1905. Guth na Bliadhna ' LEABHAR II.] AN GEAMHRADH, 1905. [AIREAMH i. THE IRISH (AND SCOTTISH) UNIVERSITY QUESTION There is at present no public question which is of more importance to the Celtic people than that of education. The question of education overlaps and controls all others which are admittedly of the greatest moment to the Celtic public. In Ireland a particularly acute phase of the education movement is represented by the growing agitation in behalf of a Catholic and Celtic (that is, Nationalist) University. In Wales, where the national "conscience " has once more revolted against dominant Anglicanism, the position of affairs is admittedly critical. And in Scotland, although we have not at present any education question in the sense in which that expression would nowadays be understood in Ireland or Wales, yet we have a very decided account—if only we knew it—in the event of one at least of those truly national issues. The question of a Catholic University for Ireland has hitherto been treated as an exclusively Irish issue—a question it may be for English votes and voters to settle (which shows the irony, under the present ridiculous system, of calling any great national question, save, indeed, it happen to be an 2 The Irish {and Scottish) University Question The Irish {and Scottish) University Question 3 English one, by its correct appellation), but yet, so far as Ireland alone is concerned, as an exclusively Irish issue. In Catholic and Celtic Scotland the question has not yet emerged from its academic stage. We have "views" on the subject, it is true; but hitherto our sympathies with our Irish co-religionists and kinsmen have not resulted in any definite expression—much less have they produced any corporate and definite action. The question of a University for Ireland is felt by the majority of us to be an essentially Irish issue—one that is to say which the Irish must settle for themselves, though how and when they are to do it, seeing that the public opinion of Protestant England is bitterly opposed to them, we Scottish Catholics have hitherto omitted to say. Speaking of Scotland as a whole, the movement in Ireland, indeed, does not greatly concern us as a nation. It is rarely alluded to on political platforms in this country. The industrious and ubiquitous "heckler" would not appear to have discovered it, or, at all events, if he is cognisant of it—and he is generally a fairly wide-awake fellow—its merits, from his own peculiar point of view, are seemingly not to be compared with those of others he knows of, and which bring more substantial grist to his political mill. Besides, no one can pretend to be in doubt as to what Protestant Scotland will have to say on the subject, if ever, unfortunately, it be asked to register its opinion on the same. The recent "Church crisis"—we allude to the affair betwixt the "Frees" and the "Wee Frees"—has rather intensified than diminished religious bigotry, by means of drawing a general attention to the case, of raising a spirit of opposition to the recent judgment in the House of Lords, and, consequently, of whipping up the flagging zeal of the Protestant elect. Many Protestant Celts, it is true, are probably theoretically in favour of a national .University for Ireland; but, unfortunately, in such matters it is not Highland but Lowland opinion that has to be consulted; and not only consulted, but allowed to do all the shouting and voting. Unfortunately, " Lowland " opinion (by which we intend to draw, of course, a racial rather than a geographical distinction) has hitherto led Scotland—by the tail almost as much as by the nose—in all great questions of Church and State; so that in the event of this question of a Catholic University for Ireland being raised—or shall we not rather say degraded?— to the level of political platforms in Scotland, our Irish co-religionists and kinsmen may know exactly what to expect. The question of a Catholic University for Ireland is, however, from our own point of view, on a totally different footing. We have already observed that by the Catholics of Scotland the subject is still treated academically. Every Scottish Catholic hopes, of course, that Ireland may gain her just end in the agitation on which she has embarked; but, singular as it may seem, our attitude is strictly limited by this pious opinion. Here and there, no doubt, there are Scottish Catholics who recognise the gravity of this question, so far as we ourselves are concerned, and are prepared to act on the impulse which that knowledge imparts to them. But what we have affirmed above is certainly true of the vast majority of Scots Catholics, who treat this question, as we have said, academically. They do not recognise its practical importance and gravity from our point of view. Why should they? Our press approaches the subject only from the 4 The Irish (and Scottish) University Question The Irish (and Scottish) University Question 5 Irishman's standpoint. That there is possibly a Scottish side to the question appears to have occurred to but few. Now, in what respect, pray, is the Scots Catholic better off (from the point of view of University education) than his Irish co-religionist and kinsman ? Our Universities here are all in the hands of Protestants. The religious "atmosphere" of our Scottish Universities is quite as inimical to the Scots Catholic's faith as (say) that of Trinity College, Dublin, is to the religious convictions of the Irish Catholic. The Scots Catholic here enjoys neither greater nor fewer opportunities of bettering himself, by means of a University education, than his co-religionist does in Ireland : that is to say, the Scot and the Irishman, being Catholics, are as one; inasmuch as neither enjoys the opportunities or advantages above spoken of. The Scots Catholic and the Irish Catholic are, therefore, equally concerned in securing a proper University training for themselves and their children. The Scots Catholic, denied such advantages at home, either emigrates where he and his can obtain them, or —does without. A similar state of affairs obtains in Ireland; but the Irish Catholic being numerically much more powerful and politically more robust than his Scottish co-religionist, the demand for a national University which shall be Catholic is the natural consequence of his educational disabilities. But although the Scots Catholic is to the Irish Catholic as one to five or even more, the hardship and injustice involved by the total absence of all provision for Catholic University training is, proportionately, just as discouraging and severe in the case of the Scotsman as it is in that of the Irishman. Unfortunately we are neither strong enough nor numerous enough to raise a demand in this country for a national Catholic University; and those whose Universities are largely supported out of grants and gifts made by the piety and generosity of our Catholic forefathers, would throw up their hands in pious and lively horror at the audaciousness of such an amazing request. But although the Catholic Scot may not hope to receive —at all events for many a long year to come—his University training on Scottish soil, what is there to prevent him from joining hands with his Irish co-religionist and kinsman, and fighting for the right to enjoy it on what is next best to it—on Irish soil? After all, Celtic Scot and Celtic Irishman are, racially considered, much the same thing; so that it would seem an absurd thing to do to allow the accident of a few miles of sea to come between the twain. In former and happier times, that circumstance formed no obstacle to the friendly correspondence between Scottish Gael and Irish Gael. Multitudes of Scots resorted to Ireland for educational purposes ; and it is no exaggeration to say that the compliment was fully returned by the Irish, who had at one time a very high opinion of our learning, and the facilities offered in Alba for the cultivation of letters, and the prosecution of the learned sciences. A glance through the pages of Bishop Healy's Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars shows how powerful was the attraction which Inis nan Naomh, or to give her her time-honoured Latin appellation, Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum, had for the educated Scotsman, and for the youth who wished to push his educational fortunes in that justly celebrated centre of learning. Our best-known historians, genealogists and poets 6 The Irish (and Scottish) University Question The Irish (and Scottish) University Question 7 of a later age drew their principal inspiration, as assuredly they did much of their art, from Irish sources. Our MacVurichs, MacDonalds, and other hereditary historians, who correspond in every respect with the Irish MacFirbises, O'Flaherties, etc., probably studied in the Irish Colleges. The influence of Irish literature on Gaelic letters in Scotland is pronounced, and conclusive of the intimate relations formerly subsisting between men of Erin and the men of Alba. Was not our own Colum Cille—saint and scholar—an Irish Gael ? And when, led no doubt by God to begin the evangelisation of the Picts, he put forth from Ireland in his frail coracle, was he not inaugurating a two-fold mission—a mission of religion and a mission of learning ? St. Columba's love of letters and veneration for scholarship stand on ample record ; and to his influence must be ascribed the origin of that movement which, in later years, was destined to draw so many of our countrymen to Ireland as to a spring from which they might quaff the pure and sparkling waters of knowledge based on faith and therefore undefiled. To Scotland came Maelrubha in the year 671, and it was he who founded the famous monastery of Apurcrosan. St. Adamnan was a native of Donegal. St. Comgan, another Irish Gael, chose the country about Loch-alsh as the scene of his religious labours. Hither, too, probably at the invitation of St. Columba, came Comgall of Bangor, Cainnech of Achaboc, Brendan of Clonfert, and Cormac, all of whom, described by Adamnan as " holy founders of monasteries," laboured for the conversion of souls and the spread of learning in Alba. What a glorious company of saints and scholars has crossed and re-crossed those narrow seas which separate Scotland from Ireland! As one looks back upon the centuries that have passed since Colum Cille first lighted the twin lamps of Religion and Learning in his sea-girt Scottish home, the spectator, as it were, stands enraptured at the prospect of that narrow track worn through the misty years by the busy feet of so many saints and scholars, constantly passing and repassing on their holy and enlightening mission! We have said enough, at all events for the present, on the historic aspect of this ancient correspondence. The advantages of reviving it are, it seems to us, no less susceptible to argument and proof. The cause of Catholic learning in Scotland would be enormously advanced by such a gain. Young and ambitious men, instead of being obliged to emigrate in quest of those educational advantages denied them at home, would go to Ireland, as to a congenial and appropriate sphere, for that higher University training which all are agreed is requisite to success in what is justly styled " the struggle for existence ". In a national University on Irish soil, the Scottish Catholic would be thoroughly at home. There, surely, if anywhere, he would breathe the pure and invigorating atmosphere of his holy faith. He would enjoy the advantages of associating with individuals belonging to a nation whose gallant fight in behalf of religion and country is the admiration of the civilised world. He would enjoy every facility of acquiring a first-class University education at moderate cost; for the essence of the Irish proposals (of which the Irish hierarchy is the guarantor) is that the education provided shall be thorough in every respect, and as inexpensive as is consistent with efficiency. The Irish scheme, as announced and approved by the Arch- 8 The Irish (and Scottish) University Question The Irish (and Scottish) University Question g •dominant partner " in the British Imperial Concern to sanction (that is, to provide funds for) the erection of a national University on Irish soil, the advocates of this method have considerably lost heart. Mr. Dillon, who is a member of Parliament, not unnaturally looks to political agitation as the channel through which a national University should be secured to his native land. The Archbishop of Tuam, and, if we mistake not, Cardinal Logue himself, on the other hand, are no less firmly convinced that " unless a miracle supervenes" the English Government will never grant to Ireland the boon for which she craves ; and this opinion, it is worthy -of note, is fast gaining ground, not only in Ireland, but in every country in which the question is wont to be canvassed. " Is it likely," we quote from a recent article in An Claidheamh Soluis, the official mouthpiece of the Gaelic League, " that England will ever give to Ireland a University which will satisfy the lofty ideal of Mr. Dillon, and of us all— a University which shall be Irish and National through and through; a centre and rallying point for Irish nationality, an intellectual headquarters for our race? We cannot think so." In an article, redolent with despair, on the same subject, the London Tablet1 charged Mr. Balfour and Mr. Wyndham with something more than the usual want of courage touching their political convictions which one is apt to associate with the average English statesman, though, curiously enough, when, but a 1" We have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Wyndham's ¦excuse is a disgrace to the man that used it. . . . How Mr. Balfour, holding the opinion he admittedly does on this question, -can reconcile it with his own personal honour to remain Prime Minister ... is, we confess, for us an unsolved enigma" (10th December, 1904). bishops and Bishops of Ireland, includes ample provision for the cultivation of the Gaelic language in Ireland, and for the study of the history and antiquities of that country ; and we doubt not that, in the event of the University being established, and a Scots correspondence effected, a similar privilege in respect of the Gaelic language in Scotland and the history and antiquities of this country1 would be accorded to Scottish students resorting to Ireland for the purpose of securing a sound University education. Such are some—a few indeed—of those advantages, moral and material, which would inevitably accrue to the Catholics of Scotland by the establishment of a national—that is, Catholic—University in Ireland. Their name, indeed, is legion; but alas ! we have not sufficient space at our disposal in which to deal with them at large. It remains for us to make, by way of conclusion to this paper, a few observations touching the means whereby this great and glorious project might be realised. Briefly, there are two ways open to the Irish nation in which to accomplish their object. The one is by political agitation; the second is by national endeavour minus political agitation. Until recently, the first of these methods, as being, perhaps, traditional in Ireland, was infinitely the more popular of the two ways. Indeed, the latter was scarce mentioned at all; but, lately, owing to the apparent impossibility of persuading the " pre- 1 We are not aware that any such provision exists at this moment in Scotland. The national college for the priesthood at Blairs has certainly no such provision. A Gaelic professorship— as supplying a much-felt want—was at one time under consideration, we believe; but nothing has been heard of the project of late. io The Irish (and Scottish) University Question The Irish (and Scottish) University Question 11 week or two before, a respected Irish ecclesiastic said similar unkind things about one or both of these twin political mountebanks, the Tablet went out of its way to raise its hands in lively and pious protest! The hope, therefore, of forcing a successful issue of this question by means of the somewhat threadbare device of political agitation is beginning to lose ground in Ireland, as, indeed, was bound to happen the more the obstinate character of the English opposition to this eminently sane and moderate demand became manifest. In no other country in the world, probably, were the chances of success by such means ever as highly rated as they were in Ireland, whose habits of self-reliance and faculties of self-development have been somewhat undermined by an enervating and dangerous dependence upon the methods and tactics favoured by the party politician. The more, therefore, the people of Ireland look into this question and study it, the more they come to understand the irreconcilable character of the English opposition to their demand, the more plainly will appear, we are convinced, the futility of appealing to England, and the consequent necessity for independent national effort. Now, the alternative to political agitation as a means of securing this University, is, as we have already remarked, the will of the people of Ireland themselves. In other words, if the Irish nation wants a University it must set its shoulder to the wheel, and itself create it. Is this an impossible task ? Mr. Dillon, the spokesman of the recognised channel, says that that attempt has already been made, and has failed. Some of our readers may not be aware that an effort was made " in the dark days which immediately followed the famine," we quote again from An Claidheamh Soluis, "when even political nationalism was at a low ebb, and Irish Ireland was in the misty future," to establish a Catholic University in Ireland; and that after £200,000 had been spent on it, it failed. Accordingly Mr. Dillon's argument would seem to be that what has once failed must never be attempted again, an argument which strikes harshly on Scottish ears, accustomed from infancy to tales of the indomitable Bruce and his no less persevering spider! But apart from the obvious unsoundness of such an opinion, and its transparent absurdity in the case of a politician who believes in Home Rule,1 we have every reason to believe that satisfactory explanations touching the causes of that failure, grievous though we admit it to be, are easily found. As the official organ of the Gaelic League justly observes, "neither the internal nor the external causes which wrecked the Catholic University are likely to re-occur in our day. And because an effort on (more or less) right lines failed fifty years ago from causes which are no longer likely to operate, are we to lose faith in the policy of self-help, and continue to the end of the chapter to beseech a foreign State to do for us what it is 1 Mr. Dillon's patriotism is, of course, above reproach; but there are possibly some in Ireland, interested persons, who would resent any such general diversion of funds as an appeal to the Irish conscience at home and abroad would almost necessarily involve. After all, have not the Irish spent too much money on purely political agitation, judging that agitation, of course, solely in the light of its effects ? Half the amount so spent would have sufficed to create an Irish Ireland long ago. Make your country thoroughly national, and Home Eule must follow. To stake all on Home Eule whilst Irish Ireland languishes for want of funds is equivalent in our opinion to trying to put the cart before the horse. 12 The Irish (and Scottish) University Question neither its desire, nor perhaps its interest, to do?" Our opinion is, then, that, sooner or later—and the sooner the better—Irish Ireland will be obliged to set its shoulder to the wheel, to itself create that truly national University which is admittedly the most crying need of the times, so far as the Gaels of Ireland are concerned. We do not think that the Irish nation would ever have reason to repent of its efforts to repair the past in so signal and glorious a manner; and if the sacrifices involved in making good so gigantic an enterprise should lead to a temporary " shrinkage" in respect of the funds subscribed at home and abroad on behalf of the political agitation in favour of Home Rule (although we do not say that such need necessarily be the result of this unique appeal to the conscience and to the purse of a gallant and generous nation), we imagine that few Irishmen worthy the name would grudge the expenditure, or suffer a sense of temporary personal inconvenience to interfere with the well-being of the nation at large. In their appeal to the world, we should like to see the Irish people broadening their "platform" as much as possible. By offering to Scots Catholics a recognised place in their national University, and by providing for the study of the Scots Gaelic language, as well as for the study of the history and antiquities of this country, our Irish kinsmen and co-religionists would be taking a practical step in the direction of reviving that ancient correspondence between the two countries of which we have spoken above ; and, what is no less important, they would be considerably enlarging the area to which the inevitable appeal for funds to erect the University should be addressed. We have every Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 13 reason to believe that Scots Catholics would joyfully welcome any such proposal as our proposition invites; and we have too high an opinion of our countrymen not to believe that they would not liberally subscribe towards it, either directly, or by way of donations to the general funds of the University. We make no doubt, too, that the Scots of Canada, who constitute so considerable and flourishing a moiety of the Catholic population of that country, and who are principally of Celtic blood, would cordially and generously respond to this appeal. The account of all Catholic Scots, whether at home or abroad, manifestly consists in our proposals. Will not our Irish co-religionists and kinsmen help us, therefore, to realise the prophesy uttered by their countryman and our compatriot, Colum Cille, and so by enlarging and strengthening Erin assist us to raise Alba to the dawn of another and yet a brighter day ? SEACHD MORMHAOIR NA H-ALBA (Air a leantuinn) Bha, uime sin, Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba a tha air an ainmeachadh anns an t-sean dearbh-sgriobhadh a fhuair Sir Francis Palgrave 'nam fir-taoibh aig Bras. Bha Mòr-mhaoir Mhàirr, Athuill, Leamhain agus Fhìofa uile 'nan ughdarras anns a Ghàidhealtachd; agus is ann mar so, bha Mòr-mhaoir Aonghais, Rois, agus Shrath Earainn a bha 'nam fir-taoibh aig Baliol. Cha bhuin Mòr-mhaor Ghallaoibh, no Mòr-mhaor Chataoibh ris a' chomhstri a rinn Brus, ged a bha iad, mar an ceudna, 'nan ughdarras anns a' Ghàidhealtachd. Tha e cinnteach mar sin, gu'n d'rinn Sir Francis, r4 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba mearachd anns a' chuis. A thuilleadh air sin, cha robh Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 'nan seachd fir a mhàin. Tha e cinnteach, mar sin, gu'n robh am beachd a bha aig Sir Francis air a bhunadh air an t-sean-sgeul mu Chruithne agus a mhic. Thugamaid fainear a nis an sean-sgeul sin. Is e so bunadh nan Cruithneach a rèir an eachdraidhean fèin:— "Cruithne mac Cinge, mic Luchtai, mic Parr-thalan, mic Agnoinn, mic Buain, mic Mais, mic Fathecht, mic Iapeth, mic Noe. Ise athair Cruithneach, ocus cet bliadhna do irrighe. " Secht meic Cruithneach annso .i. Fib, Fidach Fodla, Fortrend cathach, Cait, Ce, Cirigh. Et Secht randaibh ro roindset in fearand, ut dixit Columcille, " ' Moirsheiser do Cruithne clainn Raindset Albain i secht raind Cait, Ce, Cirig, cethach clann Fib, Fidach, Fotla, Fortrenn'."1 Is e cinnteach gu bheil an t-atharrachadh Eirinnach air an t-sean-sgeul so ag eadar-dheal-achadh gu mòr an ni sin a chaidh ainmeachadh mu thràth. Is e mar so:— " A tir Traicia tra tangadar Cruithnigh .i. clanda Gleoin mic Ercoil iad. Aganthirsi a n-anmanda. Seisiur brathar tangadar toiseach .i. Solen, Ulfa, Nechtan, Drostan, Aengus, Letend. Fatha a tiach-tana .i. Policornus ri Traigia do rad gradh do si uir co ro triall a breth gan tocra. Lodar iar sin tar Romanchu co Frangeu et cumtaigit sit cathair ann .i. Pictavis a pictis .i. o n-armtaibh.2 Ocus do rat 1 Leabhar Baile an Mhota, Leabhar Lecain, agus a' chuid eile. 2 Ach tha e air a ràdh 'san t-àit' eile :— " Agantirsi a n-anmann Am rand Erchtbhi 0 oearptardi a cuctli Adbertar oid Pioti". Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 15 ri Frange gradh dia shiur Lodar for muir iar n-deg in t-sheiseadh brathar .i. Leiteind. I cind da laa iar n-dul for muir atbath a siur. Gabsat Cruithnigh inbher Slaine in Uibh Ceindselaigh,"1 etc., etc. Tha 'n t-atharrachadh eile air an t-sean-sgeul so an so. "Do chuaidh o macaib Milead Cruithnechan mac Lochit mac Ingi la Breatnu Foirtren do cha-thugud fri Saxain, ocus ro chosain tir doib Cruith-entuaith ocus anais fen aco. Acht ni badar mna leo ar bebais bandthrocht Alban. Do luid iarum Cruithnechan for culu do cum mac Miled, ocus ro gab neam, ocus talam, ocus grian, ocus esca, drucht ocus daithi, muir ocus tir ba do maithriu flaith forro co brath, ocus do bert da mna dec forcraidi badar oc macaib Milead aro bate a fir is in fairrge tiar ar aen re Donn conad do fearaib h-Erind flaith for Cruithnib o sin dogres."2 Tha 'n t-atharrachadh Breatunnach air an t-sean-sgeul so mar a tha e air a sgrìobhadh 's na leabhraichean a bhuineas do Eirinn, ged a bha na Breatunnach a' tagradh gu'n d'thàinig na Cruithnich à Sythia. Thàinig Ruairidh Rìgh nan Cruithneach à Sythia le cabhlach dh'ionnsuidh Alba, agus thug e 'mach a' bhuaidh; ach a rèir an t-sean-sgeul so, fhuair na Cruithnich am mnathan o mhuinntir na h-Eirinn, do bhrigh nach b'àill le na Breatannaich am mnathan fèin a thoirt seachad do choigrich 's do Ghoill. Tha so a' cur an cèill, gu dearbh, gu'n robh linn ann an Eirinn an uair a bha athaireachd neo-chinnteach. Thug sean mhuinntir na h-Eirinn gu minic ainmeannan a bha air am mnathan d'an clann fèin, àbhaist a tha air a chuir an cèill gu soilleir le ainmeannan mar so—Mac Cula, Mac 1 Leabhar Baile an Mhota, Leabhar Lecain. 2 Leabhar Lecain. 16 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba Lèmna, agus mòran eile. Tha Mac '111 Fhinnin1 ag innseadh beul-aithris a bha aig na sean Ghreug-aich, agus tha i ag ràdh, gu'n d'thug iad roimh linn Checrops (ma tha an eachdraidhean fèin gu bhi air an creidsinn), ainmeannan a bha aig am mnathan do'n clann-san. A thuilleadh air sin, is e roinneadh an fhearainn an cleachdadh a's cumanta anns na sean-sgeul so. Roinn Amargin Glummar mac Mhilidh, Eirinn eadar mic Mhilidh ; agus thug e a' chuid sin dheth a bha fo'n talamh do Thuatha de Danan, agus thug e a' chuid sin dheth a bha os cionn na talamhainn d'a chlann fèin. Dh'fhalbh na Tuatha de Danan an deigh sin " chum nam beann agus anns na h-ionadan-sithe" na h-Eirinn, Ios gu'm labhair iad ri sithe fo'n talamh gu bràth tuille. Cha 'n 'eil an sean-sgeul so gu bhith air a bheachd-smuaineachadh ach mar sgeulachd a mhàin. Ghabh ar sinnsearan deigh ro mhòr air an àireamh seachd- "an àireamh dhìomhair"—anns an sgeulachd agus anns an sean eachdraidhean-sa :— " Cruithnigh ros gabhsad (Alba) iarrtain Iar tliachtain a h-Eareann-mhuigh X righ tri fichit righ ran Gabhsad diobh an Cruithean-chlar ". urrain domh mòran iomadh eisempleir a thoirt seachad chum a' bhaigh a bha aig ar sinnsearan ris an àireamh so a' dhearbhadh. Anns an t-sean-sgeul ris an abrar "Do Cruithneachaibh Incipit," tha sinn a' leughadh gur e " Cremhthand, ri Laighen," a bha 'cur fàilte is furan air na Cruithnich, agus esan ag earbsa gu'n tilgeadh iad a naimhdean a mach à Eirinn. Tha e air a ràdh gu'n d'fhuiling Eirinn seachd bristidhean-a-stigh gu lèir, 's e sin le Caesar, Partholan, Nemhidh, na Fir-bholg, na 1 Studies in Ancient History, tt. 101-1171 agus 176. Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba *7 Tuatha de Danan, etc. Cuimhnichibh, cuideachd, seachd bà bhana, a bha air am faicinn le Sioda, nighean Fhlainn.1 A rìs, nach robh ann Seachd Fir-cadail na h-Ephesius, mu'm bheil e sgrìobhte le Aonghas Cèile Dè? '! Taimne morfessiur cenèc I . . . bhadan nibrec Dorsat Ri Grèine folii Tal inùaim slèibe Telii Asecht nanmand mardacloss Maximianus, Malcos Constantius Martius Marcianus Dionisius Seràpen Iohannes oll Ainm dessi dib cenimroll". Agus tha'm bàrd Eirinneach d'am b'ainm Mac Lochain, a fhuair bàs anns a' bhliadhna 1024, air a ràdh mar so mu Eirinn :— " Seachd àrd-rìghrean do Eirinn nan cala ". Tha e coslach, gu dearbh, gu'n robh bàigh ris an aireamh so air a bhonntachadh air mheas a thaobh nan Sgriobtuir Naomha. Tha 'n " àireamh dhìomhair" air a h-ainmeachadh gu minic anns a' Bhiobull; agus am measg nan sean-sgeulan a bhuineas do mhuinntir na h-Asia, tha mòran de sgeulachdan agus de bheul aithris anns am bheil e. Sgrìobh Naomh Eoin, " chunnaic mi uile-bheist a' teachd a nuas as a' mhuir, aig an robh seachd cinn agus deich adhaircean," etc. Agus chunnaic e a rìs " 'na laimh dheis-san, a shuidh air a' chathair, leabhar air a sgrìobhadh a mach 'sa stigh, agus air a sheuladh le seachd seulan". "Agus an deigh sin coimhead mi, agus seall, dh'fhosgladh teampull paillion an teisteanais air neamh ; agus thàinig na seachd ainglean a mach as an teampull, aig an 1 Càth Mhuighe Lèana. B 18 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 19 is e sin Alba uile ach dùthaich bheag faisg air Dun Bhreatuinn, a bhuineas do na Breatunnaich. Tha e ro dhuilich a nis a' chur an cèill gu ceart criochan na rioghachd aig àm cho fad air ais ; ach a rèir an t-sean-sgeul so mu Cruithne agus a mhic, bha iad mar so. Gallaobh Marr Moern (Magh-Chircinn) Moiridh Athull Menteith Fiofa seachd roinnean gu lèir. Gun teagamh, b'iad so uile roinnean na h-Alba a bhuineadh do na Cruithnich aig an àm ud, ged a bha an tiolpadair anns an Edinburgh Review ag ràdh nach robh riamh Mòr-mhaor Mhoerne ann an Alba. Nach e Maol-peadar, Mòr-mhaor Mhoerne a mharbh Donnachadh Mac Dhomhnuill, Rìgh na h-Alba, mar a tha an t-eachdraiche ag ràdh ? " Douenald mac Dunchath prius regnavit 7 mensibus, et postea expulsus est a regno, et tunc Dunckach mac Malcolmi 6 mensibus regnauit et interfectus est a Malpedir mac Loren comite de Meorne."1 Tha an eachdraidh a's tràithe againn a thaobh " Sheachd Roinnean na h-Alba" le Giraldus Cam-brensis. Sgrìobh e anns a' bhliadhna 1180; agus thug e De Situ Albannice mar ainm air. Tha e air a ràdh ann gur e " aqua optima que Scotticè vocata est" a tha a' cur dealachaidh eadar " Regna Scot-torum et Anglorum " ; agus thubhairt e " haec verra terra septem fratribus divisa fuit antiquitus in sep-tem partes, quarum pars principalis est Enegus cum Moerne, ab Enegus primogenito fratrum sic 1 Annais of the Piots and Scots. robh na seachd plaighean, agus iad air an eideadh le anart glan agus geal, agus crìoslaichte mu'n uchd le criosan òir," etc. Tha na mic a bha aig Cruithne air an ainmeachadh anns na h-eachdraidhean a's fearr againn mar so: Cait, Ce, Cirig, Fib Fidach, Fotla, For-trenn, seachd mic gu lèir. Is e Cait, Gallaobh; is e Ce, Marr; is e Cirig, Magh-Chircinn (dùthaich ris an abrar Moern aig an là an diugh); is e Fib, Fiofa; is e Fidach, Moiridh; is e Fotla, Athull; agus is e Fortrenn, Menteith. So againn ma tà " Seachd Boinnean na h-Alba," ise sin "Seachd Mòr-mhaòrachd na h-Alba" a rèir an Ollaimh Scene agus mòran eile; agus tha mi 'dol a dhearbhadh a nis nach 'eil an sean-sgeul sin gu bhi air a' bheachd-smuaineachadh ach 'na fhaoin-sgeul a mhàin. Roimh 'n deicheamh linn, thug na Romanaich " Britannia " mar ainm air an dùthaich ris an abrar "Alba" an diugh. Thug iad, cuideachd, " Scotia " mar ainm air an dùthaich ris an abrar "Eirinn" aig an là an diugh. Dh'-athanaich Alba gu mòr 'na criochan aice o linn gu linn; ach ma tha 'n sean-sgeul a thaobh Chruithne agus a mhic gu bhith air fheuchainn leinn, tha e ro chinnteach gu bheil feum againn a bhith 'ga fheuchainn air solus shealbh-ghlacadh na h-Alba le Cruithne agus a mhic. Is còir dhuinn, uime sin, a' bhith a' beachd-smuaineachadh air—an sean-sgeul air an d'thug Sir Francis Palgrave agus mòran eile am beachd-san mu "Sheachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba—ann an solus roinn na h-Alba 'nuair a bha e fo chumhachd nan Cruithneach, is e sin roimh shealbh-ghlacadh Earra-ghàidheal le Gàidheal na h-Eirinn. A nis, tha eachdraidhean a's traithe againn ag innseadh dhuinn gu'n robh Alba air fad fo chumhachd nan Cruithneach aig an àm ud, 20 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 21 nominata. Secunda autem pars est Adtheodle et Gouerin; pars etiam tertia est Strathdeern cum Menteted ; quarta pars partuim est Fife cum Foth-reve; quinta vero pars est Marr cum Buchen; sexta autem est Murreff et Ros; septima enim pars est Cathanesia citra montem et ultra montem, quia mons Mound dividit Cathanesiam per medium". Chuir e mach, an deigh sin, dealbh eile 'thaobh " Seachd Roinnean na h-Alba ". Thubhairt e gu'n d'fhuair e e o'n Easbuig Aindrea, a bha 'na Easbuig ann an Gallaobh. Is e mar so. "Plurimum regnum fuit (sicut mihi versus relator retulit, Andreas videlicet, vir venerabilis Katanensis Episcopus nacione Scottus et Dun-fermlii Monachus) ab ilia aqua optima quae Scotticè vocata est Forth, Britannice, Werid, Romane vero Scotte-Wattre, i.e., aqua Scottorum, quae regna Scottorum et Anglorum dividit, et currit juxta oppidum de Strivelin, usque ad flumen aliud nobile quod vocata est Tae. " Secundum regnum ad Hilef, sicut mare circuit usque ad montem aquilonali plaga de Strivelin qui vocatur Athrin. " Tertium regnum ad Hilef usque ad De; quar-tum regnum ex De usque ad magnum et mirabile flumen quod vocatur Spe, majorem et meliorem totius Scotise. " Quintum regnum fuit Muref et Ros. Sep-timum Regnum fuit Arregaithel." A nis ma tha sinn a dol a dheanamh coimeas eadar an t-aon chlàr-ainm agus am fear eile, chi sinn gu solleir gu bheil sia as an t-seachd roinnean a tha air an ainmeachadh ann, direach mar a tha iad nan dithis. Tha a' cheud dhùthaich a co-fhreagradh ri Fiofa agus Fortrenn. Tha 'n dara dùthaich a' co-fhreagradh ri Aonghas agus Moern. Tha 'n ceathramh dùthaich a' co-fhreagradh ri Marr agus Buchan. Tha 'n cuigeadh dùthaich a' co-fhreagradh ri Athull. Tha 'n siathamh dùthaich a' co-fhreagradh ri Moiridh agus Ros. Anns a' cheud chlàr-ainm is e Gallaobh a tha 'na sheach-damh dùthaich; ach anns an dara clàr-ainm is e Earra-ghàidheal a tha na sheachdamh dùthaich. Tha e cinnteach, a rèir an Ollaimh Scene, nach d' eirich na mi-chordaidhean so a suas o mhearachd sam bith anns an dà eachdraidh anns am bheil iad. Bha 'n t-Ollamh Scene am beachd gu bheil an dà chlàr-ainm so a' ciallachadh " Roinn Alba " aig dà linn air leth. Tha e neo-chomasach am mi-chordadh a' dheanamh so-thuigsinn an dòigh sam bith eile ; oir cha 'n urrainn duinn fagail-a-mach Earra-ghàidheal no Ghallaobh a' shoillseachadh ach 'san dòigh so. Tha'n diubhras so (ars' esan) a' cur an cèill gu soilleir an dà linn air leth da'm buin iad. " Tha a cheud chlàr-ainm a' fagail-a-mach Earra-ghàidheal : tha'n dara clàr-ainm a' gabhail beachd air Earra-ghàidheal, ach tha e a' fagail a mach Gallaobh. Rinn an naothamh ceud linn na caochlaidhean sin ann an Alba a chuir soilleireachadh air an diubhras so. Chuir a' bhuaidh Ghàidhealach anns a' bhliadhna 843, Dail Riada ri Alba; agus mu dheireadh na linne sin, thuit Gallaobh fo smachd nan Loch Lannaich. Tha 'n dara clàr-ainm, uime sin, a' nochadh gu soilleir nan roinnean a bha aig Rìgh na h-Alba an deigh an naothamh ceud linn. Tha a' cheud chlàr-ainm a' deanamh deilbh a thaobh rioghachd nan Cruithneach a tha ceart cho firinneach ris an fhear eile, agus tha e roimh a' bhuaidh a thug Gàidheil na h-Eirinn air an Earra-ghàidheal. Tha na Seachd Roinnean air a' cheud chlàr-ainm a' nochdadh gu soilleir seilbhean nan Cruithneach. Is i a' chuid a tha air a' fagail-a-mach gu ceart a 22 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba chuid sin a bha aig na Dail Riadanaich. Agus tha so ro chudthromach, oir tha e a' dearbhadh gu'n robh pairteachadh air Na Seachd Roinnean " dual-ach do na Chruithneachd agus gu'n robh e aig bun rioghachd na h-Alba ",1 Tha Giraldus ag ràdh gu'n robh beul aithris ann, bha ag innseadh gu'n d'eirich na Seachd Roinnean air lorg pairteachaidh na h-Alba le seachd braithrean. Tha na seachd braithrean so a' co-fhreagradh ri seachd mic Cruithne, athair nan Cruithneach a tha air an ainmeachadh anns an earrain a leanas. " Cruidne filius Cinge, pater Pic-torum habitantium in hac insula, C. annis regnavit; vii filios habuit. Hsec sunt nomina eorum ; Fiv, Fidach, Floclaid, Fortreim, Got, Ce, Circui." An uair a thug Giraldus seachad a' cheud chlàr-ainm a thaobh " Seachd Roinnean na h-Alba," tha e ag ràdh " Inde est ut hi septem fratres prsedicti pro septem regibus habebantur: septem regulos sub se habentes. Isti septem fratres regnum Al-banise in septem regna diviserunt, et unusquisque in tempore suo in suo regnavit." Bha, uime sin Seachd "Reges" ann an Alba a bhuineas do na Cruithnich a rèir beul-aithris; agus fo'n uachdranachd aca, bha seachd 'Teguli" no righrean beaga. So againn, uime sin, " Seachd Roinnean na h-Alba," a rèir Giraldus, maille ri Seachd Roinnean a bha fo uachdranachd dhoibh. Athuill \ Gabharaidh J Aonghas Magh-Chirchinn, no Moern Srath Earainn \ Menteith J 1 The Highlanders of Scotland, le Scene t. 159. Polands Struggle for Existence 23 POLAND'S STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE Poland, a country formerly called, and not without reason, the bulwark of Christendom, has since 1795, the date of its third and final partition, ceased to exist as a separate State. For 109 years, therefore, it has been completely at the mercy of the three dividing Powers, who have spared no means, fair or foul, to assimilate it. Yet not only is it not assimilated at the present day, but it is constantly growing in every element that constitutes the strength of a nation, and in concentrated though quiet resistance to the invaders ; as in the time of Kosciusko, so now, these are only camped on the territory. The bush, burning yet unconsumed, was a miracle; Poland, for a century a prey to destruction yet undestroyed, though no miracle, is so extraordinary a phenomenon that a few words respecting the causes which have produced it may be not without interest. Marr 1 Buchan J Fiofa 1 Fothreve J Moiridh \ Ros J Gallaobh \ " Citra montem et ultra montem " j Ciaran Mac Chiarain. (Ri leantuinn.) 24 Poland's Struggle for Existence To Gaels, especially, this short and by no| means exhaustive paper should be interesting. They too have a nationality and a language of their own, and must struggle to maintain them ; the conditions are widely dissimilar, it is true, but] nevertheless there is a struggle; and they must needs look with sympathy on the efforts of a nation to hold her own, when they have to make similar efforts themselves. And to Scotsmen in general, the name of Poland should recall many a tie. All know that Prince Charles Edward was a grandson of the heroic Sobieski. This alone would be much ; but there is more. I do not know whether any Scottish family is of Polish extraction; but several Polish families claim descent from Scottish ancestors. The members of the now nearly extinct family of the Counts Mir (Mear, Mar?), to give only one instance, assert that their first ancestor came over from Scotland long before the outbreak of Protestantism. Most of them, however, spring from Scottish gentlemen who in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries fought under Polish banners against Swedes, Muscovites and Turks. In his novel entitled Pan Wolodyjowski (pr. Volodyoski), Sienkiewicz gives us a characteristic and agreeable presentation of one of these, Kettling of Elgin, who finally marries a Polish girl, and settles in the country. As protests against tyranny and oppression, the three successive insurrections, in 1794, 1831 and 1863, had their raison d'etre. But after the last had failed, each failure being attended with more and more frightful consequences, the nation at length took counsel with itself. Another insurrection under present circumstances would mean utter destruction: that was clear to all. Setting Poland's Struggle for Existence 25 aside therefore their ultimate aim—political independence—as a dream not to be realised in the near future, all parties, in different ways and with different watchwords, devoted their energies merely to avert the final calamity of annihilation with which they were threatened; and for over thirty years they have with one accord continued to work to that end. In this defensive warfare both their past history and present conditions of existence afford them many advantages; and they have hitherto been so far successful that Polish nationality is now, we may boldly say, an absolutely impregnable fortress. Never, at any epoch in its history, was Poland so united, so strong in adversity, so prudently determined, so firm to resist attacks as it is now. It is true that on entering the Polish provinces of East Prussia we find the German language exclusively taught in every school; German names given to Polish towns; priests forbidden by the police to give children Polish names at their baptisms ; the language prohibited in public meetings ; tickets refused at railway stations, if they are asked for in Polish ; and great tracts of land bought up by the Government, to be sold only to German settlers, and under the condition that they shall never under any circumstance pass into the hands of a Pole. And yet it is also true that the very school children refuse to learn their catechism, when forced to learn it in German. Polish, taught privately and furtively out of school hours, is all the dearer to them for the additional labour it has cost. For the student, the scientific superiority of German education has no charm; the young Pole who leaves college admits indeed the high standard of the training he has gone through, but hates it none the 26 Poland's Struggle for Existence less. No one speaks German in the bosom of his family, or to a stranger with whom he can converse in any other language; and even settlers from Suabia or Westphalia who, as often happens, have married Polish women, learn to speak Polish, and with their children swell the Polish ranks ; this is a fact which Prussian ministers have stated publicly to justify their repressive acts. But repression only creates greater bitterness ; it cannot crush, it can only exasperate the feelings of the people. To cite but one palpable proof of the vitality of the language, it is in those very provinces that Polish newspapers are most eagerly read by workmen and peasants ; it is there that the ratio of subscribers to the total population is highest. Let us now cross the Russian frontier. The characters of the Cyrillic alphabet are to be seen side by side with Polish on every shop front in Warsaw; posters must be in Russian, though Polish is tolerated; even a bill announcing " Rooms to let" cannot be put up without its Russian translation. But were the police to take away its hand, where would those signs of Muscovite domination be to-morrow ? Spies swarm on all sides, carefully scenting out forbidden books; even the harmless Messenger of the Sacred Heart, imported from Austrian Poland, is among these, and recently a seminary for priests was closed, merely because a few copies of it were found there. Yet not only this, but many other forbidden books find their way in by thousands, no one knows how ; and the police are powerless to prevent their entrance. One part of the population (the so-called Uniates) is considered by the Russian law to belong to their Established Church, because three centuries ago their forefathers left that Church to become Catho- Poland's Struggle for Existence 27 lies! They are therefore forbidden even to enter a Catholic place of worship, much more to confess to a CathoUc priest, or receive Communion at his hands, or the Sacrament of Matrimony; severe penalties attend both priest and Uniate, if discovered in their transgression. Yet every year multitudes of poor men pass the Austrian frontier in order to obey the precepts of the Catholic Church. The Polish clergy is indeed ruled with a rod of iron. Any infraction of police regulations is punished by a fine often amounting to a whole year's stipend on the first occasion ; a second or a third would, if grave, entail the loss of the priest's benefice, or even worse. All sermons (at least in large towns) must be read, and read as they were written, censored, and allowed to be preached. Without formal leave obtained from the Governor, no priest may go to Rome, or visit his bishop, or so much as call on another clergyman in the next district, were he on his deathbed and the other his confessor. It sounds incredible, but every one who lives in Poland knows that it is true. Yet, much as these and other harsh laws fetter the influence of the clergy, it is still great; possibly greater than in provinces where there is no persecution. They are indeed unable to render spiritual assistance to the Uniates without danger to themselves and therefore to their own flock. But, to make up for their forced inaction, there are missionaries from beyond the frontier who enter the land in secret, with the threat of Siberian mines hanging over their heads, if discovered by the police. They are sent to comfort and instruct such of the Uniates as still cling to their faith ; and they belong for the most part, if not exclusively, to an order whose name need not be stated here, but may easily be 28 Poland's Struggle for Existence guessed. I myself know a Father who was betrayed to the Russians by the Jewish innkeeper at whose house he was staying, disguised as a colporteur; and had not the Emperor of Austria interceded for him, he would certainly have met his death long ago beyond the Ural mountains. As it was, he spent five years in prison. All, however, are not so unfortunate, and it space and due regard for the serious character of this article permitted, I could relate many entertaining facts about other missionaries, their presence of mind in danger, their readiness of resource in outwitting the police, and their adventures and embarrassments, often not without a comical side, sometimes ending in a tragedy. Of course their work is aided and abetted by the whole population; not only by educated men, who—even such as are indifferent where faith alone is in question—know that Catholicism in Poland is the element which above all sustains the vitality of the nation, and act accordingly; but also by the lower classes and the -peasants, now fully awakened to a sense of their nationality by the proceedings of the Government itself. They were at one time unconcerned and even somewhat hostile to those whom they called the " Patriots " ; but since the ark of religion has been touched and they are molested because they are Catholics, they now feel that, being Catholics, they are Poles. It would be unjust, however, to pass over in silence a most significant political fact which has just occurred, and which seems to point to a hope of better days in store for Poland. The new Minister of the Interior, Prince Swiatopelk-Mirski, a man of liberal ideas, lately invited a group of influential Poles to send him a memorial containing their Poland's Struggle for Existence 29 aspirations; a thing unheard of for many a year, and, were it not for the late Japanese successes, absolutely impossible even now. This memorial has therefore been published, and as it sheds considerable fight on the present condition of Russian Poland, it is as well to give its substance in few words. It commences by pointing out with plenty of proofs at hand, that the system of " Russification " hitherto employed, has been very far from attaining its end, and that all it has done is to establish certain outward appearances of submission at the cost of material and moral ruin in many parts of the country. Such, I may say here by the way, was the system, relentlessly pursued for a long time, of removing all Poles even from positions on private railways, and substituting Russians in their stead, by means of constant pressure and vexation on the part of the Government. The memorial points out in detail the results of the system both in the schools and in public life, the oppression of the Catholic Church and persecution of the Uniates which I have related above. The kingdom of Poland, though possessing its own ancient civilisation and culture, has been deprived of the most essential social rights of civilisation, and of every legal guarantee which makes for progress. Not only so, but the exceptional and repressive laws and edicts which have been issued diminish yet further the sphere of individual freedom and open the door to every abuse of an arbitrary administration. The memorial goes on to enumerate and discuss all these laws and edicts, and after showing how Poles are excluded from every Government institution, and even from many companies that are 30 Poland's Struggle for Existence Poland's Struggle for Existence 3i population may share in it; and that the "commune " (parish ?) be recognised as the unit or basis upon which this autonomy shall be founded. (4) That an assurance be given to the United Greeks (Uniates) of entire liberty of conscience as regards their choice of a religion ; that full freedom be restored to the Catholic clergy, both within the country, and as regards their relations with the Head of the Church; and also that the Catholic Academy, or Theological College, be allowed to return to Warsaw (it has been transferred to St. Petersburg ever since 1867). The memorial closes by quoting the words of Alexander II. in a rescript addressed in 1863 to the Grand Duke Constantine, then Governor of Poland: " When order is again restored, and it is possible to continue the work begun by you ; when circumstances permit the working of the institutions which I have granted to Poland, and most ardently and sincerely desire to see at work, then you will all, I trust, once more be able to share in the performance of those things I have at heart, and to aid me by devoting yourselves to my service ". The principal defects in this memorial are said to be those of omission. Not a word is said about the constitutional movement in Russia; no demand is made for a separate -constitutional government in Poland. But it is a moot question whether, setting aside the uncertainty of such a demand being considered at all by the Government, the Russian public would view with pleasure such a Separatist claim. And it is still more doubtful whether, if Poland sent deputies to a possible Russian Parliament of the future, this would not be yet more dangerous for her national existence than the present state of open oppression. not under direct Government control; after pointing out the tyranny of the censorship, the fetters laid on all attempts to found societies and companies of any sort, and a great many other similar abuses, it comes to the conclusion that " for more than forty years Poland has been in a state of war ", The second part of the memorial deals with the changes considered necessary by public opinion; and here a great many Poles blame it as being far too moderate. But the authors of the memorial no doubt considered that it is better to ask for little, with the hope of getting it, than to demand more, and get nothing. In the first place, a series of laws and ukases, both those general to the whole empire and specially promulgated for Poland, are mentioned ; all of them forming as it were the basis of the present Polish demands, and a guarantee of equal treatment between Poles and Russians ; they have been suspended for forty years, but their suspension has always been considered by the Tsars as provisional and temporary. Starting from this principle, the memorial proceeds to claim:— (1) That the Polish language be once more taught in all schools, elementary, secondary and higher, as the means of instruction (not separately, twice a week, as a foreign language, explained by Russian teachers in Russian); that it be also restored in the courts of law, in the local administrative bureaux, and in all public offices and institutions. (2) That Poles be admitted in future to every position, in the Government service as well as in other institutions of public utility. (3) That autonomy be granted to each town and country district, in such wise that all the 32 Poland's Struggle for Existence But there is one point which all parties agree to praise: it is that which concerns the Catholic Church. Neither the restoration of the Polish language to its former position, nor autonomy granted either in the modest way suggested by the memorial, or under the far-reaching form of a Constitution granted to Poland, could do so much for the nation as the freedom of the Church. What' indeed could she not do when free, if now, chained and fettered as she is, she does so much for the nation ? Catholicism thus asserts itself as a great preserving and vital force; and the more it is persecuted, the more do Poles cling to it. More especially do they cling to such forms and ceremonies as are peculiar to the Polish Church, and of these there are very many. The time has of course gone by when noblemen hearing Mass, as soon as the Sequentia sancti Evangelii resounded, would draw their swords and hold them uplifted, as-knights of the faith, whilst the Gospel was intoned. Such an act would be rebellion, as would also be the old invocation, " Queen of the Realm of Poland," formerly added to the litany of Loretto. But on Christmas Eve, for instance, the national custom, tolerated by the Government, is strictly maintained in great numbers of families. Nothing is eaten all day, till the first star appears. Then a solemn banquet, comprising various sorts of fish, dressed after the national fashion, begins; hay is placed under the table-cloth and a sheaf of wheat stands in a corner of the room; the servants sit down first to table, and the masters, after breaking an altar-bread with each, and exchanging good wishes, serve them at dinner, in memory of t Master who came to serve. Afterwards, all the Poland's Struggle for Existence 33 company sit together, and with little wax candles of different colours lighted in front of each guest, they sing Kolenda (Christmas carols) until the time comes lor midnight Mass. On Easter Sunday there is a still more venerated family rite, of which the well-known "Easter eggs" form only a part. These, together with a large number of baked meats and cakes, are called the Swiecone, or " The Consecrated Meal". It dates, I am told, from the time of the pagan feasts in honour of the Goddess of Spring, which were not abolished but Christianised by the Church. On Holy Saturday a priest goes round to every family and blesses the morrow's food with a special paschal benediction; even the poorest have a little meat and cake to be blessed. Once I happened to be present at a very painful scene in connection with this ceremony. The priest came to a farmhouse where I was staying, but he was not allowed by the gendarmes to bless the food of the peasantry that had collected outside with bundles and baskets. The reason given was that, there being some Ruthenians or Uniates in the district, the people must show proof that they were Poles before they could be suffered to share in a Roman Catholic ceremony. As the poor folks had not brought any certificates of baptism with them, they had to return home with food unblessed, and the greatest feast of the year was thus turned into mourning for them. I cannot describe their misery and their indignation, and surely it was just. By this prohibition there was indeed no essential harm done to religion: but the national feeling, the feeling that they were Poles, had been cruelly wounded. That same year I was in a parish where the priest had been forbidden to bury a certain man whom the police chose to regard as a non-Catholic, c 34 Poland's Struggle for Existence because a name like his grandfather's had been found in the Uniate register of baptisms. Hia widow buried him in the Catholic graveyard with her own hands. She was taken before a magistrate and severely questioned, not so much with a view of punishing her as of implicating the parish priest in her disobedience : but to no purpose. Church services in Poland are distinguished by the very great use of the Polish language at services in which the vernacular is severely prohibited in other countries. Rome has never, so far as I know, protested against this custom, wisely thinking that such a privilege need not be denied to such a nation. Yet any one acquainted with the jealous care with which Rome excludes the popular language from Benediction, Vespers and Mass, will be surprised to learn that in many churches the whole of the Benediction, from " 0 Salutaris " to " Tantum Ergo" inclusively, is sung in Polish, only the Collect chanted by the priest being in the Latin tongue. Vespers, at least in the country and in small towns, are generally in Polish likewise ; and even at High Mass I have always heard the choir continue in the vernacular the chant of " Gloria " and " Credo " intoned in Latin by the priest, while Polish hymns and chants fill up other portions of the service. This is a special privilege, highly valued and zealously adhered to, which almost makes Polish the fourth of the "sacred languages," and which inspires the people with love and reverence for this inheritance of their ancestors. The influence of the Church, however, as guardian of the language, goes much further. It is a known fact that the greater part of the book trade is done in prayer-books and religious works and periodicals. I have already noticed the Messenger of the Sacr Polands Struggle for Existence 35 Heart; this publication is issued in over 150,000 copies; and the circulation of other religious periodicals is in proportion: this alone would prevent the language from dying out, if the educated classes had become indifferent to its existence. But they are the very reverse of indifferent. These classes are not great readers, nor are they nearly so well off as the corresponding social grades in England, France, or Germany; they mostly know French, German or Russian, and naturally are obliged to purchase and read some books in these languages. But here the spirit of patriotism asserts itself; many a Polish book that can barely be afforded is bought simply for the sake of the national cause, and in order to encourage good literature. Translations from foreign languages abound for the use of such as may happen to be ignorant of these. Shakespeare and Byron are translated, I need hardly say, and well translated; for the genius of the language is very adaptable not only to poetry, but to the severest prose. Spencer, Mill, and Bain exist in Polish versions; at least some of their works do. I have seen Jevon's Primer of Logic also in a Polish version. Naturally Scott and Dickens, Dumas and a great many French writers are almost as well known here as in their own countries. Then there is the institution of feuiUetons in every newspaper, which has the great advantage of seciiring a place where native talent can be set forth and presented to the public. Editors naturally give it the preference, when they can; and when it fails it is always possible to fill the place with contemporary fiction. This encouragement of the press has been the means of forming a band of writers, daily increasing in number. 36 Poland's Struggle 'for Existence Polands Struggle for Existence 37 only lack proper advertisement to command high prices, so exquisitely are they tinted and shaped; rugs and wall-hangings woven in native factories with designs taken exclusively from those affected by the peasantry in their apparel, bedding, etc., simply graceful, purely national and with no admixture of foreign embellishments; and various other articles of furniture, each bearing the stamp of its Polish and peasant origin, though brought to the level of middle-class exigencies and refinement. It would be no hard matter to furnish apartments almost exclusively in this style, from the walls, covered with patterns such as the country girls cut out of coloured paper and paste inside their whitewashed " izbas "—a judicious selection has of course to be made here—to the door-hangings and window-curtains, quaintly fastened with broad peasants' girdles of red leather studded with brass nail heads; and I am informed that such furnishing produces an extremely original effect. But the movement in this direction, though rapidly spreading, is scarce past its starting-point as yet, and I have only met with a few rugs, flower-pots, and similar objects, amongst incongruous suites of furniture and rooms decorated according to foreign tastes. Without having exhausted the subject—indeed, this article is but the merest sketch—I must now make a few final remarks. I have at least pointed out some of the channels into which Poland, thirty years ago dying and all but dead, has since then turned all the forces which make for her existence, with such success that her internal life may now be regarded as assured. No small part of this success is, it is true, due to the very great fecundity of the race. We remember the sneer of the Prussian Sienkiewicz (who began by a series of short sketches in the Czas feuilleton) and his by no means servile imitators; the " decadent" writers, whose very aberrations have increased the riches of the national literature to no small extent; and the authors of the naturalistic school, whose style and language is elaborated with the care of a Maupassant or of a Stevenson--all attest tha high literary possibilities of their native tongue, and also the patriotism of those who in spite of the cosmopolitan influences which surround them, still prefer the writers of their own people, and make literature not indeed a lucrative, but a possible avocation. And not only is Polish literature thus sustained by the feeling that the life of the nation depends upon it, but the same feeling tends instinctively to encourage (though of course in a lower degree) all forms of strictly Polish ornamental and decorative art. There is in Cracow a museum devoted to these productions, which I have often visited; it] is filled with original work taken from patterns gleaned amongst the peasants with long and patient toil, and carefully and tastefully chosen. I do not here allude to the curious wood-carvings which are made in many country places; these are ornamental indeed, and every family that visits a watering-place in the Carpathians takes home to Lithuania or Posen, or the Ukraine, some souvenirs of dainty handiwork and real artistical value : but] they are more or less of the same type as those of other countries. The museum I speak of contains large chests covered with sculptured and painted patterns and arabesques, quaint both in design and in colour; specimens of native pottery that in the opinion of judges well qualified to decide, 38 Poland's Struggle for Existence Chancellor Biilow, who, in order to justify his up-pressive measures, compared the Poles to rabbits. There was much truth in his sneer. Notwithstanding the thousands who emigrate annually, never to return, driven away by political persecution from some provinces, by sheer misery from others; notwithstanding the backward state of sanitation, and the ignorance of hygiene amongst the people, whose families often number three children born for one arrived at maturity—still the Polish race increases; it increases so fast that the Germans already fear for their predominance in the provinces seized, and the Russians despair of ever Russianising Poland. The mere increase in numbers would be worth little; but as I have shown, there is a corresponding increase of intensity in the national spirit; as education is more and more widespread, even the lowest classes now become penetrated with the reminiscences of their past—of Boleslaus the Great, of Sigismund, of Sobieski—and with the knowledge and love of Polish literature, both that of former times and that of the present day. In presence of this movement, the Germans talk of uprooting (ausrotten was the famous expression used by Bismarck) all that is Polish. But is it possible to do it? And are they even able to realise the greatness of the task which they have set themselves ? Hitherto, by their own confession, they have failed; but this failure only gives them a feeling of surprise and mortification, only makes them resolve to try again and try harder to turn their three millions of Poles into Germans. I remember having once experienced a similar feeling. When a very little boy, I was playing in a garden, where was a shallow stream, not three Cervantes 39 feet wide. I conceived the idea of damming up the running water, and setting quickly to work had soon filled the three feet of its bed with clay and stones. What was my amazement to see the stream widen on either side as I worked ! I made the dam wider still; but soon the water was pouring over the top. I built the dam higher, but now the stream came round again to right and left; till at last, worn out and completely beaten, I saw my work swept away piece by piece. The forces of Nature were against me. M. H. Dziewicki. CERVANTES Rugadh Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ann an Alcala de Henares, baile ann an Spàinn, anns a' bhliadhna 1547. Bha 'athair 'na dhuin'-uasal o Ghalicia, agus bhuin a mhàthair dha 'n duthaich cheudna. Chaidh Cervantes àrach ann an Salamanca, agus 'na dheigh sin, fhuair e fhoghlum ann am Madrid fo Lopez de Hoyos, a bha 'na fhear-teagaisg snas-chainnt sgrìobhadh anns an àrd-sgoil aig an am ud. An uair a bha Cervantes mu dhà-bhliadhn'-air-fhichead a dh'aois, fhuair e àite, car tamhuil, mar ghille-seomair ann an tigh Chardinal Guilio Aqua-viva ann an Roimhe. 'Na dheigh sin a rìs, chuir e, le shaor-thoil fèin, e fèin fo'n cheannard ainmeil Marco Antonio Colona, a bha 'na àrd-mharaiche air cabhlaich a' Phàpa anns a' bhliadhna 1570; agus chog e gu smiorail, misneachail, an aghaidh nan ana-creidmheach. Chaidh a leòn gu trom aig 40 Cervantes blàr mara Lepanto, ach an deigh sin, bha e breac-bìtheanta na chuireadh ann an camp' eile. Ghlacadh e le cabhlach a thàinig o Africa, agus rinneadh prìosanach dheth. Ach air dha 'bhith dà bhliadhna am prìosan, leigear fa sgaoil e, anns a' bhliadhna 1580. Agus air dha 'teachd air ais do'n Spàinn, dh'ath-choinnich e an armailt a chuir an dara Rìgh Philip a mach 'ga thagairt fèin o làimh nam Pàganach. Fhuair e cliù, mòr dha fèin ann an turus naimhdeil a chuir an Rìgh ceudna an aghaidh nan Azores. Air dha 'teachd air ais a rìs do'n Spàinn, anns a' bhliadhna 1584, dh'fhàg Cervantes an t-arm, agus chaidh e a leth-taobh, Ios barrachd cothrom 'fhaotainn air fèin-fhoghlum. Anns a' bhliadhna 1584, chuir e mach ròlaista dùtcha ris an abrar Galatea, agu sphòs e anns a' bhliadhna cheudna. An sin, thoisich e ri sgrìobhadh air buird tighe-cluiche, agus chuir e mach ann am beagan ùine cor agus deich cleasan-cluiche thar fhichead. Am feadh na bliadhna 1588, bha Cervantes a' gabhail còmhnuidh ann an Seville, ach cha robh e, mo thruaighe ! ach glè bhochd. Anns a' bhliadhna 1605, nochd e e fèin a rìs mar sgrìobhadair, agus sgaoil a nis a chliù feadh na Spàinne gu lèir. Chaidh a' cheud earrain do'n leabhair ainmeil d'an ainm Don Quixote a chuir a mach ann am Madrid; ach cha do thaitinn e ris an t-shluagh an toiseach, ged a bha 'n Roinn Eorp uile 'toirt chliù dha ann an ùine bhig. Ged a dh'fhàs an obair ainmeil so taitneach ris na Spàinntich, cha d'rinn e duine beartach de Cher-vantes. Ach, bochd agus mar a bha e, thug e a h-uile oidhirp air 'inbhe a leasachadh. Air dha 'bhith 'na thosd fad beagan bhliadh- Cervantes 41 naichean, chuir e mach a Dha Sgeulachd Ionmholta Dheug (Nowlas Exemplares); agus anns a' bhliadhna 1614, chuir e a rìs a mach a Thurus do Pharnassus ( Viaje al Parnaso); agus air an ath bhliadhna chuir e mach ochd cleasan-cluiche nuadha; ach, cha do ghabh an sluagh gu caoimhneil riu idir. Thacair, anns a bhliadhna 1614 gu'n do chuireadh a mach earran-leanmhuinn bhreugach de Don Quiasote,, le duin' àraidh d'am b'ainm Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda, anns an robh mòran de droch-chainnt mu thimchioll Chervantes. Dh' fhuiling Cervantes gu mòr air taileamh nan tuaileasan neo-onorach so; ach ghabh e a dhioghaltas gu tur air dhòigh ro urramach; oir chuir e mach an fhìor earran-leanmhuinn anns a' bhliadhna 1615. An deireadh a làithean, fhuair Cervantes caraid d'am b'ainm Conde de Lesmos, agus thug an t-Iarla comhnadh dha, agus ghabh Cervantes còmhnuidh ann am Madrid. Shiubhail e an sin anns a' bhliadhna 1616. Air do'n tigh anns an a bh'aig Cervantes ann am Madrid a' bhi air a thogail suas ùr anns a' bhliadhna 1835, chuireadh dealbh-creadha Chervantes leis a' ghabh-altaiche Don Antonio Sola air beulaobh an tighe, mar chuimhneachan air. Is ann mar sin a bha Cervantes ri bheò, agus is ann mar sin a shiubhail e—duine ro chliùtach fad an t-saoghail uile. Tha mòran sluaigh aig an àm so a' comh-chruinneachadh ann an Spàinn, agus a' dol an sin o dhùthaichean eile mar chuimhneachan air a bhàs; agus, fìrinneach, tha e ceart agus fre-grach do Ghàidheal na h-Alba agus do Ghàidheal na h-Eirinn maille ris na cinnaich eile a bhi 'ga luaidh le meas agus le cliù. An uair a rugadh Cervantes ann an Spàinn, bha Alba is Eirinn fo dragh mòr air ait, agus 42 Cervantes gu'n robh fior ghainnead muladach bhàrda agus eachdraichean unnta air fad uile " fhearainn ghorm nan Gàidheal". Sgriobh Keating, a bha 'mairean an uair, agus a bha 'ga fhallach, ann an uamh air eagal nan Sasunnach, agus an uair a bha a' chuid eile dhe na bàrda agus dhe na seannach-aidhean Gàidhealach mar chaoiraich gun bhuach-aille. Sheinn bàrd neo-ainmichte ann an Eirinn aig an àm mhuladach ud mar so " Ionann dam sliabh a's saile Eire a's iarthar Espàine Do chuireas dunta go deas Geata dlùth ris an doilgheas ". Ach, ged a dha Alba agus Eirinn anns a' gheur-leanmhuinn mhòr aig an àm ud, bha mòran Sha-gartan na h-Alba agus na h-Eirinn a' fuireach air allaban ann an Spàinn. Ghabh muintir fhialaidh, fhiughantach na Spàinne ri clann nan Gàidheal le aoidheach a bha nadurra dhaibh, agus, gun teagamh* thug na Gàidheal meas mòr is cliù do Chervantes, agus dha obairean iongantach. Bha oil-thighean na Spàinne lom-làn do mhuinntir na Gàidhealtachd, agus do mhuinntir na h-Eirinn ; agus 'nam measg, gun teagamh, bha mòran a bha 'nam bàrda eireachdail, agus a bha 'nan fir-sgrìobhaidh sheolta. Ach ged a bha muinntir na Spàinne agus clann nan Gàidheal cho cairdeil ri chèile, a rèir coltais, cha do ghluais obairean Chervantes inntinnean fir-sgrìobhaidh nan Gàidheal. Tha e cinnteach nach 'eil sgrìobhadh againn an diugh is urrainnear a shloinneadh air luchd-molaidh Chervantes. Gn fìrinneach, cha 'n 'eil so cho neonach, an uair a bheir sinn fainear (mar is còir dhuinn), gur e fìor-bheagan de na sgrìobhaidhean a bha air an rinnea aig an àm ud a thàinig a nuas gus an là diugh. Aig an àm ud agus rè mhòran bhliadh Cervantes 43 naichean an deigh sin, lean foghlum na h-Alba agus foghlum na h-Eirinn an dòigh ghnathaichte. Fhuair sinn ar samhlaidhean air son sgrìobhaidh o na Romanaich, agus o na Greugaich. Bha fir-sgrìobhaidh na h-Eirinn, agus na h-Alba air a cumadh a rèir nan àrd-sgeulachdan aosda. Bha Togail Throidh, agus sgeulachdan mu thimchioll Alasdair mhòir nan Greugach, agus an Odessidh (Merugud Oiluix) uile 'nan culaidh-sgrìobhaidh aig Gàidheal na h-Eirinn agus na h-Alba. Dh'ullaich na fir-sgrìobhaidh nach do ghabh ri cleachdadh na Romanach agus nan Greugach iad fèin air son aobharan sgrìobhaidh a thug a h-aon sam bith a stigh do'n dùthaich so. Ach, ged nach do ghluais Cervantes ar fhoghlum fèin, fhuair e, gu dearbh, mòran de fhir-molaidh agus de leughadairean ro thuigseach am measg nan Gàidheal; agus tha e freagarach agus ceart gu'n deanamaid gàirdeachas aig an àm so maille ri muinntir uasal, fhialaidh, na Spàinne. Ach, mo thruaighe ! cha 'n 'eil eadar-theangachd againn air Don Quixote anns a' chainnt bhinn nan Gàidheal. Tha sinn an earbsa, co dhiùbh, gu'm be e 'nar comas a ràdh aig an àm so an àth bhliadhna nach 'eil dìth eadar-theangachd orinne a thaobh na h-obair ainmeil sin. Tha e air a ràdh, gu'n d'rinn a h-aon do Shagairtan na h-Alba Don Quixote a chuir ann an Gàidhlig. Is e so, gu dearbh, an t-àm dha a chuir a mach. Thog Cervantes d'a fèin :— -monumentum sere perennius Regalique situ Pyramidum altius Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Possuit diruere, aut innumerabilis Annorum series, et fuga temporum. 44 The ''Pushful" Theory in Scottish History THE "PUSHFUL" THEORY IN SCOTTISH HISTORY We have already seen that the keynote of David's policy with respect to Church and State was " compromise". He was, if not by inclination, at all events by policy and necessity, a "moderate" rei former. He was a plodding pedestrian on the via media—that uninteresting thoroughfare down which many a sovereign and statesman has tramped to brilliant success. His sympathies, there can be no doubt, were strongly English, or rather Norman and feudal; and it must be allowed that he acquitted himself in a difficult, even critical, position with both address and courage. We have already combated the view that David was a great innovator—that he revolutionised his kingdom from top to bottom. We have already seen that his reforms with respect to the Church were limited to changes affecting its external organisation, and in no wise concerned the general personnel of the Church, whose Celtic character the king was powerless to eradicate. A similar tolerance, the obvious result of a wholesome respect for the rights and opinions of his Celtic subjects and the vehemence with which, if tampered with, they were wont to be asserted, is observable in David's actions with regard to the State. The " theory of displacement" which Chalmers laboured abundantly, though vainly, to prove is as untenable in the one case as it is in the other, and for precisely the same reasons, namely, the King's inability to displace, or to dispossess, a whole nation in order to gratify his own prepossessions, and those of a The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History 45 handful of foreign dependants. " The whole theory (of displacement)," says Robertson,1 "is mythical. Such a measure would have raised all Scotia to the Forth, all Lothian to the Tweed, in one general blaze of insurrection." It must be allowed that David's predilection for the Normans was a little singular, and if it is to be accounted for at all can only be explained by a paradox—his lengthened residence at a Norman court. The more we know of these Normans, the less will any self-respecting individual pretend to admire them; and the more ignorant and ridiculous will that notion appear whose unworthy aim and object is the apotheosis of these unprepossessing barbarians. " The Norman Conquest," says Dr. Murray,* "... overthrew the old English learning and literary culture. In literary culture the Normans were about as far behind the people whom they conquered as the Romans were when they made themselves masters of Greece; and it was not till some two generations after the Conquest that learning and literature regained in England somewhat of the position which they had occupied two centuries earlier." David's partiality for these people, therefore, must have been based on admiration for the system of government with which, by a singular accident, their Conquest of England has been associated; since it would not be just to consider him as an enemy to politeness and learning. The feudal system aggrandised the King at the expense of his subjects—reason enough, surely, for a far less ambitious sovereign than David was to espouse 1 Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. ii., p. 498. * The Evolution of English Lexicography (Eomanes Lecture, 1900). 46 The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History 47 key not only to his public actions but to his private conduct. David little loved Celticism and his Celtic subjects, we have every reason to believe; but he was too wise a man, too astute a Prince, not to see that he must, to a great extent at all events, put up with them. Thus, and so only, his seeming moderation is satisfactorily explained; and we cease to wonder that a Sovereign who introduced charters into Scotland should have retained Scottish service side by side with that striking innovation. The reign of David, as Skene and Robertson justly observe, was a period of compromise. Content with introducing the leaven which was subsequently to change the whole complexion of his kingdom, David's common-sense made him shrink from attempting that colossal task which latter-day historians, neither discouraged by his helplessness nor dismayed by his difficulties, have successfully accomplished for him (on paper), namely, the substitution of feudalism for Celticism in Scotland by force of hand. However inimical to the latter David may have been, his sole chance of success—nay, his only chance of retaining his throne—lay in dissembling his hostility and in disguising his innovations in such a manner as whilst it did not in the least degree jeopardise or impair the political intention of his reforms, seemed effectually to deprive them of their revolutionary character. In this respect, it must be admitted, David was a highly successful sovereign. His command of compromise, if I may so express myself, amounted to genius, and will have its appropriate reward in the unstinted admiration and the enduring envy of the party politician in all ages to come. So artfully were his innovations introduced, so skilfully propagated, and upon so its cause, and call it, effusively, his own. The Celtic system, with its limited royal prerogatives, its well-ascertained and sharply-defined royal and semi-royal rights, its nicely-balanced division of executive power, and its somewhat socialistic system of land tenure, must have been thoroughly odious to a man of David's political temperament and views. His passion for feudalism (for such, indeed, it amounted to) seems to have blinded him to the striking inferiority of the " new " civilisation which he introduced, and to its comparative rudeness and crudeness in face of all that was best and most splendid in the system which he designed to overthrow. It must be remembered that when David mounted the throne he was practically a stranger in his own country. All his principles, domestic and public, had been formed abroad. Norman and English arms were largely responsible for his triumph, and his notions of personal government were almost necessarily such as were approved, and enforced, by his foreign supporters. But David, in addition to his training in a court in which the Sovereign was proclaimed as the heaven-sent depositary of executive power, and as the sole fount of honour, had a natural liking for feudalism. The constitutional forms identified with the Celtic system were to him merely so many obstacles to the possession of that measure of power which he evidently considered as essential to the monarchy—obstacles which, if he could not violently surmount, he must at all events diplomatically circumvent. And this enforced moderation of David—his seeming candour, and the remarkable tenderness, even fatherliness—where the interests and susceptibilities of his Celtic subjects were concerned, which he frequently exhibited, supplies the 48 The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History 49 view of the popular ignorance on the subject, and the obvious bearing of such a theory upon the theme discussed in these papers, I may perhaps be excused for venturing here to recur to it at some length. In the first place, the theory of displacement is unscientific, though frequently resorted to in history in order to reconcile apparently discordant facts, or to " round off " some theory or other upon whose acceptance or rejection the writer, like a reckless gambler, is prepared to risk a single throw of the dice. Thus, Keating in his well-known History of Ireland destroys the Milesian plebs by pestilence in order to make way for his nobles who were essential to his genealogies. "But the theory," says Robertson, "is scarcely less extravagant which supposes ancient Scotia to have been filled with a population unknown to history—for when did they (the Normans, etc.) arrive 1 untraceable in topography—for where are their vestiges ? and who, if they ever really existed in this quarter, must have exhibited the unwonted spectacle of a dominant people, strong enough to hold their ground throughout the leading provinces of the kingdom, yet submitting to the rule of a king and a nobility sprung from the very race they are supposed to have driven from the soil! Where was the strength of the ancient Gaelic kingdom of Scotland, if it were not in this very quarter ?"1 The theory of displacement is yet more strikingly confuted by the names of the probi homines, that is, by the composition of the juries which pronounced "the verdict of the neighbourhood" in times subsequent to the reigns of David and his successor, William the Lion. The local notabilities 18oo(land under her Early Kings, vol. ii., p. 485. D plausible pretexts and pretences, that his Celtic subjects seem to have been scarce aware of the species of political legerdemain to which they were being subjected—in order to facilitate their eventual extinction. Indeed, strange as it may seem, even a careful consideration of David's actions, public and private, might not unreasonably result in the verdict that this Prince's innovations were by no means inconsistent with a desire to perpetuate the best features of the Celtic polity; whilst those to whom paradox is something more than stage ornament, a narrative constructed out of the abundance of material left us, and based on the contention that David left his kingdom yet more Celtic than he found it, would prove not only diverting but highly edifying reading. The crop of fallacies connected with the reign of the first David is, however, by no means exhausted by the dissipation of such popular fables as his destruction of the Celtic Church, or his suppression of the Celtic policy in favour of feudalism. It is commonly believed that, in company with his foreign Churchmen, David imported into Scotland a multitude of Norman and English " barons " who, in reward for their services in assisting David to mount the throne, were given grants of the lands, titles, offices, etc., formerly in the hands of the dispossessed Scots. This " theory of displacement," as Eobertson styles it, found its most industrious and, perhaps, its ablest exponent and champion in the historian Chalmers; and with that persistency and hardihood which characterises exploded fables, it still holds its ground, at all events in the popular imagination. Historical science, however, has long since consigned it to its proper resting-place, which is the limbo for all such historical rubbish; but in 50 The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History 51 "displace" or dispossess the native proprietary; but strove, on the contrary, to retain them in their native provinces, rendering them more or less responsible for all that portion of their respective districts which was not placed under the authority of the royal sheriffs or baillies. "In Galloway, Argyll, and Ross," says Robertson, "the old races were thus confirmed in authority and the result was comparative peace." In Moray, however, where the old race was proscribed, not, be it remembered, in pursuance of a deliberate policy, whose end was the violent suppression of the Moray rulers, but in consequence of the undying hostility of that family to the line of Atholl, and its frequent and bloody attempts to wrest the crown from the descendants of Malcolm II., feudal tenure was forcibly introduced; " and the result was rebellion for a century".1 Elsewhere, adds Mr. Robertson, a similar policy " would have unquestionably produced corresponding results". Confiscation would have been followed by rebellion; and rebellion by anarchy, in which the monarchy so far at all events as David and his family were concerned must inevitably have perished. "The Gaelic earls," says Mr. Robertson, " were never ' pushed' out; and if the remaining proprietary were dispossessed, where would have been the use of legislating for thanes (toiseachs ?) and ogtierns in the reign of Alexander II. ? "' " The whole theory (of displacement) is mythical. Such a measure would have raised all Scotia to the Forth, all Lothian to the Tweed in one general blaze of insurrection."2 "I think it very doubtful," adds Mr. Robertson, "if either earldom or thanedom 1 Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. ii., p. 495. 'Ibid., vol. ii., p. 498. appearing in such essentially " lowland" districts as Angus, and the eastern seaboard of Scotland generally, are of Celtic origin; whilst in Renfrew, " when Patrick de Blantyre was served heir to his ancestral barony, the jury to a man were of Gaelic origin, and must have been ' his peers,' barons or free-holders by charter. Renfrew had been given as a barony to the Steward, but the probi horniim seem to have been little affected by the grant."1 But the view of David's policy taken in these papers—a policy which, according to Robertson, appears to have been founded " on a principle diametrically opposed to this theory of displacement" in Church and State—receives its most striking confirmation in that monarch's attitude towards his Norman and English followers. In no single case, so far as is known, were the services and fidelity of his foreign henchmen rewarded with gifts of native honours, whether "dispossessed" or otherwise. Bruce, FitzAlan, De Moreville and other great Norman barons never appear as Scottish earls, but only with "the rights and customs" of earls—a limitation of authority and prestige which was strictly their due as adventurers in a foreign land. As Robertson justly observes, " holding by Scottish service they would have been powerless without a kindred ' following' ; whilst a feudal tenure would have interfered with the proprietary rights of the very class which formed the military strength of the earldom ".2 An alien earl, holding by feudal tenure, would have had to conquer his earldom from the proprietary; which was doubtless the reason why David and his immediate successors wisely did not endeavour to 1 Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. ii., p. 487, 3 Ibid., vol ii., p. 495. 52 The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History were originally conferred upon baron or knight; or if any earldom was held by feudal tenure until Brute gave Moray to Randolph (1372), to be held by both knight service and Scottish service."1 The glaring insufficiency, not to say absurdity, of this theory of dispossession or displacement is plainly discovered by a glance at the racial composition of the Scottish nobility at the end of the reign of David I. Additional refutation, if indeed any be needed, is abundantly supplied by the names of the probi homines appearing in the charters of that period; and, lastly, in the various laws promulgated by that Prince and his Celtic successors on the throne of Alba.2 The Nobility of Alba, shotving its Racial Compleosion at the End of the Reign of David I. (1153) Angus, Gaelic. Atholl, Gaelic. Fife, Gaelic. Marr, Gaelic. Strathearn, Gaelic. Menteith, Gaelic. Lennox, Gaelic. Boss, Gaelic. Moray, suppressed 1130, but said to have been conferred upon Gillocher Earl of Marr, whose descendant, Donald, claimed to represent the earldom at the end of the thirteenth century. Mearns, vacant, possibly suppressed after Malpeder. The relations between Moray and Mearns seem to have been of a very intimate nature. Buohan, Gaelic. 1 Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. ii., p. 498. 2 The same observation applies with equal force to the Church. The names of ecclesiastics appearing in charters whether as probi homines or otherwise are, with few exceptions, Gaelic. The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History 53 Kingdom of the Isles (Gaelic). Caithness, Norse, originally Gaelic. Argyll, Gaelic ["names like de Ergadia, de Insulis, de Atholia, de Galloway speak for themselves," Robertson, vol. 11., p. 491. They indicate, of course, a Gaelic origin]. Truly, the theory of displacement is responsible for many absurdities, amongst which we must not forget to reckon the old familiar nonsense (still doing duty in many a humble newspaper and guidebook) touching the " Highland line " or " boundary" —that imaginary erection which is popularly supposed to represent the racial barrier which separates Gael from Saxon, and Celt from Teuton. Alluding to the displacement of the population of the Lothians in the reign of David I. by settlers from England—an equally fanciful measure—Dr. Robertson observes, " beyond the river (Forth) the Highlands form a convenient receptacle into which all the dispossessed proprietary of native Gaelic origin are supposed to have been ' pushed' —such is the word sometimes used. It is not specified, however, where the native proprietary of Teutonic origin were ' pushed' out of the Lothians, perhaps because it might be inconvenient to find a place for them! When David laid down the enactment that if a man were disseized, or disposed of his property, he was no longer to challenge the aggressor, but to appeal to the verdict of the neighbourhood, it may be gathered that there were rights of property before his reign; and that the loss of such rights in individual cases was resented by an appeal to the sword. Yet are we called upon to believe that whilst such was the legal custom in individual general measure of disseisin was gradually carried out amongst a population never backward, but rather over-ready in 54 The "Pushful" Theory in Scottish History making such an appeal, and over the whole faoe of Scotia and the Lothians—over the whole of the well-affected portion of the kingdom ! A measure so vast that not a name of any note has come down to the present day that can be traced to the old Bernician Angles ; whilst the shattered remnants of the Gaelic proprietary sheltered themselves amidst the Highlands and in Galloway! The whole theory is mythical," etc. Alluding to the " Perambulation of the lands of Balfeith," Mr. Innes says (Sketches, p. 147, note 1): " This jury of Celtic gentlemen of the low country of Angus and Mearns contrasts notably with the list of burgesses of Dundee and Aberdeen of Norman and Saxon names and Teutonic lineage, occurring about the same time". "In the thirteenth century," says Mr. Robertson, " the native proprietary were not yet eradicated. When, then, were they displaced? As the bulk of the population connected with the soil to the northward of the Forth seem to have borne Celtic names, it may be concluded that the majority of the rural population from the earl downwards were of native (Gaelic) origin. The burghers were originally almost invariably of alien extraction; but a civic population never migrates into the country, whilst there is always a constant stream of population pouring from the rural districts into the towns. What a tide has been pouring into Glasgow from the mountains for many generations past! Yet how many of the good citizens have emigrated into Argyllshire ? ... So far from the old Scottish race in these quarters being driven into the Highlands, it would seem rather as if a vast number from the Highlands had been absorbed by the civic population. The original Scots were no more driven out of the Lowlands by the Fionn Mac Cumhail 55 advance of the Teutons than have the original Franks been driven out of Salic France by the encroachments of the Romans." ^ FIONN MAC CUMHAIL Aig sinn-sinnseanar Rìgh Eirinn bho'n chòigeamh glun 's ann a lionsgair na Fiantaichean. 'S e dithis agus triuir a bha iad a' faighinn a h-uile bliadhna de dhaoine mòra agus boirionnaich anns an robh sia traidhean. Bhathas 'gam pòsadh sin ri chèile, agus an sliochd a bha 'tighinn bhuapa bha miadachd mhòr mhòr unnta. 'Sann dhiubh so a rinneadh rèiseamaid mhòr nam Fiantaichean. 'Sann air son cur as do na Lochlannaich a chaidh an togail an toiseach. Ri ùine fhuair iad iad fhèin cho làidir 's gun do chuir iad litir gu Rìgh Eirinn nach ruigeadh e leas dùil a bhith aige ri 'n cuideachadh-sa ri 'bheò no ri 'bhàs. Rinn iad Rìgh dhaibh fhèin an sin air Cumhal. 'Se naoi naonan a bh'ann diubh an toiseach, ge b'e air bith am barrachd a bh'ann nuair a rinneadh rìgh de ChumhaL 'Nuair a bha Cumhal 'na rìgh orra, cha robh 'chrìdh' aig duin' an tilleadh, ged a bha gu leòir air fheadh an t-saoghail na bu treasa na iad. Chuir Cumhal a mach lagh nach robh duine a dhianadh cron nach sgaradh iad bhuapa. Bha aon fhear an sin, ciod e 'rinn e ach. . . . Rug iad air agus chuir iad . . . mu 'amhaich, agus dh'fhuaigh iad e air chor's nach tugadh duine sam bith as e. Chuir iad air falbh bhuapa buileach e, agus cha chanadh iad facal ris ach Area Dubh. 56 Fionn Mac Cumhail Chaidh e 'so gu peilis Rìgh Eirinn e fhèin 'sa bhean. Chuir e bràth a stigh thun an rìgh gun robh gnothach beag aige ris. Thàinig an Rìgh a mach agus mhuthaich e dha, agus dh'fhoighneachd e dheth ciod e 'n duine 'bh'ann. Thuirt Area an sin gu'm b'esan fear dhe na Fiantaichean. " Nach tu," os an Rìgh, " a chaill do nàire nuair a thàinig thu 'nam aodann an deis do'm shinn-sinnseanair 'ur cur cruinn agus sibh a dhealachadh, bhuam a rithisd, is nach ruig sinn leas dùil a bhith againn cuideachadh fhaighinn bhuaibh." "'N ta," os Area, "'o chionn gur a mise 'bha 'g iarraidh orra thus' a leantail chuir iad so mu'm amhaich mar thàmailt, 's chuir iad bhuapa mi Thàinig mi far' robh sibh fhèin gus sibh a thoirt dhomh cuideachadh." "Cha 'n urrainn domhsa cuideachadh a thoirt dhuit, a leithid de dhuine mòr," os an Rìgh. " Cha 'n iarr mi ach iasgach na h-aibhne," os Area, "agus cumaidh mi iasg ribh fhèin air 'ur braiciost." "Gheibh thu sin agus innis dhomh ciamar a chuirear Cumhal gu bàs," os an Rìgh. " Cha do thog Cumhal shil ri gin riamh ach boirionnach ro-bhriagh," os Area. "'N ta," os an rìgh, "'sann agamsa a tha an aon bhoinne fala a's àille 'tha fo'n ghrein. 'S còir dhuinn litir a chur 'ga ionnsaidh." Sgriobh Rìgh Eirinn litir an sin gu Cumhal e 'thighinn far an robh e, gu'm faigheadh e maithte na rinn e 'na aghaidh. Dh'fhalbh Cumhal an sin, agus chaidh e do'n phoilis aig Rìgh Eirinn; 's nuair a ràinig e chuireadh dinneir gu feum dhaibh. Shuidh iad aig bòrd, 's cha robh Cumhal a' leagail a shùl bhar nighean Rìgh Eirinn. " Cha chreid mi," os an rìgh, " nach 'eil thu air gaol a ghabhail air an nighinn." Breith Fhinn 57 "An ta," osa Cumhal, "'s i 'n aon bhoinne fala a's docha leam a chunnaic mi riamh." " Ma sa h-i pòs thu fhèin's i fhèin ma tu." Phòs iad an sin agus oidhche na bainnseadh aca chuireadh Area Dubh 'n aon seomar riutha 'am falach. Nuair a chunnaic Area 'sin an t-àm . . . thug e 'n ceann bhar Chumhail le 'chlaidheamh fhèin Mac-an-luin. Bhuail a bhean a basan. 'Nuair a chunnaic Bran Mac-an-luin aig Area lean e Mac-an-luin agus Area. BREITH FHINN Dh'fhàs a bhean trom, 's chuir an righ a mach achd nam b'e nighean a bhiodh ann gu'm biodh iad coma mu'deighinn, nach togadh i tòrachd a h-athar, ach nam b'e gille 'bhiodh ann gun reachadh a mharbhadh cho luath 's a thigeadh e 'dh-ionnsuidh an t-saoghaiL Ann an ceann nan tri ràidhean thuisleadh ise air leanabh nighinn, agus le toileachadh 's le toilnntinne 'rinn an righ cha robh duine 'bha mu'n champa nach robh marbh leis an daoraich. A bhean-ghliiin bu ghiorra dhith thuirt i rithe : " Seall ciod e 'th'agam an dràsd ?" "Tha agad an dràsd," os ise, "pàisde gille." "Eirich thus'," os i fhèin, "agus falbh leis, agus tog e." " 'N ann," os ise, "'s mi air mo mhionnachadh nam b'e gille 'bhiodh ann gun reachainn 'ga thoirt suas do'n rìgh gur e gille 'bhiodh ann ?" " Falbh thus' agus tog e; is cho fada 's is bonnach dhomhs'e 's bonnach dhuits' e, na ni eile 'bhios agam 's leat-sa do chuid dheth ach tog an gille." 58 Mar a Thogadh Fionn, 's Mar a Bhaisteadh e Dh'fhalbh a bhanaltram—a bhean-ghlùine 's thog i leatha'm pàisde, 's mach a ghabh i. Bha 'bràthair roimpe 'san rathad, 'se 'na shaor. " Eirich! eirich !" os ise, " cho luath 'sa rugadh tu. Thoir a choill' ort, is dean bothag dhomhsa, 's mi air cron a dheanamh air nighean an rìgh." Dh'eirich esa, is mach a thug e. Thug e 'choill' air, 's rinn e bothag dha phiuthair. 'Nuair a ràinig ise 'sin a bhothag bha i ullamh aig a bràthair roimpe. Dh'fhoighneachd e dhith: " Ciod e 'th'agad an sin?" " Cha 'n 'eil ach ni 'thug mi bho nighean an rìgh," os ise. " O cha 'n e idir. 'Sann a th'ann Mac Chumhail. Thoir dhomhs'e, 's gu'n cuir mi 'n ceann dheth leis an tuaigh." " Ealbh a stigh," os ise, " is gearr an sprod ud 'tha 'san fhordoruis m'um bi mo cheannsa 'bualadh ann a' tighinn a mach no 'dol a stigh." Chaidh e stigh, agus dh'ìrich ise do'n tobhtaidh ('sann a muigh a bha iad air a chnoc) 'san tuagh aice. Air tighinn a mach a bràthar air an doras, bhuail i faobhar na tuaighe air ann am mullach a chinn, 's chuir i leth air gach gualainn dhe ceann a bràthar. Chuir i 'sin a mach air an loch e, 's chaidh i fhèin a stigh, 's bha i 'cumail a' ghille air adhart cho math 'sa b' urra dhith. MAR A THOGADH FIONN, 'S MAR A BHAISTEADH E Nuair a thàinig an gille sin gu coiseachd, theirig am biadh a thugadh bho thigh an rìgh, agus chaidh bhanaltram thun a bhaile a choimhead màthair a Mar a Thogadh Fionn, 's Mar a Bhaisteadh e 59 ghille. Fhuair i uiread 'sa b' urra dhith 'thoirt leatha de bhiadh, agus 'nuair a bha i 'falbh de rinn mialchu a bha'n tigh an Rìgh ach a leantail air fàileadh na feòla. Bhiodh an gill' aice air fheadh an taighe, 's bha sguab dhreathann aice 'g eirigh air mu na casan 'ga ionnsachadh ri cruadal. Theirig am biadh a rithist di. Bha i 'dol a dh'ionnsuidh a bhaile a bh'iarraidh millidh; 's nuair a nochd i ris an dìtreamh far an robh nighean an rìgh, smaointich i gu'n do dh'fhàg i 'mhialchu stigh, 's gu'n robh 'n gill' air ich' aice. Thill i cho luath 'sa b' urra dhith dhachaidh do'n bhothaig. Bha 'n gille agus ceann a mhialchoin aige 's an darna làimh agus an druim anns an làimh eile an deaghaidh' cur a cnàimh na h-amhaich. 'Nuair a chunnaic i an t-euchd a rinn e, ghrad-thill i thun a bhaile, is dh'inns' i do nighean an rìgh gu'n do chuir an gille an dubh mhialchu a cnàimh na h-amhaich. "Tog thus' e," os i fhèin, "is fhad 'sa bhios mise beò cha chaill thus' air." Thill i dhachaidh do'n bhothaig. 'Nuair a fhuair an gille e fhèin cho làidir dh'eireadh e air a chaillich leis an sguabaidh 'chor 's nach d'fhàgadh lèobadh fèola no fala air a casan. Reachadh i 'sin a mach air an loch leis, gus an ruigeadh an t-uisge na ciochan aice 's greim aic* air chul-cinn air 's air smigid, 'g ionnsachadh snàmh dha. Bheireadh i air chùl-cinn air agus chuireadh i fo'n uisg' e, 's dh' eireadh e ann am miadhoin an locha thall. Chaidh i do'n bhaile a dh'iarraidh tuilleadh bidhe. Bha i 'ga thilleadh, ach cha ghabhadh e tilleadh bhuaipe. 'Nuair a nochd i 'sin ri Colaisde a bh'aig Easbuig ag ionnsachadh sgoilearan bha uair a chluichd bha iad ri snàmh a muigh 6o Rebellion air an loch. Mach esan le chuid aodaich 'nam measg. Bheireadh e air chùl-cinn air feadhainn diubh's chuireadh e fo 'n uisg' iad, 's bha e 'gam bàthadh mar sin. Co bha 'ga choimhead a muigh romh 'n uinneig ach an t-Easbuig, agus dh'eubh e 'sin " Co leis an gille mùgach fionn a tha 'bathadh mo chuid sgoilearan ?" " Taing do'n àgh" os a' chailleach, " fhuair mi baisteadh do'n ghille, 's tha 'dhiol uisge timchioll air." " O fhuair," os an t-Easbuig, " Fionn Mac Cumhail." Cha robh ach chuireadh saighdear bonn ri bonn timchioll an locha gus a mharbhadh. Alasdair Ruadh. REBELLION A deep and innate respect for law and order is a necessary corollary of man's intelligence. " United we stand, divided we fall," is a truth he feels as much instinctively as he apprehends it intellectually. Rousseau's figment of a social compact, containing as it does but a grain of truth, is no more than a convenient foundation on which to raise a revolutionary philosophy. Man naturally is a social being, nor can this state ever be to him a matter of choice or indifference. Ranked no higher than " the superb animal " which Huxley calls him, he is at least gregarious and naturally loves order and method. The common-sense of the world brands as absurd the idea that in things of State every man can be a law to himself. There is one law; one Rebellion 61 supreme tribunal representing the opinion of the whole or of the majority of the social body, and to this court from which there is no appeal, every man, whether he like it or not, is compelled to submit. Otherwise there is not merely rebellion but anarchy and the destruction of every form of social life. This is readily apparent in all that pertains to the body politic; so much so that in these islands the secular arm is strong and indeed irresistible. Yet strange as it may seem, in the higher and religious sphere the opposite and absurd opinion is calmly acquiesced in. Here every man is a law unto himself, with the consequent result that all is chaos and inextricable confusion. The kaleidoscopic spirituality of Great Britain is the mirth of the unbeliever; and sad to tell the ranks of these are constantly swelled by the ever-increasing numbers of men disheartened and disgusted by the wrangling clamours of those who should be of one heart and mind. It is absurdly strange that what cannot be tolerated in man's relations with his fellow-man becomes with so many a fundamental principle in their relations with their God. The pet Protestant dictum—in religion every man a law to himself—leads logically to rebellion, indifference, or unbelief. This is no mere theory which can be made to look convincing on paper. The short history of Protestantism gives abundant examples in each of the three cases. I take it for granted, apart altogether from experience, that such a principle must of necessity make for disunion—must be the starting-point of myriad sects and factions. If every man be his own judge, unity is impossible where ambition, wealth, or power are factors in the decision. 62 Rebellion On this principle, rebellion, or the active resistance to established law or government, very easily becomes a duty binding on conscience. I do not allude to the many strange cases of religious mania, when deluded men banded themselves together to overthrow and cut off the Amalacites, who were no other than their neighbours and fellow-citizens of yesterday. And yet how little different from such conduct was that of the " Lords of the Congregation" in Scotland. Their most lenient apologists do not deny that they drew the sword and fought against the troops of their sovereign in the field. They treated with those who were then the enemies of the national freedom, asking for and receiving subsidies of English soldiers and English gold. Who denies for one moment that the " reformation" bristled with treason and rebellion; and that its agents from Murray and Knox were the creatures, tools and pensioners of England ? And why not, if each and all be free to deduce from the Word of God that their sovereign is Jezebel or Agog, the Pope antichrist, and Catholics the brood of vipers which must not escape from the wrath of the just? But it may be said that these are early and extreme cases of which all are now ashamed Well, then, pass down through three hundred years, historically no great length of time, but filled with the wrangling war of Kirks, and view Scotland and England as they are before our eyes to-day. " Stands Scotland where she did ?" Exactly as we might have expected; only that the wrangling is at this moment at a stage specially acute. Two offshoots of the Established Church are at war. Though spiritual bodies, they have no powers to decide upon their grievances. They are forced to enter the law courts, each claiming to be recognised Rebellion 63 as what has been known as the Free Church of Scotland for some fifty years. After much expense and bitterness on both sides, a decision is given by the highest tribunal in the land. And now for the spirit of rebellion. The leaders of the defeated party who are supposed to preach reverence for law and order, scour the country denouncing both law and judges, and especially their successful opponents. Place the scene back a couple of hundred years and these inflammatory addresses must have filled the country with civil war once more. Then the state of the country was favourable to any band of fanatics who dared to brave the civil power; and in such a case as this the temptation would have been irresistible. The whole squalid wrangle is over money—a fact not lost upon the man in the street. The blind leaders of the defeated party were not aware as to where they were leading their people. In consequence both have fallen into the ditch; but they loudly implore that Parliament may extricate them and set them on their feet once more. The whole spectacle would be sorry enough were the division caused over any trivial matter, but the result is disastrous to religion when the supreme court of law declares that the majority has blindly wandered from the very essentials of their constitution as a Church. In England the spirit of rebellion is loudly in evidence. "Passive resistors" are very actively defying the law of the land. They have the same rights and means of redress as the rest of their fellow-citizens; yet they prefer to resist the law. And why ? Denominationalists cannot approve of the schools which please the passive resistors, and as little can these approve of denominational 64 Rebellion schools. Both have in consequence their own schools, and in numbers those of the denomination-alists are vastly in the majority. How are the schools maintained? The schools of the passive resisters, that is, of the minority, are built, equipped and maintained entirely out of public money, of which the resisters contribute not one penny more than the other ratepayers of the kingdom. The schools of the denominationalists have been built and maintained by themselves alone. They have received nothing more than a Government grant, based on the results of their teaching, so that besides maintaining the schools of the resisting minority— into which they conscientiously object to send their own children—they have had to build and maintain their own schools over and above. All this they did with a patience that passes belief. Lately, however, by substantial concessions, which almost take out of their power the schools which they themselves have built, a share of the rates has been obtained. This act of less than bare justice has passed both Houses of Parliament, received the royal assent, and become the law of the land. But here again the spirit of rebellion fostered by a spiritual system that panders to individual vanity, shows itself in its true and intolerant colours. The " passive resisters" refuse to pay the rate, and, headed by clergymen whose lawlessness is an outrage on religion, they have appeared in court and posed as martyrs for doing to denominationalists what these have for years been compelled to do for them. It is incredible what harm is done to the cause of education and religion by the loud-mouthed clamours of these self-styled passive resisters. Martyrdom is too cheaply bought at a few shillings a head to be an impressive spectacle to the most Rebellion 65 ignorant. It has all been a glorious chance of self-advertisement, and has been seized upon with an eagerness that rouses the contempt of every sensible man. If every law to which we object were to be so xesisted, where would be the possibility of social life, or of any form of representative institutions % If, instead of working for a redress of our grievances by constitutional means, we take the law into our own hands all government is impossible ; and there is transferred to the things of State the monstrous confusion, hatred and division which so sadly and inevitably blight the whole spiritual kingdom of Protestantism. The confines of the spiritual and temporal domains have not always clearly defined boundaries ; and he who is a law to himself in the spiritual world easily transfers to temporal duties a spirit of arrogance, resistance and rebellion. It is a sad spectacle to see ministers of religion heading movements such as this. They teach obedience to the State, and none can equal them in singing "God save the King!" yet the State is to be obeyed and the King to be honoured only in so far as they have the good sense or fortune to pander to the spirit of passive resistance. The "no popery" drum was beaten once more, but it is interesting to note that the performers were received with as broad a grin and stare as would accommodate an Indian in his war paint were he to appear in Piccadilly or the Strand But I have said that besides this spirit of open and suppressed rebellion, the pet Protestant theory leads to indifference and unbelief. This is an assertion that may be verified, by results at least, in every part of the country. Never were such despairing cries of indifference, non-churchgoing, 66 Rebellion want of divinity students and downright unbelief. Hostility to religion, whether such hatred be real or political, will have its passing phases everywhere; but certain it is that the Protestant principle of private judgment is suicidal to itself as a system. If I am free to respect any single portion of Scripture, may I not respect two, three, or even the whole thing? This is exactly where the higher critics have landed the Protestant Churches. Little wonder that students fear to come forward to preach a Bible that has scarcely a canonical book left in it. Or, rather, is it that more tempting careers are opening out in other directions? In either case, the waning power of Protestantism is apparent. The seal of death is upon it. Hostility without and disintegrating forces within, it can no more look for rejuvenation to the discredited means and weapons of other days. With the Bible gone, it is empty handed; and without the Bible its teaching is in no ways different from the ethics and natural theology of the recognised agnostic. All this we say, as so many nominal Protestants say around us, but though we write it from within the unity of the Universal Church we do so with no gloating satisfaction at the misfortunes of our neighbours. A strong man stricken with a mortal malady is ever a saddening spectacle. We also acknowledge that the losses of Protestantism are not the measure of Catholic gain. The winter of unbelief is long and cold, nor is the leaf and blossom and flower of spring the work of a single night. How we know not, but we can see the Church far off in honour and place after many years. It is the vision of the unfortunate Lammenais in which he compared the Church to the figures seen clearly at Iobairt na h-Aifrinn 67 the end of a long corridor. All is darkness along the sides; but at the far end in a blaze of light the Church is seen triumphant at last. D. M. IOBAIRT NA H-AIFRINN Tha 'n iobairt, 's an t-sacramaid so gu bhith 'san Eaglais gu deireadh an t-saoghail, Ios bàs Chrìosta chur an cèill, gus an tig e. Bha i air a bunachadh le Iosa e fèin; agus is i gnìomh de dh'aoraidh a's àirde 'san Eaglais. "'S air dhaibh a bhith ri'n suipeir, ghlac Iosa aran, agus bheannaich e, agus bhrist e, agus thug e dha dheisciopuill, agus thubhairt e: ' Gabhaidh agus ithibh : is e so mo chorpsa'. 'Sa 'glacadh na cailis, thug e taing, agus thug e dhaibh ag ràdh: ' Olaibh uile dhe so. Oir is i so m'fhuil-se an Tiomnaidh Nuaidh, a dhoirtear air son mòran gu mathanas pheacannan.'" Cha 'n 'eil Iosa ag ràdh ann is e so samhla mo chuirp; ach is e so mo chorp. Cha mhua tha e 'g ràdh, ann an so, no le so, tha mo chorp, ach, gu saor soilleir, is e so mo chorp, briathran gun teagamh tha teagasg pong a' bhrigh-atharrachaidh. Tha so 'na fhàisneachd air an urram a bheireadh an Eaglais anns gach linn do'n Iobairt Naomh. Sealladh Protastanaich ciod a' chuid a tha acasan anns na briathran so. A bhàrr air a bhith 'na gnìomh de dh'aoraidh a's àirde 'san Eaglais, tha 'n Aifrinn a' cur an cèill eachdraidh na Pais. Tha ùrnaighean na h-Aifrinne air an cur 'san ordugh a tha 'freagairt do dh'fhu-langas agus do bhàs ar Slànair; oir tha e ro iom-chuidh gu'm biodh fios aig gach fear ciod a tha h-uile h-earran de 'n Aifrinn Naoimh ag ciallachadh. 68 Iobairt na h-Aifrinn 'An àm do 'n t-Sagart dol a dh'ionnsaidh na h-Altrach, tha Iosa a' dol a stigh do Ghàradh Ghethsemanidh. Tha 'n Altair ag ciallachadh Beinn Chalbharidh, air an do chèusadh le tarcuis Iosa Grìosta, aon Mhac Dhè. Tha 'n Altair cuideachd na 'samhladh air a' bhòrd de 'n d'ich ar Slànair maille ri 'dheisciobuill a shuipeir dheireannach an oidhche mu'n d'fhuilig e. Is ann air so a tha 'n t-Ostal Pòl a' bruidhinn, Eabh. xiii. 10, far am beil e ag ràdh, " Tha Altair againn, dhe nach 'eil comas acasan iche a tha 'an seirbhis na pàillin ". An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' tòiseachadh air an Aifrinn, tha Iosa ri ùrnaigh anns a' ghàradh. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' lùbadh sios agus ag aideach a pheacannan 'an làthair Dhè, agus cùirt fhlathanais, tha Iosa a' tuiteam air 'aghaidh 's a' ghàradh. Tha peacannan an t-saoghail 'nan sac, 's 'ga chur ann an spàirn cho doruinneach's gu'm beil fallus-fala a' bruchdadh troimh chorp naomh. An uair a tha 'n sagart a' direadh suas a dh'ionnsaidh na h-Altarach, agus 'ga pògadh, tha Iosa a dol 'an coinnimh a nàimhdean, 's tha Iùdas] 'ga bhrath le pòig. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' dol gu oisinn na h-Altarach, 's a leughadh, tha Criosta air a ghla-cail, air a cheangal, 's air a tharrainn gu Annas. An uair a tha 'n Sagart ag ràdh " Kyrie Eleison," is e sin, "A Thighearna, dean tròcair oirnn!" tha 'n t-Ostal Peadar 'an cùirt Chaiphais ag àicheadh Iosa. Aig " Gloria in Excelsis Deo," tha sin a' deanamh aoibhneas maille ris na h-ainglean a tha 'làthair gu Iosa a chobhair, agus sòlas a' toirt dha air son àicheadh Pheadair. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a tionndadh ris an Iobairt na h-Aifrinn 69 t-sluagh agus ag ràdh " Dominus vobiscum !" sheall Iosa le bàigh air an Ostal Pheadar, agus thug e dha gràsan aithreachas. Aig leughadh na Litreach, tha Iosa, an deis mòran tàire fhulang ann an cùirt Chaiphas air a thoirt 'an lathair Philait. Aig a' Ghraduel, no'n Tract, tha na h-àrd-shagairt, agus na senairean ag iarraidh fianuise-brèige 'an aghaidh Iosa gus a chur gu bàs; agus an uair a tha 'n Sagart ag ùrnaigh aig miadhon na h-Altarach, tha Criosta air a thoirt 'an lathair Heroid. Aig leughadh an t-Soisgeul, tha Iosa 'ga chur air 'ais gu Pilat; agus aig a' Chrèud, tha Criosta a togail testeanais air an fhìrinn air bialaobh Philat. An uan* a tha 'n Sagart a' tairgse suas an arain agus an fhìona, tha Iosa 'ga thairgse fèin gu sgiùrsadh, 's 'fhuil phrìseil 'ga dòrtadh. Aig cuibhrigeadh na cailise, tha crùn dreathain 'ga chur air Iosa; agus an uair a tha 'n Sagart a' nigheadh a mhiar, tha Pilat ag glanadh a lamhan, 's ag innseadh gu follaiseach gu'n robh Iosa neo-chiontach. An uair a tha 'n Sagart 'ga chromadh fèin aig meadhon na h-Altarach agus a' leughadh, tha Iosa 'g èisdeachd ris a' phobull a' freagairt, "Biodh 'fhuil oirnne, 's air ar cloinn-ne!" Aig, Orate Fratres, tha Pilat a' fiachainn Iosa do'n t-sluagh, agus ag èigheach, " Seall an duine!" Aig na Secreta,1 tha Iosa air a dhiteadh gu bhi air a chèusadh. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' leughadh le guth àrd, agus an clèireach a' seinn a' chluig, 1 Naomhaioh, guidhimid ort, A Thighearna ar Dia, as leth ur gairm air d'ainm naomh, tobhartas na tairgse so; agus as a leth dean sinne fèin na 'r toìdhlaic siormith dhutsa. Per Dominium Oris tum nostrum." 7o Iobairt na h-Aifrinn tha iad a' cur na croise air guailnean Iosa. An uair a tha 'n Sagart ag ùrnaigh air son na h-Eaglaise le guth ìosal, tha Iosa a' giulan na croise air a ghuailnean crèuchdach gu Cnoc Chalbharidh, 'an geall air fulangas gus ar sàbhaladh. Aig Memento Domine famulorum, tha 'n Sagart a deanamh ùrnaigh an so air son na feadhnach is math leis a chòmhnadh le 'achanaich, tha Iosa a' tionndadh mu'n cuairt ris na mnathan, agus ag iarraidh orra, iad a bhi 'gal air an son fèin, agus air son an sliochd. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' cumail a làmhan os cionn an arain agus an fhìona, tha làmhan is casan Iosa 'gan tairneachadh ris a chrois. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' coisrigeadh an arain, agus a' togail suas na Sàcramaid, tha Iosa air a thogail suas air a chrann-chèusaidh. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' coisrigeadh an fhìona, agus a' togail suas na cailise, Ios gu'n toir am pobull aoradh do dh'Fhuil phriseil Chrìosta, tha Fuil Chrìosta a' sruthadh o 'lotan air a' chrois. Aig Memento Domine, far am beil an Sagart a' guidhe air son anmannan nan marbhchreideach, tha Iosa ag ùrnaigh air son an t-sluaigh a bha 'ga chèusadh. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' bualadh 'uchd, agus ag ràdh, "Nobis quoque peccatoribus," tha fear de na mèirlich a chaidh a chèusadh maille ri Crìosta, a' tionndadh gu aithreachas. Far am beil an Sagart ag ràdh " Urnaigh an Tighearna," tha sin a' ciallachadh nam facal mu dheireadh a labhair Iosa air a' chrois. Aig Agnus Dei, tha sinn ag ràdh, " Uain Dhè a tha 'toirt air falbh peacannan an t-saoghail, dean tròcair oirnn!" agus aig Domine non sum dignus, tha sinn ag ràdh, " A Thighearna, cha'n fhiach mise gu'n tigeadh tu stigh fo'm fhàrdaich, ach abair am facal a mhàin, 's bithidh m' anam sàbhailte ", Iobairt na h-Aifrinn 7* An uair a tha 'n Sagart ag gabhail Sàcramaid Corp agus Fuil Chrìosta, tha e ag cur an cuimhne dhuinn, gu'n d'thug Iosa suas an deò air a' chrois, gus ar saoradh o'r peacannan, a rèir briathran Phòil, "Cho tric 's a dh'itheas sibh an t-aran so, 's a dh'òlas sibh a' chailis, taisbeanaidh sibh bàs an Tighearna, gus an tig e" (1 Cor. xi. 26). An uair a tha 'n Sagart ag cuibhrigeadh na cailise, tha Corp Chrìosta, 'ga chur anns an uaigh, comhdaichte le lìonanart. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' tionndadh ris a' phobull, agus ag ràdh Dominvs xobiscum, tha Iosa ag eiridh o na mairbh, 's ga 'fhiachainn fèin do na deisciobuill. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' leughadh ùrnaigh dheireanach na h-Aifrinne, tha Iosa rè dà fhichead latha ann an cuideachda nan Ostal, agus nan deisciobul eile, 'gan soilleireachadh anns gach nì a thaobh creidimh. An uair a tha 'n Sagart a' deanamh comharradh na croise air a' phobull, agus a' toirt a bheannachd dhaibh, tha Iosa a' togail suas a làmhan, agus a' toirt a bheannachd do na deisciobuill agus a dol suas do fhlathanas 'nam fianais. Aig leughadh Soisgeul Naomh Eoin anns am beil mòrachd is diadhachd Iosa Chrìosta gu sònraichte air an dearbhadh, tha ar Tighearna Iosa Crìosta 'na shuidhe gu glòr mhòr air deas làimh an Athar shìorraidh. A nis, tha 'n Altair, 's gach ball a bhuineas dhi, a' chulaidh-aifrinn, na modhannan a thathas ag cleachdadh an àm na h-Iobairte, a' fiachainn dhuinn pais agus bàs Mhic Dhè. Tha na h-anartan a tha 'còmhdach na h-Altarach 'nan comharradh air an lìonaodach leis an do phais-geadh column phrìseil Chriosta 'nuair a chuireadh 'san uaigh e. Tha na coinnlean laiste air an Altair a' cial- 72 Iobairt na h-Aifrinn lachadh solus a' chreidimh air a thaisbeineadh do na h-Iùdhaich agus do na Cinnich; agus a' cur an cèill dhuinn dealradh a' chreidimh 's nan deagh-bheusan a tha riatanach dhaibhsan a tha 'tairgsinn suas rùin-dhìomhair cho àrd, urramach. Tha 'n crann-cèusaidh a' cur an cèill dhuinn na buaidhe a choisinn ar Slànair bèannaichte air a bhàs, agus thathas 'ga thogail am meadhon na h-Altarach gus ar cur an cuimhne air pais is bàs Iosa Chrìosta, cuis air an còir smaoineachadh le dùrachd 's le cràbhadh cho tric agus a thairgear an Iobairt Naomh so. Tha a' chailis 'na samhladh air uaigh naoimh ar Tighearna; agus am Paten, air a' chloich mhòir a charaicheadh gu bial na h-uaghach. Tha 'n t-anart a tha 'n Sagart a' cur air a cheann, agus a' ceangal a rithisd mu 'amhaich, a' ciallachadh a' bhrèid leis an do dhall na h-Iùdhaich Criosta ar Slànair, 's iad a' magadh air, an uair a bha iad 'ga bhualadh air a leithcheann, 's ag ràdh. " Fàisnich dhuinn, Chrìosta, co e a bhuail thu ?" Tha 'n t-èideadh geal a' ciallachadh an trusgain ghil a chuir Herod air Criosta, an deigh dha a chur suarach, agus culaidh-mhagaidh a dheanamh dheth. Tha 'n crios, am maniple, 's an stòl, mar shannV Iadh air na cùird agus na ceanglaichean a chuir na h-Iùdhaich air Criosta. Is samhladh an fhalluinn-uachdarach air an trusgan dhearg-ghorm a chuir na saighdearan air Iosa Criosta; agus tha a' chrois a th'air a dealbhadh air a cùlaobh 'gar cur an cuimhne air a' chrois a ghiùlain Criosta air a ghuaillnean bèannaichte gu Cnoc Chalbharidh. Daithean na Culaidh-Aifrinn an so: is comharradh an Geal air aighir is toil-ìnntinn; agus le sin, 's e culaidh gheal a fhreagras do'n Nollaig, do Dhiardaoin-deasghabhail, do dh'fhèilltean a bhui- Iobairt na h-Aifrinn 73 neas do Mhoire, do dh'Ainglean, 's do Naomh nach 'eil nam Martairean. Tha 'n Dearg 'na shuaich-eantas fala is dòruinne; agus air an aobhar sin, tha e ri 'chur suas air fèilltean nam Martairean agus nar Ostal, a dh'fhuilig am bàs air son Chrìosta, agus a dhath an trusgan 'am fuil an Uain. -Is comharradh an t-Uaine air fàs agus cin-neachadh, gus a thoirt dhuinn ri thuigsinn gu'm bu chòir dhuinn a h-uile latha fàs na's diadhaidh, 's na's fhèarr. Tha 'n Dearg-ghorm 'na shuaich-eantas air aithreachas, agus mar sin air a chleachdadh an àm na h-Aidbhein agus a' Charghuis. Is somhladh an Dubh air bròn is mulad, a dh'fhiachainn dhuinn gur e mulad is bròn a nigheas o'n pheacadh sinn. Tha 'n Eaglais a' cleachdadh an duibh aig na h-Aifrionnan air son nam marbh, a dh'fhiachainn na h-èiginn anns am beil iad (Iul a' Chriostaidh, tt. 55, 56). Is ann mar so, ann am beagan bhriathran, an Aifrionn air a mineachadh. Bha i air a bunachadh le 'r Tighearna, Iosa criosta a thubhairt, "Deanaibh so mar chuimhneachan ormsa". Ach ged is cuimhneachan iad, cha' 'n 'eil sin an seol air bith dol an aghaidh fuil is feoil Chrìosta a bhith gu fìor a lathair fo riochd na sacramaid, riochd a tha fiachuinn a bhàis. An àite sin, is e so cheart dòigh a dh'àithn' e fèin a leanail, gus a bhàs a chuimhneachadh agus a luidh, le bhith tairgse mar iobairt, 's le bhith gabhail 'san t-sacra-maid na fala 'sna feola sin leis an deach ar saoradh. Tha 'n Aifrionn a' cur an cèill eachdraidh na Pais : tha 'n Eaglais 'ga deanamh mar chuimhneachan air; agus easan aig a bheil cluasan gu cluinntin, cluinneadh e. Iain Mac an Abba. 74 Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work CELTIC ARTS AND INDUSTRIES: METAL WORK1 The literature of an Art supplies the best introduction to the exercise of the same. In our last number we promised to present our readers with a series of papers on the practical side of Celtic arts and industries; but before we proceed to fulfil that promise, it may be proper to make a few observations respecting the literature which the consideration of their historical aspects has called into being, more especially as the appearance of the work before us would seem to suggest this as a peculiarly seasonable and appropriate manner in which to inaugurate the promised series. Mr. Romilly Allen is evidently well qualified to treat of the subject to which his talents, no less than his avocation and opportunities, happily incline him. His work, though in the nature of a handbook, is a substantial well-printed volume of over 300 pages. The type is clear, the paper good, and the numerous illustrations wherewith the book is embellished are admirably executed. A Celtic working jeweller or smith would find it indispensable, both as a guide and as a source of inspiration. The attempt to revive Celtic arts —or rather the suggestion of their revival—has been characterised as " Utopian ". The man who after seeing and reading this book remains in that opinion must be a fool. Mr. Romilly Allen is a trifle ambitious. He 1 Celtic Art in Pagan and Christian Times, by J. Romilly Allen, F.S.A. Methuen & Co., 36 Essex Street, London, W.C. "— Celtic Arts and Industries : Metal Work 75 begins his admirable treatise with a brief sketch touching the remote origines of the Celtic peoples, of which we may say he is a skilful and interesting summariBer of conflicting opinions. We are not quite so sure that Mr. Allen is always as clear as he might, and, doubtless, desires to be. " In Great Britain," says he (p. 4), "the once war-like Celt at last became so effete that he fell an easy prey to the Picts, the Scots, the Angles and the Saxons " ; which might be construed in a sense which Mr. Allen would surely be the first to protest against. The Picts and Scots were, of course, Celts; so the sentence lacks perspicuity. Mr. Allen's summary is, however, on the whole a perfectly "safe" piece of work; and doubtless many will read it with interest and edification who will not be troubled with more detailed performances. Accurate knowledge respecting the early history of our race is at present very much confined to "expert" sources. What the general public knows respecting our origines is little in quantity and poor in quality. Any attempt, therefore, to popularise that knowledge must be regarded with sympathy, especially when, as happens in this case, the benefactor is in a position to establish his claims to a respectful hearing. "Celtic Art," says Mr. Allen in his preface, " naturally divides itself into two distinct periods, the Pagan and the Christian. With regard to the latter, the remains have been so fully investigated that it is hardly probable any new facts will be brought to light which will seriously alter the conclusions now arrived at. With regard to the Pagan period the case is altogether different, as most of the ' finds' hitherto made have been due to accident, and until the large number of in- 76 Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work habited and fortified sites belonging to this period are systematically excavated our knowledge must necessarily remain incomplete." The cradle of Celtic Art was undoubtedly that somewhat vague geographical entity which we are apt to denominate "the East". The Celtic people were themselves probably " Eastern " ; so there can be no great harm in believing that their art also partook of that character. Certainly the forms of Celtic Art approximate to Eastern rather than to Western models. It is a mistake, however, to imagine that the Celtic peoples ever themselves originated a distinctive and peculiar form of art. They were expert—almost sublime—imitators and improvers ; but, so far as is known, their art was borrowed. This truth is well expressed by Mr. Allen. " The great difficulty in understanding the evolution of Celtic Art," says he, " lies in the fact that although the Celts never seem to have invented any new ideas, they professed (possessed ?) an extraordinary aptitude for picking up ideas from the different peoples with whom war or commerce brought them into contact. And once the Celt had borrowed an idea from his neighbour, he was able to give it such a strong Celtic tinge that it soon became something so different from what it was originally as to be almost unrecognisable* It was, therefore, the individuality of the Celtic peoples which created Celtic Art; and, possessing much individuality as a race, their genius necessarily impressed itself in remarkable and unmistakable fashion upon their artistic products. The reason why we have no Celtic Art at the present moment is that we have no individuality as a people. Individuality is essential to art, which, without it, degenerates at once, and so passes out through Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work 77 the draught of cosmopolitanism to the dung-hill of vulgarity. Great were the achievements of Pagan Celtic Art, but they cannot be compared with those which distinguished the early Christian period. Christian Celtic Art was essentially symbolic ; and the great immortal truths of religion necessarily supplied an artistic leverage, which, before their introduction into these islands, was necessarily lacking. As in Spain and Italy at a later date, the impulse of religion was applied to the production of the greatest masterpieces—of those marvellous works of art which charm and stagger us by their invention and almost superhuman execution. Mr. Romilly Allen states that " early Christian Art in this country is essentially decorative, and to a lesser extent symbolic". We beg to differ from him here. We think that symbolism will be found to supply the groundwork, as it were, of that art, decorative purposes being subsidiary to it. Indeed, we are inclined to think that even Celtic Pagan Art was more symbolic than decorative. The Celtic mind rejoiced in symbol, and the coming of Christianity rather increased than diminished, in our opinion, that irresistible tendency. Mr. Allen passes in rapid, though interesting, review the best-known masterpieces of the Celtic artists. " Early Christian Art in Great Britain," says he, " was produced in the first instance by grafting the Italo-Byzantine style upon the native style of the Iron Age"; and in this opinion we quite agree with him. If we could probe to the full the sources which conspire to make Celtic Art, from its beginning down to its practical extinction in the thirteenth century, we should probably find that its history consists of a connected series or " waves " 78 Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work of " influences"—foreign for the most part—and that like its own graceful and beautiful scroll-work, it represents a continuous movement, seemingly without definite start or finish. Mr. Romilly Allen does well to insist on the poverty—even crudeness—of much of the Celtic figure-work as compared with the richness, beauty and extraordinary degree of skill which characterises the scrolls, and other symbolic and decorative ornamentation. The Celtic artists do not seem to have acquired the art of chiselling or modelling a figure with that nicety and precision which, judging by their cleverness in other respects, we are apt to expect from them. It may be, of course, that this defect arose from a general incapacity to do better ; but we are more inclined to think that figure-work was regarded by our Celtic smiths as subsidiary to ornamentation, in which the imaginative Celtic temperament loved best to declare itself. Certainly, such past masters as were undoubtedly our Celtic workers in gold, silver, and other metals were capable of the highest achievements; and it is consequently absurd to suppose that they could not fashion a figure with the same skill as they employed in the production of so many other beautiful and more difficult objects. Necessarily, perhaps, Mr. Allen's book is more concerned with the origines of Celtic Art than with that priceless legacy itself. The literary and purely antiquarian aspects of that enchanting topic are evidently more to him than its practical and personal side. We have thus no account of the celebrated artists of antiquity, and we even miss many famous specimens of their art, which, in a work of this kind, we might reasonably expect to find mentioned. Some account, for instance, of that Celtic Arts and Industries : Metal Work 79 truly exquisite piece of work known as the Cuthach or " Battler" of St. Columba might have been.given; whilst we should have been pleased to see some mention, however brief, of the more famous of our artificers, a numerous and a glorious progeny! From the introduction of Christianity until those evil, dreary days when Celtic arts and crafts ceased to be practised, how many men of genius and piety have passed through the shadowy portals of time! We know that St. Patrick had his artificers and embroiderers, men and women who devoted their talents to the glory of God, and to the beautifying of His sacred mysteries. How pure and unselfish was that impulse which seized the early convert artificers, turning their genius from earthly to heavenly things! St. Asicus of Elphin, Essa, Bite, and Tassach, are not these names to conjure with ? Men, as saints, were in earnest in those days. The balancing heroes of today, who neither toil nor spin but ceaselessly refine were as yet unborn; and Christianity was a power appealing with irresistible force to the consciences of all. Art was in those far-off happy days truly a " labour of love ". The craftsman laboured primarily because he was a Christian, and his heart was in his holy faith—not because he was an hireling, however skilful, working at so much per day or week in order to improve his material circum-tances. The masterpieces of Christian Celtic Art are, therefore, unique. The spirit which, in a later age, stirred up the Crusades and flung all European Christendom at the throat of the infidel, was just that spirit which animated our Christian craftsmen, only it was probably more intense, certainly more intellectual and spiritual. The service of God seemed to the Celtic artist the 8o Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work most appropriate and favourable sphere for the exercise of his talent. Even saints and scholars passed through an honourable apprenticeship of manual labour to those spiritual honours to which their genius, no less than their piety, aspired. Is it wonderful, therefore, given the impulse of holy religion, and a people naturally quick-witted and* resourceful, that Celtic Ireland and Scotland should] have produced these exquisite works ? The wonder rather had been had they not done so. So much zeal and earnestness, joined to genius and piety, were bound to find their artistic expression; and if the fruit of the tree of that knowledge be beautiful beyond compare, why should we ignorantly and foolishly marvell There is surely something singularly fatuous in the modern's patronising attitude in respect of the masterpieces of antiquity—an attitude which seems to say " 'tis really mighty well done: how on earth did the fellowly manage to do it 1" " You forget, shallow worldling of to-day, that within that ancient was the Spirit of the Christian religion. Go thou and do likewise —if you can." Mr. Allen's book is thus altogether too brief and popular to go into the spiritual sources of Celtic Christian Art. The ethics of his theme, if we may so express ourselves, scarcely seem to interest him, though it may be, of course, that the exigencies of series and of space are unpropitiouSi. He is, as it were, a genealogist rather than an historian. He is more concerned with sources] than with principles, with methods rather than with persons. Thus, he quotes with approval Dr. Hans Hildebrand's assertion that " every work of human art, higher as well as lower, has its shape determined by two agents : the end which it is to Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work 81 serve, and the taste of the people and the time of which it is the fruit". " In other words," says Mr. Allen, " there is an utilitarian as well as an ornamental side to almost every object fashioned by man to satisfy his wants. The form of an object must depend primarily upon the practical use to which it is intended to be put, and the decorative features generally follow afterwards in due course. The function of the decorative features, however, should be to add grace and beauty to the original form of the object; but not to attempt to disguise the utilitarian purpose it fulfils." This is certainly " well and truly laid " from the practical point of view, though it leaves something to be desired in respect of the religious impulse or spiritual influence which has been at work in the creation of so many beautiful objects. In our opinion, it would require almost a saint to do justice to that aspect of our theme; for who but one that has passed through such an ordeal in pursuit of perfection, for the s§,ke of the spiritual delight which perfection commands, could hope to deal at all adequately with the spiritual motives underlying those priceless relics of antiquity ? We doubt if those early Christian craftsmen paid much attention to the " utilitarian purpose " of the objects evolved by their genius and piety. Their art was rather the intense expression of souls whose commune was with God alone. Their marvellousness consists in this, that they completely subordinated their art to religious influences. They were almost as superhumans, working under the spell of the Divine enchantment. We cannot take our leave of this useful and charming book without acquainting our readers with some of the conclusions arrived at by its 82 Celtic Arts and Industries: Metal Work talented author. " In conclusion," says he, " I wish to emphasise the fact that the beauty and individuality of the ornamental designs found in early Christian Art in Great Britain and Ireland are due chiefly to the great taste with which the different elements are combined, and the exquisite finish lavished upon them. I cannot see that it in the least detracts from the praise due to the originators of the style if it can be shown that the ideas underlying many of the patterns were suggested by a preexisting native style or adapted from a foreign one. Interlaced work, key-pattern spirals and zoomorphs are to be found separately in the decorative art of many races and many periods; but nowhere and at no time have these different elements been used in combination with such consummate skill, as in the early Christian period in Great Britain and Ireland." Mr. Allen's concluding observation is no less worthy of quotation. " I consider," he says, " the so-called Celtic style to be a local variety of the Lombardo-Byzantine style, from which the figure subjects, the interlaced work, the scrolls of foliage, and many of the strange real and fabulous creatures were apparently borrowed. The Lombardo-Byzantine style was introduced into England after the Saxons had become Christians; and being grafted upon the Pagan Art of the late Celtic period was developed in different ways in different parts of Great Britain and Ireland. However, it in no way detracts from the artistic capacity of the Celt that he should have adopted certain decorative motives belonging to a foreign style, instead of evolving them out of his own inner consciousness. Although his materials may not all have been of native origin, they were so skilfully made use of in combination with native designs, and developed Am Maraich agus an Fhairge 83 with such exquisite taste, that the result was to produce an entirely original style, the like of which the world had never seen before." We cannot too strongly recommend this useful book, whose modest price brings it within the compass of all.1 It ought to be in the hands of every patriotic Celt at home and abroad. Ignorance is sometimes excusable; but it is no longer so when it is deliberate, or arises from a frivolous or indifferent disposition. Faith and knowledge have this in common, that the want of them is iniquitous and contemptible on the part of such as, being offered, will not put forth a hand to possess them. AM MARAICH AGUS AN FHAIRGE Tha ioghnadh orm A chuain! gu'm biodh tu 'feuchainn ri giulan a thoirt dhut fèin nach buin dhut. Tha thu 'teachd thun a' chladaich mar gu'm biodh tu miodal ris, agus tha do stuadhan beaga 'com-hartaich mar mhesan. Tha do stuadhan beaga camlagach a tha nis coltach ris na camlagan a bhios air cinn nan nigheanan òga, a ruith gu cois na traghad ag atharrais air a chèile. An uair a sheallar ort, cha saoileadh neach sam bith (cha smaoinicheadh iad gu'm biodh e comasach) gu'm bristeadh tu loingeas, no gu'n reubadh tu mar-aichean as a chèile le d'fhiaclan geura, geala. Cia fhad, m'aon bheag ghràdhach, o'n a bha do mheoirean fada, caola a' teamachadh sgòrnain nam maraichean aig an luing ud a chaidh a bhristeadh ? So, so, aon ghòrach! cha'n 'eil feum sam bith 1 Seven shillings and sixpence net. 84 Am Maraich agus an Fhairge dhut a bhith 'feuchainn ris a' char a thoirt asamsa air an dòigh so. A chuain ! tha thu iongantach 'na d'neart, agus 'na d'chumhachd; ach cha 'n 'eil barrachd tlachd agam dhiot mar a tha thu nis na an uair a tha thu air a 'chaochladh de dhòigh. An uair a tha thu 'nad chadal, tha thu 'cor cait 'nam chuimhne. Cha 'n 'eil crònan do stuaghannan dad na's lugha mealladh na crònan a' chait, an uair a tha e 'na leith-dhùsgadh. Bheir thu leum asad gu grad as do chadal, agus tu gu h-acrach, borb; agus bidh lèir-sgrios uamhasach 'nad dheigh. Theid do bheucaich suas a dh'ionnsuidh nan speur, agus le cop mu do bheul, le do spuirean an-iochdar leumaidh tu ris na creagan. A chuain! ged a tha mi 'bruidhinn ruit mar so, na sgrios mo long. Tha mi beag agus lag; am feadh's a tha thusa cumhachdach agus mòr. Cha 'n fhiach dhut dragh a chur air mo long bheag-sa, an uair a chaidh agad air cabhlach mòr na h-Espàine a sgrios. Cha 'n 'eil agam ris an t-saoghal ach i fèin; agus is math a fhreagradh dhutsa fabhar sonraichte a nochdadh dhomhsa. Tha thu na's neo-sheasmh-aiche na boirionnach, agus na's an-iochdmhoise na cat. Ged a tha fiamh gàire ort, agus tu 'gluasad gu mothar mail, cha mheall thu mise; agus A chuain! cha'n 'eil earbsa sam bith agam 'na do chrònan, agus 'na do ghuth ceòlmhor binn. Tha mi a' ruith fo d'dhìon, A Mhàthair Naomh Dhè ! Na diùlt m'iarrtas an àm mo fhèuma; ach saor mise daonnan bho gach cunnart. 'Oigh glòrmhor agus bheannaichte! The League of St. Columba 85 THE LEAGUE OF ST. COLUMBA We have already drawn attention in the pages of this Beview to the lamentable scarcity in Scotland of devotional literature in the Gaelic language ; and although our observations on that subject have been subjected to some criticism, we see no reason to depart from our original statement. Our remarks on the occasion referred to were designed with a view to emphasise present-day requirements in this respect, and were by no means intended as a sketch or account of what has already been accomplished in that field; but which, owing to neglect and indifference, is no longer of any use to us. It is obvious that publications which are out of print, or are only to be got by dint of protracted search amongst second-hand booksellers' catalogues, are in the nature, not of necessaries, but of luxuries ; which the very poor, and those whose opportunities for book-collecting are few, may be excused for neglecting. To object that such and such a manual or prayer-book was published thirty or forty years ago (but is now out of print) supplies no adequate answer to our complaint, whose gravity seems scarce to be realised. The Highlands are badly in need of cheap devotional literature in the Gaelic language, and we shall continue to ventilate this grievance until the want we refer to has been supplied. With a view to discovering what is being done in Ireland at the present moment in the direction indicated by our remarks, the conductors of this periodical recently put themselves in communication with the body known as the " League of St. umha"; and, we are pleased to say, with the most satisfactory results. In response to our 86 The League of St. Columba The League of St. Columba 87 own day, and give to the people a religious literature in their own tongue. A task such as this we cannot put upon the shoulders of the Gaelic League or Catholic Truth Society, for the one is non-sectarian, and the other cannot be expected at present to undertake the work of which we speak. The duty, therefore, devolves upon the priesthood of the country. We beg, Eev. Father, to submit the following project to your consideration :— Among the MSS. in our College Library there are hundreds of sermons in the Irish Language, the very sermons that helped to keep the Faith so strong in Ireland during the days of persecution. If these could be given to the public in a suitable form, a great work would be done for God and Erin. The Columban League is anxious to undertake the publication of such sermons, and of any religious MSS. to be found in the Library. But, as we are weak in funds, we must rely upon the generosity of past Columban Leaguers and the priests of Ireland in general. As to the question: Who is to take up the literary portion of the work, there is no difficulty; for Dr. O'Hickey is only too anxious to work with the most competent Irish scholars amongst the students. At present there are about a dozen gentlemen experts at manuscript reading ; and under the tuition of Dr. O'Hickey they would have a respectable volume ready for the Press in a very short time. We have no fear but equal talent will be found in the college as the years go by. We see no reason, therefore, apart from the question of funds, why the Columban League should not, in the course of years, give to the world the religious and literary treasures which have lain hidden in the College Library for well-nigh half a century. This very year we intend to make a beginning. Our Editors are already at work; and it is to be hoped that, before this academic year has run its course, the Columban League will have its first work, a volume of Irish sermons, ready for the Press. As we have already said, we lack the necessary funds, and, therefore, we ask you to lend a helping band. We are confident, Very Eev. Father, that you will not turn a deaf ear to our appeal, but that you will give inquiries, the secretary of the League, whose seat is at Maynooth College, and whose members principally, if not exclusively, consist of students attending the Irish National Seminary for the priesthood, most courteously communicated to us many interesting particulars respecting his Society, together with a printed leaflet which, as it seems to put the whole case for a revival of Gaelic devotional literature in a nutshell, we propose to do our readers and ourselves the pleasure of reproducing in these pages. It should be stated that the leaflet in question is in the form of a circular letter, " openly" addressed to the clergy of Ireland, and is signed, in behalf of the League, by its duly accredited representatives or officers. It is in the following terms:— THE COLUMBAN LEAGUE. St. Mary's, Maynooth College, 20th November, 1904. Vert Eev. Father, It must have already struck you that while Irish Ireland is growing more productive every day in secular literature, very little has yet been done to put religion before the people in their own tongue. Up to this, com paratively little preaching has been done in Irish, almos no catechising has heen done in Irish, and the number o religious publications in Irish is very small. Now, when we remember that in the past our religion and language grew up side by side, and that the spirit of the one became inseparably bound up with that of the other, we canno help concluding that in the future also, the one must go hand in hand with the other, if we would have Irish Ireland also a thoroughly Catholic Ireland. As custodians and teachers, therefore, of the Catholic religion, it is the duty of the clergy to adapt themselves to the spirit of their 88 The League of St. Columba us, in addition to your subscription, your advice on the above project. We may add that this whole idea has not originated with the students. It was first suggested by one of the professors, and it seems to have the whole-hearted approval of the college staff. It has been, moreover, suggested that amongst the priests an association be formed to provide funds for, and superintend the publication of, the Maynooth MSS. At present we do not know what to think of this idea. It might be possible to have this whole question discussed at the next meeting of the Maynooth Union. The following list will give some indication of the nature of the sermons we are about to publish. In Murphy MS. 40, there are, amongst others, sermons in Irish on the following subjects:— Temptation; The Danger of Deferring Eepentance; Avoiding the Occasions of Sin; Confession; Examination of Conscience; Day of Judgment ; Holy Communion; Sacrifice of the Mass, etc. In Murphy MS. 43, there are, to name only a few, sermons in Irish on the following subjects:— Necessity and Efficacy of Penance; The Dangerous State of the Sinner; Death; Swearing; Unworthy Communion; Advantages and Necessary Conditions of Prayer; Love of our Enemies; Joys of Heaven; Our Lord's Passion ; The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc. Besides sermons, there are a great many religious works, which would be well worth either reprinting or editing. The following will serve as a sample:— Douay Catechism (translated into Irish); Denn's Explanation of the Commandments; The Spiritual Mirror; The Spiritual Physician, etc. Writing of the foundation of the League, the secretary remarks: " It is now about seven years since the inception of our Society. Many can still recall the state of the college, as regarded the Irish The League of St. Columba 89 Ireland movement, at that time. Here is an account given by an eye-witness :— "' The Gaelic League was then young, and its influence not generally felt through the country. The students of Maynooth were not below the Anglicised portion of our own people. Neither will it be contended that we were very advanced Irish Irelanders. We admired Irish music, as we knew it in a very few of the more hackneyed of Moore's melodies. Irish was of course taught as an obligatory subject to the junior classes, which could count a few earnest workers, determined on acquiring a mastery of the language as a spoken tongue. A few enthusiasts attended the voluntary classes in the senior division; perhaps half a dozen tried to read Irisleabhar na Gaehdilge; but that was all. In fact the spirit amongst us was anything but favourable to national studies. There was very little idea then amongst the students of an Irish "sgeulachd," an Irish speech or recitation, of honest and serious study of Irish history and the Irish language, of cultivating our own music, or of the necessity of supporting home industries. Our ideas were more cosmopolitan. "' Literary societies then existed in the college, and it was a paper read at one of these that first aroused the students to a sense of their position. The paper had for its title, " The Anglicisation of Ireland," which in the present state of Maynooth would be regarded as commonplace; but then it was sensational. The paper contained a simple statement of the abnormal condition of the country, the priests' obligations in the face of such a national decadence were not left untold, nor minimised in the telling, and in conclusion a general suggestion of an organisation, in which the priests of Ireland 9° The League of St. Columba The League of St. Columba 91 porting, self-reliant Ireland, an Ireland animated by the spirit of the past, speaking her own language, preserving her customs and traditions, and developing from within along national lines. The underlying principles are identical with those of the Gaelic League. The League of St. Columba is in fact the Gaelic League adapted to Maynooth's circumstances, and in this manner it determines Maynooth's position in the great revival. " To discover the character of that position, let us take a glance at the objects of the revival; and first at the language. The Gaelic League bases its hopes for the revival of the national spirit on the language. It makes the language the chief aim of its own existence. So does the League of St. Columba. Possibly in the early years of its existence the results achieved in each separate department of Irish study may not have been very great; for the same facilities were not within its reach as now. Much of its attention had to be devoted to propagandist work, to inspiring its members with its own ideal of nationality; exhorting them to study the history and language of their country, the language which St. Columba, the patron of the League, loved in exile and spoke in far-off Iona, to sing the old traditional songs, to play the airs which Carolan and the other bards have handed down to all succeeding generations of Irishmen as the most precious of heirlooms. "Frequently at the divisional and general meetings papers were read on these and kindred subjects. These appeals did an incalculable amount of good. One thing certainly they achieved, inasmuch as they cleared the air of many false notions of nationality, contracted through long years of thoughtlessness and the Anglicising influence of a might further the revival, was put forward for consideration. The result was thoroughly satisfactory. Thought was awakened, discussion aroused, and sympathy in the national cause enlisted. On consideration, however, it was felt that an organisation among the clergy was not very practicable, seeing that the Gaelic League was at the disposal of every priest. Why should not the students themselves form an organisation within the college, to do for the college what the Gaelic League was doing for the rest of Ireland, it was demanded? This suggestion was received by the students with the greatest enthusiasm, and the League of St. Columba was formally established with the sanction of their Lordships the Bishops; and the work of de-Anglicisation had begun.' "The new League was to foster studies in the national language, history and literature, with the kindred subjects hagiology, archaeology, social manners and customs, in order that its members might be more zealous, and better qualified to labour in extending and controlling movements connected with these objects; and so perpetuate the truly religious and Catholic nationality represented by and identified with them. In one word, the Columban League has for its object the realisation of an Irish Ireland in the fullest and broadest sense. It is a conscious effort to resume the well-nigh lost civilisation and culture of our forefathers. It aims at making the Ireland of the future a worthy continuation of the Ireland that has passed away, realising to the full that as the national traits and characteristics of the individual ought to a great extent to determine the kind of his education, so the education of a race ought to be, before all else, national. It works for a self-sup- 92 The League of St. Columba system of intermediate education, which, unfortu-^ nately, had the moulding of the minds of many of our students. Year by year the language loomed] larger and larger in the view of Columban Leaguersi In addition to a more earnest attendance at the obligatory classes under the professor, voluntary classes sprung up under the conduct of the students] themselves. This year the number of such classes' is much in excess of previous years, and the numbèn of earnest students attending the classes has exceeded the wishes of even the most enthusiastic.! Nor has the adage, 'Beatha teangadh 'si do labh-\ airt '—the life of a tongue is to speak it—been fori gotten. Mere desultory study of primers counts] for very little. At present it is no uncommora thing to find batches of students, brought together by a common love for the national tongue, inter-j changing their ideas, as they take their rounds of the grounds, with all the facility of native speech:] And then there is the' Cuirt na Gaodhal,' or Parliament, held weekly, where all who have a sufficient mastery of the language meet and debate in it inj true Irish style every conceivable topic affecting] themselves and the League. Here plans for futurei work are discussed, resolutions passed, and entertainments organised. Before Christmas a truly! Irish concert, with nothing but Irish entries on thej programme, was given to the students by members] of the League, and with the greatest success. " Cultivation of the national music is also a part of the League's programme; and very good work] has already been achieved in this direction. The] character of the entertainments given on college festivals has thus been radically changed, in order, to satisfy the growing demand for high-class music:' Another addition to the college entertainments in- The League of St. Columba 93 troduced by the Columban League is the Irish drama. Within the past two years, before delighted audiences, the students have staged successfully jthree or four Irish plays, one of which was written toy a member of the League. At the present moment another excellent little drama, written also by a Leaguer, is being rehearsed, and will be played I within the next month. - Thus, with the progress of the League, there has sprung up a literary activity hitherto foreign to the college. In fact [there has been a great re-awakening in all the [departments of our intellectual life, which is being manifested not merely by an increased vitality, in Ithe more successful working of already existing societies amongst the students, in the founding and I propagation of new societies, but also in its effect on individual students. "The League issues a ' Record' at the close of each academic year, giving details of the work done in the course of the year, as well as specimens of the papers read at the different meetings. For the . past two years it has been printed for public circu-l lation, and has met with a very favourable, in fact, a truly flattering reception." Such are some of the pious and patriotic objects which the League of St. Columba has been established to achieve. It must be patent to the meanest [intelligence capable of grasping their religious and political significance, that they are no less worthy of prosecution elsewhere. 94 Immaculata IMMACULATA [Air a eadar-theangaichte o'n Bheurla le Uilleam Wordsworth chum Gàidhlig.'] Mathair gun smal! Agad-sa cridhe tha saor O'n pheacadh a's lugha. Is beannaicht' thu a bhean, Am measg nam ban ! Is tu ar cuis-uaill-ne; A h-aon chùis-uaill do'r nàdur truaillidh. Ni's soilleir na'n cop tha thu, air fairge chèin, Ni's àllidh na'n speur tha thu, aig beul an lath', Ni's maisich na'n speur le rosan sgaoilt' tha thu, A ta ar eadar-ghuidhear ro-naomh a chaoidh. Eoimh 'n eàrr-dhubh's tu th'ann. A neamh gun neul, Tha thu 'teachd a nuas gu talamh an eideadh gorm. O lùb an glùn : Innsibh gu ceart 'ur cliù Sibhse a ta gun mhaitheadh, mar ri Cumachd mòr Anns am bheil macantas—is gach cùis leat-sa, 'Thaobh gaol a 'mhàthar, is fiòr-ghloin òigheil 'Thaobh àrd is ìosal, 'thaobh naomh is saoghalta. MOLUAG. ¦ Là a'ghineadh gun Smal 1904. The pages of Guth na Bliadhna will be open to correspondence dealing with subjects within the scope of this Review. Whilst the greatest care will be taken of any MSS. which may be submitted for publication, the editor declines to be responsible for their accidental loss. MSS. must in all cases be accompanied with stamped and addressed envelopes. Literary communications should be addressed to— The Editor of Guth na Bliadhna, The Aberdeen University Press Ltd., Upperkirkgate, Aberdeen. Business communications should be addressed to the Managers, as above. IMPORTANT NOTICES The Feast of St. Colum Cille falling this year on the 9th of June, the Proprietors of Guth na Bliadhna have decided to issue with the May impression of this Eeview a portrait or drawing of the Saint, which, it is hoped, will be found suitable for framing. Our May number, which will therefore be in a manner dedicated to the memory of this illustrious Saint, will contain papers on St. Colum Cille in Gafelic and English. The Manager will be glad to hear from subscribers desirous of securing bound numbers of Vol. I. of this Review. The Manager takes this opportunity to remind subscribers who are in arrear with their subscriptions that such are payable in advance; and that he will be obliged by their remitting their arrears in order that his books may be made up. A FEW PRESS NOTICES Singularly interesting; maintains its high reputation for learning and scholarship.—An Claidheamh Soluii. Well informed and carefully prepared articles.—Highland News. Conducted with force and spirit. A vigorous and bright periodical.—Aberdeen Journal. Distinctly lively reading.—Glasgow Evening News. The Gaelic is very well edited.—Edinburgh Evening News. Very able, interesting and instructive.—Oban Times. Vigorous.—Rothesay Chronicle. Cannot do without Guth na Bliadhna.—Montreal Gazette. Very interesting. —Dundee Advertiser. Redolent of Celtic buoyancy and vigour of style.—Catholic Herald. Vigorous.—Northern Weekly. Likely to do good service to the Church in Scotland.—Tablet. Noteworthy articles.—Glasgow Evening Citizen. This interesting and courageous publication.—Monitor. Well written and full of interest.—Glasgow Evening Times. Characterised by vigour and style. A distinct addition to Scottish periodical literature.—Aberdeen Free Press. As stimulating as a glass of Highland stingo on Ben MacdhuL —Manchester Guardian. i -ft-. „ -j* Guth na Bliadhna LEABHAR II.] AN T-EAEEACH, 1905. [AIREAMH 2. NAOMH COLUM CILLE at "Thàinig Colum Cille gu Alba, air sgàth gaoil Dè ; cha 'n ann a chionn gu'n do dh'fhuadaicheadh a Eirinn, e." Thug sinn na briathran so mar ainm air ar dealbh ; agus tha sinn an dòchas gu'm bi iad ro thaitneach d'ar leughadairean. Is oidhearc an smuain duinn gu'n d'thàinig Nh. Colum Cille gu Alba às leth gaoil Dè, agus nach ann a chionn gu'n do fhuadaicheadh e. Cha 'n 'eil e taitneach a bhi 'creidsinn gu'n deachaidh 'fhuadach a Eirinn air lorg dha 'bhi 'gabhail pàirt ann an comh-stri mhi-chliùitich anns an dùthaich sin. Ach, gu sona 's gu fàbharach, cha 'n 'eil feum againn a bhi 'creidsinn an sgeòil sin. Tha eachdraidhean a's tràithe againn a tha ag innseadh dhuinn gu'n robh Colum Cille 'n a dhuine 'bha ciùin is sèimh ; agus tha iadsan a's ionnsaichte ann an eachdraidhean, agus a tha beò aig an là an duigh am beachd nach 'eil focal de'n fhaoin-sgeul so mu Cholum Cille fior. Thubhairt Nh. Eunan gu'n d'thàinig Colum Cille gu Alba air sgàth gaoil Dè. Cha d'thubhairt e gu'n do dh'fhuadaicheadh a Eirinn gu Alba e, no gu'n d'thàinig e ann air son ni air bith saor o so a mhàin—'s e sin ri ràdh, chum gu'n searmonaicheadh e an Soisgeul 98 Naomh Colum Cille Naomh do mhuinntir na h-Alba. An toiseach, ciod tha Aonghas Cèile Dè ag ràdh mu thimchioll Choluim Chille ? Tha e ag ràdh 'n a Fheillire fèin gu'n do ghoireadh "Colum" mar ainm air Colum Cille air lorg a treibhireis :— " Colum pro simplicitate eius dictus est". Agus a rìs, " Ocus ise inColum Cille sin dorat gràd der-mair do Christ asaaite". Agus a rìs, " Colam cain cruth cumachtach Drech, derg lethan lainderda Corp geal, clu cm imarba Folt cass, shil glas chaindelta. Son a gotha Coluim Cille Mòr abinde uas cech clèir Cocend .u.c. dec ceimend Aidbhe remend ead barèill." Thubhairt Nh. Eunan (Secunda Prefato): Hie anno secundo post Culedrebinde bellum, aetatis vero suae xlii., de Scotia ad Britanniam pro Christo pere-grinari volens, enavigavit. Is ro ghrinn an smuain duinn gu'n d'thàinig Nh. Colum Cille gu Alba air sgàth gaoil Dè a mhàin, agus a chionn gu'n robh sin mar sin, bu mhòr 'fhuighantas, agus b'fhior-ghlan an togradh agus am miann a bha aige. Is priseil an smuain duinn gu'n do d'thugadh thairis fios naomh air sith Dhè gus an dùthaich so le duine' a bha dheth fèin ciùin, agus ann an gaol air sith. Gu dearbh, bha Colum Cille 'n a Naomh da rireadh, agus mar sin, bha 'n naomhachd a bh'aige air socrachadh gu siorraidh ; ach ciod e a's taitneiche na 'bhi 'creid- Naomh Colum Cille 99 sinn gu'n d'thàinig e gu Alba air sgàth gaoil Dè a mhàin, an àite a bhi de 'n bharail gu'n thàinig e, no gu'n do dh'fhuadaicheadh e, an so air lorg a' bhi 'gabhail pàirt ann an comh-stri mhi-chliùitich, agus air a thruailleadh le fuil ? Tha sinn a' deanamh an tuille gàirdeachais ann a bhi 'creidsinn gu'n d'thàinig Nh. Colum Cille gu Alba gun tàir agus gun smal, agus as leth gaoil Dè a mhàin, do bhrigh's gur e sin a' cheart choire a bha feadhainn a' cur as a lethsan; ni a thàinig mar mhallachd air muinntir na Gàidhealtachd o thoiseach an t-saoghail. Thàinig Colum Cille le naigheachd nèamhaidh air sith; ach, mo thruaighe ! cha 'n eisdeadh ris. Tha ar eachdraidh fèin 'n a h-eachdraidh dhòrtaidh-fola, de chomh-stri, de streupaig, agus de dh'aimh-reite. "Clann nan Gàidheal an guaillibh a chèile!" Ach, mo thruaighe! feuchaibh ciod e rinn an linn, no an t-àm, no an t-àite anns do choimh-lionadh an gnàth-fhocal fiùghantach sin? An uair a bha feum againn air a bhith còrdaidh agus rèidh, bha sinn mar chaoraich sgapta, gun bhuaichaille, no mar mhadaidh-alluidh a' sracadh agus a' reubadh a chèile. Bhuanaich sinn ann ar comh-strithean truaghanta agus brònach so, agus ann ar eud-mhorachd shuarach eadhon gu ruig am blàr fèin. Bhuidhinn ar naimhdean-ne air ar eas-aontachd air mille blàr; agus uair is uair, thughadh buaidh air na Gàidheil a chionn 's nach robh e comasach an teagasg furasda so thaobh fèin-dhionaidh ionnsachadh dhoibh. Eadhon air an àm so, is mòr an gaol a tha aig cuid againn air cogadh. Tha baoghallan a' chlaidheimh fathast 'n ar measg-ne; agus ged a tha e 'n a dheagh shaighdear, gidheadh cha 'n urrainn da 'bhith 'n a dheagh Ghàidheal. Tha e 'n ioo Naomh Colum Cille a dheagh Ghàidheal gu fior, a tha 'cuimhneachadh teagaisg Naoimh Choluim Chille: cha 'n e esan a, tha 'trèigsinn a dhùthcha, agus a' dol a' chogadh* air son nan Sasunnach. Bithibh faicilleach, uime! sin, a thaobh nan daoine sin aig am bheil focail tha caoimhneil, ach aig am bheil gnothach 'tha sgriosail. Ciod iad na daoine sin ì Tha iad a mhàin 'n an ceannaird air dà shaighdear dheug, a tha dol a null 's a nall agus a' togail shaighdearan. Thubhairt fear dhiubh o chionn ghoirrid. " Tha mi 'cunrail suas na Gàidhlig, a chionn gur taitneach leam oran} Gàidhlig 'eisdeachd"! An e so uile's urrainn do fhear-togail nan saighdear a ràdh mu'n Ghàidhlig? Gun teagamh, is fearr beagan no 'bhith gun ni sam: bith, ach, gu dearbh, is olc an ni 'bhith falamh acffl beag! Tha ar càinnt fèin, ar foghlum, agus ar cinneach tearuinte, ach cha 'n ann do bhrigh 's gu'm bheil sin dheth fèin 'n a ni àraidh, ach do bhrigh's gur taitneach le 'r duin'-uasal oran Gàidhlig eisdeachd uairean! An do chumadh deagh aobhar riamh suas air dhòigh cho lag agus chffl buileach aineolach ? Tha sinn a' cur sin an: teagamh. Gu dearbh, b'aill leinn a bhi 'creidsinn gu bheil na daoine ud 'n an daoine a tha dileas da 'n cinneach fèin; ach is e ar barail fèin gur ann mar each-spaisdearachd a mhàin a tha iad a' moladh na Gàidhlig. Biodh sin mar a bhitheas e, cha 'n 'eil sinn an teagamh nach robh am buamasdair mar; mhallachd air a' Ghàidhealtachd anns na làithean a chaidh seachad; agus gur e droch ni gu tur an gaol so air cogadh a chumail a ghnàth air chuimhne, agus a dheanamh mairsinn 'n ar measg. Am feadh is beò sinn, cuiridh sinn gu dian an aghaidh a' bhuamasdair agus a chairdean, co-dhiu a bhiodh iad 'n an daoine-uaisle le cluasan mòra ri ainmean,- Naomh Colum Cille ioi no 'n an daoine cumanta a tha fo ughdarras dhoibh. Tha an gnàth-fhocal ag ràdh " claidheamh an làmh amadain, is slachdan an làmh òinnsich ". Cha bhuin sinn an so ris an leth mu dheireadh de 'n ghnàth-fhocal so; ach nach mòr an fhirinn a tha anns a' cheud chuid! Tha an t-amadain, no am buamasdair leis a' chlaidheamh 'n a aobhar troiblaid duinn uile aig an àm so. Sgrios an claidheamh sinn fèin, agus ar dùthaich; agus chuir e, mar an ceudna, dealachadh eadarainn. Brosnaich righrean agus comhairlich - rioghachd sinn gu cogadh an aghaidh a chèile a chum's gu'n coisneadh iad fèin ni-èiginn troimh ar n-aimhreite. Gu dearbh, thàinig an claidheamh mar mhallachd air a' Ghàidhealtachd ; agus, gu fior, cha mhòr a bhuannaich sinn ?leis; oir tha e ag àrach spioraid dhiblidh agus mhi-^nhisneachail ann an Gàidheil na h-Alba a thaobh an dùthcha; ach, a dh'aindeoin sin uile, cha 'n 'eil ar càinnt no ar foghlum ni ni 's fhaide air ais aig an àm so. Ach ciod e 'bhuilich Sasunn oirnne gu'n tar-ruingeadh sinn an claidheamh as a leth? Anns [na bliadhnaichean a chaidh seachad, fhuair na miltean de Ghàidheil na h-Alba bàs air a' bhlàr, a' cogadh air son Shasuinn, agus an aghaidh a nàimhdean; ach ciod an duais a fhuair ar dùthaich air sgàth na chaidh gu dith ? Nach 'eil e fior, gu dearbh, gu'n d'fhuair sinn an duais 'bu lugha, ged ['tha e cinnteach agus fiosrach gu'n d'rinn sinn a' chuid 'bu mhò ? Ciod am brosnachadh a tha sinn a faotainn aig an àm so (no ciod e am brosnachadh là fhuair sinn anns na làithean a chaidh seachad) thaobh nan nithe sin a's ro ionmhainn leinn ? Nach 'eil e fior gu'n do leigeadh sinn air di-chuimhne na 's mò na tha na h-Eirinnich agus na h-Odhailtich ? Tha Gàidheil nan dùthchannan I02 Naomh Colum Cille sin 'n an daoine tuigseach, oir tha sar-fhios aca ciod e tha iad ag iarraidh, agus, ni's luaithe no ni's anmoiche, gheibh siad iad gun amharas. Tha Gàidheil na h-Eirinn agus na h-Odhailt a' deanamh deagh-ùaill as an càinntean fèin, agus ge b' air bith cho mòr 's a dh'fheudas am fuath a tha aig na Sasunnaich do na càinntean sin a bhith, cha 'n urrainn doibh bacadh a chur orra, a chionn's gu bheil Gàidheil nan dùthchannan sin a cur rompa gu'n glèidh iad an cànnain fèin a fhuair iad o Dhia. Uime sin, mar tha miann oirnn ar càinnt fèin a ghlèidheadh, feumaidh sinn a dheanamh mar tha iad a' deanamh—is e sin ri ràdh, gu bheil feum againn fèin mosgladh às ar cadal, agus grad-ghluasad. Is èiginn duinn a bhi beagan ni's seasmhaiche na tha sinn a nis ; gun a bhi cho striochdail do 'n tim 's a tha sinn a nis ; gun a bhi cho gealtach 's a tha sinn a nis a thaobh nan nithe a tha comharrachadh a mach sluaigh; agus is èiginn duinn a bhi mòran ni's ealaimhe gu dion ar càinnt, ar beusan, ar cleachdaidhean, an uair a tha iad air am bagradh, no an cunnart " O ionnsuidh dhian ar nàmh " na tha sinn a nis. Ach, thug Nh. Colum Cille fios eile dhuinn, agus leig sinn air dearmad e mar an ceudna. Thubhairt e, gu'n robh feum againn air comh-chòrdadh am measg a chèile, na'n robh miann oirnn soirbheachadh. "Is e aonachd neart," a rèir an t-sean-fhocail; ach ciod tha sinn a' deanamh aig an là an diugh air chor's gu'n cuireamaid an cèill an creidimh a tha againn anns na briathran so ? Gu dearbh, tha mòran chomuinn Gàidhealach 'n ar measg-ne; ach, mo thruaighe! 's e beagan diubh is fhiach am brosnachadh, agus is e beagan Naomh Colum Cille 103 diubh a tha 'cuideachadh a chèile gus ar càinnt fèin a chumail suas. Cha 'n 'eil neart ni's mò no aonachd aig a' chuid eile dhiubh. Eighidh gu leòir " Clann nan Gàidheal an guaillibh a chèile!" cho tric agus cho sgreadach 's is àill leibh ; ach ma dh'iarras sibh rud sam bith deantach dhiubh, gu cinnteach cha 'n fhaigh sibh e le iarraidh. Dearbhach an eud-san thaobh teanga is cinnich, agus aithnichidh sibh gu luath gu bheil mòran iomairt an so mu neoni " Ghineadh iad, us rugadh iad, us thogadh iad, 'us dh'fhàs, Chaidh stràc de 'n t-saoghal orr' 'S ma dheireadh fhuair iad bàs." "Am faigh a' Ghàidhlig bàs?" Tha mòran sluaigh 'n ar measg aig an àm so a tha deas gu leòir gus an t-oran so a sheinn; ach cia meud diubh a tha cho deas gu an làmh a chur 'n an sporain as leth ar càinnt ? Gu cinnteach, ma thig ar cànain beò, cha 'n ann troimh na daoine ud a tha 'mairean aig an là an duigh; ach bithidh e (ma mhaireas e anns na làithean a tha ri teachd), d'am beil an fhaisneachd agus teagasg Nh. Colum Cille mar chumhachd beò agus lathaireach: gun teagamh is iadsan na daoine 'tha 'gabhail curaim do'n chuis air dhòigh cho eudmhor, agus is iadsan na daoine 'tha 'deanamh oidhirp air ar cànain a ghlèidheadh ann an Gàidhealtachd na h-Alba. Cuireamaid an cuimhne an fhaisneachd a rinn Nh. Colum Cille e fèin mu thimchioll ar dùthcha agus ar càinnt. " I mo chridhe, I mo ghràidh 'An àite guth Mhanach bidh gèum bà; Ach mu'n tig an saoghal gu crich Bi'dh I mar a bha." io4 Naomh Colum Cille St. Columba ST. COLUMBA A correspondent, who must surely have been a Jesuit in disguise, innocently asked not long ago to what particular form of Christianity St. Columba would attach himself, if he were to revisit the earth in corporal shape, and received, at the hands of the editor of the Protestant and Highland periodical to which he addressed his enquiry, the answer that the Saint would certainly place himself in communion with the Catholic Church though he might not approve of everything he would find therein. It is satisfactory to learn that the theory of "historical continuity" forms no part of the claims of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The difference between the religion professed by St. Columba and that of the majority of Scotsmen at the present day is thus publicly acknowledged; and we who live north of the Tweed ought to congratulate ourselves on the fact that whatever the outstanding differences between Catholic and Protestant may be, the " appeal to history " does not constitute one of them. It is obvious that the greater the distinction between Catholicism and Presbyterianism, the more clearly the line of demarcation between the two is drawn, and the less the question is obscured by collateral and subsidiary issues, the easier it must be to strike the necessary balance, and so to arrive at the required conclusion. Obviously, simple questions are more easy to discuss and to settle than complex ones. The Scottish Catholics are, from the point of view of religious propaganda, far more advantageously situated than are their coreligionists in England. In regard to history, they have a clear field before them. Moreover, the line Mar so thubhairt an duine naomh so, agus, gu dearbh, an uair a rinn e an fhaisneachd ud, labhair e mar neach aig an robh cumhachd, agus cha 'n ann mar bhruadaraiche a mhàin. Is ann mar sin a tha sinn a' creidsinn a rinneadh i. Uime sin, biodh an fhaisneachd so fa chomhair ar sùilibh a ghnàth. Biodh e 'n ar sùilean-ne mar mhisneachadh, agus mar f hurtachd a ghnàth. Biodh e dhuinn mar chath-ghairm, agus os cionn gach ni mar bhrosnachadh do Ghàidheil na h-Alba, ge b'e air bith creud a tha aca, no ge b'air bith innleach-dan-riaghlaidh a tha iad a' leantuinn. A thuilleadh air sin, cumamaid an cuimhne an t-achmhasan a fhuair na Corintianaich o Nh. Pòl, an uair a tha e 'sgriobhadh da 'n ionnsuidh mar so. " Oir tha eagal orm, an uair a thig mi, nach faigh mi sibh theagamh mar bu mhath leam; agus gu'm faighear mi leibh se mar nach bu mhath leibh; eagal ma dh'fhaoidte connsachadh, farmad, gamhlas, aimhreit, cùlchainnt, cogarsaich, prois, ùpraidean a' bhith 'n ur measg." Gu dearbh, tha iad so 'n an briathran sòlaimte, agus is còir dhuinne sinn fèin a' bhith 'g an cumail 'n ar cuimhne. Oir thàinig Nh. Colum Cille gu Alba às leth gaoil Dè, agus cha 'n ann a chionn's gu'n do dh'fhuad-aicheadh a Eirinn e. Bha'm fios a thug e leis 'n a theachdaireachd sithe. Thàinig e, cha 'n ann mar bhuamasdair, ach mar fhear-deanamh na sithe. Biodh cuimhne againn, uime sin, air na nithe-san a chaoidh. Easan tha 'deanamh tàir, 's tha a' gabhail nàire às a chànain, agus às a chinneach fèin, cha 'n airidh e gu'n goirteadh duine dheth: mòran ni's lugha na sin gu'n goirteadh Gàidheal deth. io6 St. Columba of demarcation between faith and heresy is in Scotland far broader and more distinct than it is in England. If, as we believe, Protestantism has been an unmitigated failure in Scotland, morally and politically, it should be far easier to convince the Scottish people of that fact than it would be to persuade the English nation of a similar failure in respect of their own country. The Scottish Catholic propagandist is in a position to say " look on this picture and on that. Swallow your prejudices, dismiss your pre-conceived opinions, open your eyes, and take your choice. The issue is plain, and cannot be obscured." The English Catholic, on the other hand, is apt to have his "appeal to reason" spoiled by the High Churchman and the "Anglo-Catholic," who say, "Not so, my friend: you forget; part of that historical picture is my work and belongs to me" ; and although the Catholic knows that the claim is imposture and sheer impudence, yet the unthinking public does not. It readily accepts the Anglican at his own historical estimate. On these accounts, therefore, we should naturally expect to find Catholicism in a much more favourable position, relatively to population, in Scotland than it is in England. And this, indeed, is precisely the case. In England, the Catholic population is, roughly speaking, 1,500,000. In Scotland, it is about 500,000 : it may be rather more—it is certainly not less. Relatively, therefore, to population, Scotland with its 500,000 of Catholics and its 4,000,000 odd of inhabitants is much more Catholic than is England, with its 32,500,000 of inhabitants and its Catholic population of 1,500,000 only. I quote these figures with no invidious intention in view, but merely in order to strike a necessary St. Columba 107 comparison. Clearly, Scotland is, relatively to population, more Catholic than England : and the advantages which the Catholic propagandist enjoys are here much greater than they are in England. But the question is, however satisfactory these facts may be, do we make the most of them ? Is the "appeal to history," plus the vast difference which exists between ourselves and our Presbyterian fellow-countrymen, sufficiently exploited and worked, in the interests of religion? It may be objected that bigotry has a stronger hold of the Scottish masses than it has of the English people ; and that the appeal to the purse exercises in Scotland a greater restraining influence than it does across the Border. Possibly this is the case. Every Scottish priest has made the acquaintance of one or more Scottish bigots—the sort of men that write ignorant letters to the newspapers—and nearly every priest knows one or more Presbyterian ministers who would readily become Catholics were it not for the loaves and fishes, or, to put the matter as they are wont to represent it, were it not that they have "contracted ties" which bind them to Presbyterianism, i.e., they have wives and families to provide for. Still, in spite of some drawbacks which are not to be gainsaid, the question is, do we do our utmost to improve the advantages which we undoubtedly possess ? And here let me modestly take misconstruction and misrepresentation by the fore-lock. When a man is charged with not doing his utmost, he is apt to throw up his hands in amazement and horror, and rapidly to enumerate his difficulties. Another familiar manoeuvre, under such circumstances, is to seek to divert suspicion from himself by exaggerating his critic's implied suggestions. io8 St. Columba " What would you have me to do ?" he cries. " Dofl you expect me to go out into the highways and bye-ways, and literally compel them to come in ?" IU must be confessed that this sort of way of meeting a difficulty is only too apt to be attended with temporary success. The critic feels that he has] possibly said too much ; that perhaps, after all, he has not fairly estimated the difficulties of an undoubtedly difficult situation ; whilst the person, or persons, or institution criticised goes his way rejoicing that he is just as other men are, if only in respect of "appearances". It is only afterwards, on cool reflection that both parties arrive at an uneasy suspicion that if St. Columba came to life again he might not be entirely pleased and satisfied with everything that he would see in Catholic Scotland. An event has recently happened in Wales whichJ cannot fail to be of the greatest interest to thej heirs and successors of St. Columba in Alba—I mean the establishment at Holywell of a Welsh Training College for Priests. The undertaking is. thus referred to in the Lenten Pastoral of his lordship the Bishop of Menevia : " Remembering that our duty extends beyond those who are actually in the fold, and that it is incumbent upon us to preach and to explain the doctrines of the Church to our fellow-countrymen who are not of our faith, we have opened Welsh missions at Llanrust and at Pwllheli. These two missions have been entrusted to some Oblate Fathers from Brittany, who have, thoroughly mastered the Welsh language, and who preach regularly every Sunday in this tongue. Realising the importance of the Welsh language-for priests who are to labour in Wales, we have lately, thanks to the great generosity of Miss. St. Columba 109 Sankey, been able to open St. Mary's College at Holywell, where the students for the diocese will receive a thorough training in the Welsh language, in addition to their other studies." The following paragraph is from the Roman correspondence of The Tablet, and appeared in that journal on Saturday, 25th March:— "This week the Holy Father learnt all about Wales and its religious conditions and prospects from the Bishop of Menevia. His lordship was received in private audience last Monday, and His Holiness kept him a long time, showing the keenest interest in the Bishop's account. Pius X. was especially struck by the efforts which are being made to appeal to the Welsh people through the medium of their own tongue ; and when the Bishop asked him for a special blessing for his new Seminary in which Welsh is one of the obligatory subjects for aspirants to the priesthood in Wales, he not only granted it at once but recorded it in a precious autograph which he presented there and then to Mgr. Mostyn: ' Venerabili fratri Episcopo Meneviensi et dilectis alumnis seminarii Gallensis Apostolicam benedictionem ex animo impertimus, 13 Martii, 1905.'—'From Our heart We bestow the Apostolic Blessing on our Venerable Brother, the Bishop of Menevia, and on the beloved pupils of the Welsh seminary, March 13, 1905'. The Bishop had brought with him a Latin copy of the prayer for the conversion of Wales, and the Pope warmly approved of the crusade of prayer, and once again took up his pen to write at the foot of the copy presented to him an indulgence of three hundred days to be gained once a day to all who recite it—not only in the Principality but in any part of the world. Finally, he warmly blessed the no Mar a Ghluais Mhic Mhuirich Foghlum MAR A GHLUAIS "OSSIAN" MHIC MHUIRICH FOGHLUM NA ROINN-EORPA Chuireadh a mach ann an Lunnain o chionn ghoirrid a' cheud leabhar do dh'eachdraidh nuadh na h-Eirinn. Tha e air a sgriobhadh leis an Athair F. A. D'Alton. Bithidh an obair so air a toirt gu crich ann an tri leabhraichean gu lèir; agus tha e 'tabhairt mòran toil-inntinn duinn a bhi a 'cur failt' is furain oirre aig an àm so. Cha deach' aon eachdraidh Eirionnach a sgriobhadh fathast an Gàidhlig no'm Beurla coltach rithe, ach is e ar barail-ne gu bheil mòran de na leabhraichean so neo-fheumail a nis, a chionn gu'm bheil iad sean agus a thaobh an dòigh anns an deachaidh iad a sgriobhadh. Tha Alba gu math air aghart a thaobh nan nithe so, ged nach urrain duinn eachdraiche Albannach a thoirt a mach cho math ach beag ri Ceitinn. Mar a Ghluais Mhic Mhuirich Foghlum 111 Bishop himself and encouraged him to persevere in the difficult but apostolic task of opening the eyes of his countrymen to the true character and claims of the Catholic Church." The question for us to consider is, if St. Columba came to our national seminary for the Scottish priesthood at Blairs, and found no provision therein for the teaching of his own tongue, would he be likely to approve of the omission ? Does it not: seem strange that Blairs College is now the only seminary for the priesthood on Celtic soil in which a Celtic language is not taught ? Sagart Albannach. _ Air an làimh eile, cha 'n 'eil eachdraiche Eirionnach cho math ri Robertson, ged a sgriobh am fear mu dheireadh so anns a' Bheurla. Tha e duilich nach 'eil an t-Athair D'Alton a' sgriobhadh 'eachdraidh-san na h-Eirinn ann an Gàidhlig, a chionn gu bheil a' Ghaidhlig aige; ach fàgaidh sinn a leisgeul aige fèin. Gu dearbh, tha e aig a shaorsa eachdraidh a sgriobhadh ann an cànain air bith a's àill leis. Ach, cha d'thàinig sinn a dh'ionnsuidh so a mholadh Chaesair, no a thiodhlaiceadh-sa. Cha 'n ann mar sin a tha an gnothuch a ghabh sinn os. làimh aig an àm so ; ach is e 'th'againn ri innseadh rud eigin mu thimchioll " Ossian " Mhic Mhuirich, agus a thaobh a ghluasaid a rinn e air foglum na Roinn-Eorpa. A nis, anns an eachdraidh leis an Athair D'Alton, tha beagan aige ri ràdh mu timchioll "Ossian" Mhic Mhuirich. Tha e 'labhairt mu Ossian ann mar an cruth a's mò ann am foghlum na h-Eirinn. Ars easan, "the impudent claim of MacPherson to make him a Scotchman, and to transfer the exploits of Fin and his Fenians to Caledonia, has long since been rejected. It could not survive the discovery of the forgeries which gave it birth." Agus ann a bhi 'mineachadh na h-earrain so tha e ag ràdh, " Dr. Johnson's opinion of Mac Pherson is well known ". A nis, is e ar barail, nach robh feum air bith anns an dòigh labhairt a tha aig an Athair D'Alton mu thimchioll Mhic Mhuirich. Chaidh an connsachadh so seachad o chionn fada, agus cha dean, e deagh thùrn do neach sam bith a bhi 'g ùrachadh na stri. Tha fios ro mhath aig na h-uile dhaoine aig an àm so gu'n robh Ossian 'n a bhard Eirionnach, agus, mar sin, gu'n robh a dhòigh bhàrdachd 112 Mar a Ghluais Mhic Mhuirich Foghlum Mar a Ghluais Mhic Mhuirich Foghlum 113 Mhuirich tuille is làn de gheur-rannsachadh air fèin, agus air an obair a rinn e. Tha cuid de 'n rannsachadh so ro dhòchasach, ann ar beachd-ne; agus tha cuid eile dhiubh air a thaobh air dòigh tha soilleir gu leòr. Tha na tiolpadairean a' cur as a leth gu 'n do chuir Mac Mhuirich thar a chèile, air iomadh dòigh, na cuairtean-eachdraidh a bh'air an gabhail a steach leis 'n a dhàin; ach tha e comasach a' cheart choire sin a chur a leth iomadh sean-sgriobhadh eile, a tha firinneach is ceart. A rìs, tha sinn de 'n bheachd, gu'n robh mòran sean-sgriobhaidhean aig Mac Mhuirich, agus gu'n d'rinn e 'n còrr feuma dhiubh, agus sin ni bu dheònaich na rinn mòran. Tha tuille 's a' chòir de shuaipe 'n a dhàin ri iomadh sean-sgriobhadh 'thaobh an deilbh agus am brìgh; agus, mar sin, cha 'n 'eil annta ach innleachd bhreugach a mhàin. Ach, ged a bha Mac Mhuirich 'n a fhear-deilbh feallsa, tha Gàidheal na h-Eirinn agus Gàidheal na h-Alba fo fhiachaibh dha. B'e a' cheud fhear a rinn an Roinn-Eorp eòlach a thaobh inntinn nan Gàidheal anns na h-amanna deireannach so. Aig an àm ud, an uair a bha Alba is Eirinn fo dhragh mòr mu'n staid agus an suidheachaidh, agus an uair a bha guth nan Gàidheal ach gu beag 'n a thosd, dh'èirich Mac Mhuirich gu h-obann, agus sgaoil e cliù nan Gàidheal air feadh an t-saoghail gu lèir, agus le sin a' buannachadh cliù mòr dha fèin. Bha an t-lachd a bh'aig daoine foghluimte beusach annainn fèin, agus ann ar sgriobhaidhean air a dùsgadh a nis gu àirde mòr; agus dh'fhas an Gàidheal agus a chainnt, air son a' cheud uair 0 cheann ro mhòran bhliadhnaichean, 'n an culaidh-fharmaid do gach neach. Gu dearbh, b'e Mac Mhuirich an ceud fhear a thoisich an gluasad d'an goirear an Celtic Renais- B air a toirt a steach do'n dùthaich so o Eirinn. Ach, nach 'eil muinntir na h-Eirinn agus muinntir na h-Alba 'n an aon sliochd ? Tha ar foghlum-ne an t-aon ni; agus a chionn gu'n robh Ossian 'n a Ghàidheal, tha e, mar sin, 'n a sheilbh chumanta d'ar siol-ne. Air ar son-ne, cha toigh leinn na buillean ud, a tha cuid againn cho tric a' deanamh] an aghaidh Mhic Mhuirich ; agus tha sinn a' gabhail riu gu dona. Bha Mac Mhuirich 'n a dhuine mòr, agus is mòr agus fhiach e am meas a tha aig Gàidheil na h-Eirinn, 's aig Gàidheil na hAlba air. Bha e, gun teagamh, 'n a fhear-deilbh feallsa; agus a thaobh an ni sin, bha e 'n a chrochaire gun fhiù gu lèir; ach dona's mar a bha e, cha 'n annt an dràsd' a tha sinn a dol a labhairt mu 'bheusanH ach mu 'obair-san. Bha Mac Mhuirich, gun teagamh, 'n a fhear-deilbh feallsa, agus bha 'n eadar-theangachd a chaidh a chur a mach air a dhàin Shasunnaich 'n a sheòrsa de cheilg. Tha gach deagh sgoilear am measg nan Gàidheal air an là an diugh, a dh'aon bharail a thaobh Mhic Mhuirich agus 'obairean-sài mar tha an t-Ollamh Mac Bheathainn ag ràdh. "It is needless to enter upon the question of the authenticity of Mac Pherson's "Ossian". Celtic scholars are agreed that it is all Mac Pherson's own work, both English and Gaelic. Indeed, the Gaelic was translated from the English, and is for the most part very ungrammatical and unidiomatic. These very faults, showing its extremely modern character, have been always regarded as marks of antiquity. Ordinary Gaelic readers do not understand it at all. The English is better done, because it is the original." Gidheadh, b'àill leinn a ràdh, 's an dol seachad, gu bheil cuid de luchd-diùltaidh a tha aig Mac ii4 Mar a Ghluais Mhic Mhuirich Foghlum Mar a Ghluais Mhic Mhuirich Foghlum 115 sance aig an là an diugh. Chuir a dhàintean deine ro mhòr ri foghlum nan Gàidheal; agus o sin suas, chaidh sin air adhart gu buadhach, agus le toil Dè, ni sinn sin, agus tuille, anns na bliadhnaichean a tha ri teachd; agus mar sin gu cinnteach tha ni-eiginn àraidh agus priseil againn air Mac Mhuirich, eadhon a thaobh an ni sin fèin. Ach cia mar a ghluais " Ossian " Mac Mhuirich foghlum na Roinn Eòrpa? B'e a' cheud fhear a bhuilich air foghlum na Roinn Eòrpa an t-analach-adh - bàrdail sin thaobh bròin a tha 'ruith mar shruth airgid troimh thaobhan oibre Bhyroin agus Chateaubriand, agus mòran eile. Thug Mata Arnold " Titanism" mar ainm air analachadh-bhàrdail so, agus fhuair e 'mach gu'n robh an ceud thoiseachadh aice ann an dànaibh Mhic Mhuirich. "A famous book, thubhairt e, Mac Pherson's 'Ossian' carried in the last (is e sin ri ràdh anns an ochdamh ceud deug) century this vein like a flood of lava through Europe." Agus ann an ait' eile, tha e ag ràdh, " make the part of what is forged, modern, tawdry, spurious in the book as large as you please ; strip Scotland, if you like, of every feather of borrowed plumes which, on the strength of MacPherson's ' Ossian,' she may have stolen from the vetus et major Scotia, the true home of the Ossianic poetry, Ireland—I make no objection. But there will still be left in the book a residue with the very soul of the Celtic genuis in it, and with the proud distinction of having brought this soul of Celtic genius into contact with the genius of the nations of modern Europe, and enriched all our poetry by it." Gu dearbh, ruith an inntinn a bha aig " Ossian " Mac Mhuirich troimh 'n Roinn Eòrp mar shruth de lava, eadhon mar a thubhairt an sgriobhadair ainmeil Sasunnach ud. Rinneadh gach dùthaich beartach leatha: ghluaiseadh gach foghlum leatha. Dh'eadar-theangaicheadh a dhàin chum gach càinnt a tha beò 's an Roinn Eorp aig an là an diugh. Tha eadar-theangachd air "Ossian" ann an cànain nan dachannan so a leanas; an Spàinn, an Fhraing, a' Ghearmailt, Sasunn, Lochluinn, an Olaind, an Eadailt, an t-Suain, an Odhailt, a' Ghreig, agus eadhon, tha sinn a' creidsinn, an teanga nan Tuirceach. A thuilleadh air sin, bu mhòr an gluasad a bha aig Mac Mhuirich air daoine mòr is ainmeil, a bha beò aig an àm ud. Mar tha sar fhios againn, bu mhòr an spèis a bha aig a' cheud Iompaire Napoleon do dhàin Mhic Mhuirich. Tha e air a ràdh le feadhainn gu'n deach e 'gnath gu cogadh le " Ossian " 'n a phòcaid; agus gu'n do leugh e na dàin an uair a bhiodh e sgith, no trom-inntinneach. Biodh sin mar a bhitheas e, tha e cinnteach gu'n robh spèis mhòr aig Napoleon do'n obair so; agus cha ni beag e, gu dearbh, cliù duine cho mòr agus cho ainmealach a bhi aige. Ghluaiseadh Goethe, mar an ceudna, le sgriobhadair " Ossian "; oir ged a bha am bàrd mòr so 'n a Ghearmailteach an toiseach, agus anns an dara àite 'n a Ghreugach do thaobh 'inntinn, bu mhòr an gluasad a bha aig Mac Mhuirich air. Is mò an gluasad a chuir an Gàidheal air Faust, ach feudaidh e bhith air a chomharrachadh gu furasda ann am mòran eile de na h-oibre a sgriobh Goethe. Mar so, cha 'n urrain do neach sam bith a ràdh gu'n do chaith Mac Mhuirich a bheatha an neo-bhrigh, no gu'n do chuir e seachad i ann an diomhanas gu tur; agus ge b'e air leith cho mòr agus a tha ar gràin dhe' bheusan, na biodh di-chuimhne againn air 'inntinn, no air 'obair-san. Gu dearbh, saor o u6 Gaelic Education gu'n do pheacaich e gu h-anabarrach a thaobh nan nithe sin a sgriobh e, bha e 'n a fhior Ghàidheal, agus neach aig an robh inntinn iongantach ; agus thug e onair mhòr d'ar siol-ne air feadh an t-saoghail gu lèir. Tha Mac Mhuirich marbh, agus tha 'n deas-boireachd a bha mu thimchioll fèin, agus a dhàin, mar sin, mar an ceudna; ach tha 'n inntinn a bha aige 'maireann gus an là an diugh ; agus air an aobhar sin, is còir dhuinn a bhith ro thaingeil dha. As eugmhais Mhic Mhuirich agus "Ossian"-sa, bhiodh mòran nithe de na chaidh a dheanamh fathast gun deanamh. Uime sin, thugamaid ceartas do'n marbh, agus thugamaid dha de dh'onoir a' mheud agus a tha 'n ar comas; oir rinn Mac Mhuirich obair mhòr as leth Ghàidheal na h-Alba, agus Ghàidheal na h-Eirinn; agus, gu dearbh, cha teid a chliù air dith. GAELIC EDUCATION I am glad to observe that this subject is at last beginning to arouse the attention which its importance deserves. A few years ago, it would have been impossible to excite the faintest interest in it; and the few who were ashamed of, and disgusted by, the public indifference, and raised their voices in feeble protest, were laughed at for their pains. The author of these observations was one of those who saw the folly and danger of the system of education then being pursued in respect of Gaelic, and wasted not a little time and energy in kicking against the pricks; and yet (it pleases me to think) my efforts were not entirely thrown away, as recent events in the Highlands have happily proved. Gaelic Education However stupid people may be, my experience is that they will probably see sense in the long run. Prejudice and ignorance abound in every community; but I have an inextinguishable belief in the "verdict of posterity". Tribulation may endure for a day, but joy come th with the morrow, saith the Psalmist, who was not over-sanguine at times; and however plentiful your crop of blockheads, the time must come when they will begin to languish and, presently, to fall away. On the other hand, far be it from me to be understood as wilfully over-rating the public intelligence. Many years passed in trying to train up the " young idea" have not left me with a particularly exalted notion of the human understanding in the mass. The fact that for many scores of years the so-called educationists of this country (or, to be more accurate, of the other) have been vainly trying to educate Gaelic-speaking children via English-speaking teachers is one of those absurdities which tend to make a man a cynic and a pessimist before his time. Still, in this life, it is good policy to feign gratitude for small mercies if not to make a determined effort really to feel it. The mass of abuses which ought to be removed, and the amount of reforms that ought to be undertaken, are so formidable and altogether over-powering that the prostrated mind catches as eagerly at the slightest appearances of relief from their intolerable burden as the drowning man does at the proverbial straw. Personally, therefore, I welcome the change in public opinion in respect of the teaching of Gaelic with a huge sigh of relief; and if I were a youthful person, which I crave the reader's permission to say that I am not, my bonnet would probably be flying sky- u8 Gaelic Education high at this very moment in token of my joy and gratitude for certain recent " concessions ". Two events have lately taken place in the Highlands which deserve the thoughtful attention of every individual interested in the progress of our race, and the welfare of the Gaelic-speaking people. I mean the recent conference at Inverness on the subject of Gaelic education, and the complimentary dinner to Mr. Robertson, Chief Inspector of Schools in the Highland district. The latter function was a seasonable and graceful recognition of the services of one who has not spared himself in the effort to make education something more than a name throughout the Highlands and Isles; and I consider that every Scottish Gael owes a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Robertson on that account. At a time when even to mention the word Gaelic in connection with education was enough to set all our pastors and masters at Whitehall by the ears, that gentleman courageously pleaded the cause of our language in the schools, thereby exposing himself to not a little official, and officious, displeasure. Let us, therefore, not be backward to render honour where credit is due. No vice is more detestable (or ridiculous) than ingratitude; and I, for one, should be exceedingly sorry to see any differences of opinion which there may be touching Mr. Robertson's methods, and those which recommend themselves to others that I know, standing in the way of a full and grateful recognition of his claims to be considered (what the Highland News appropriately enough recently styled him) as yet another caraid nan Gaidheal. No doubt Mr. Robertson is not so intrepid a reformer as some of us could wish him to be. To adopt the expressive, if barbarous, political phrase- Gaelic Education 119 ology of the day, he is not a Gaelic " whole-hogger"; but please to remember he is a paid government official, and was it not an ex-statesman, who is himself by no means remarkable for courage—I mean Lord Rosebery—who recently assured us that governments (and their officials, by consequence) are never "heroic". Certainly Mr. Robertson's proposals touching Gaelic in schools seem not destined to set the Ness on fire; and his somewhat too cautious manner of handling the question is possibly irritating to some ardent spirits, who, by the way, have logic and reason, to say nothing of fashion, on their side. But Mr. Robertson belongs, if I may put it so without offence to one of the kindest and best friends that the Gaels of Scotland have ever had, to an old school. Moreover, he is a government official, and a loyal and zealous functionary as well. He knows his employers' prejudices—I feel sure that their abounding ignorance on many points is as an open book to him—and, without compromising his principles, he does the best he can to render them as little injurious as possible, whilst, at the same time, preserving their confidence and esteem. Remember, too, that for twenty-five years Mr. Robertson has been in harness as an Inspector of Schools; and if in course of that long and honourable service his ideas touching education, especially Gaelic education, have become more or less stereotyped—the hyper-critical might style them even old-fashioned without apparent departure from strict truth—it is "the system," the government, " temperament," anything else probably, in short, that you may care to mention— save Mr. Robertson himself—that is to blame. If I must pass criticism—and, really, to do so after we have just been lapped, as it were, in panegyric, i20 Gaelic Education seems unseasonable, if not scurvy, conduct to in-J dulge in at this moment—I should say that where Mr. Robertson fails, if he fails at all, is not in respect of sympathy but breadth of view. He is too old and cautious a bird—I say it with no wand of respect—to be caught by the chaff (as doubtless] he considers it, though many of us know it to be true golden grain enough) of the Celtic Renaissance. Above all, he has now been twenty-five] years an Inspector of Schools and a government official. A combination of employments so uncongenial and exacting tends to knock the elasticity outj of a man. Let the individual that doubts the truth! of this axiom put it to a practical test—if he can. In his speech—with most of which I agree] —at the dinner which was given in his honour, Mr. Robertson referred, with a pride which was not only pardonable but infectious, to his work in connection with the recent order respecting the trains ing of Gaelic pupil teachers. If Mr. Robertson,, as a Highland educationist, had lived in vain up to the time of the passing of that most importantj and necessary measure (which those best qualified1 to judge are aware is by no means the case),! certainly the passing of that measure would not] only have completely exonerated him from all previous blame, but would entitle him to our abiding admiration and gratitude as well. Fortunately, however, our gratitude and admiration for Mr. Robertson are based upon a consideration of his official career as a whole; and however much the single isolated action referred to above may redound to his credit, we recognise in it a perfection of those counsels in which, throughout a long and honourable service, he has consistently and zealously indulged. Gaelic Education 121 I was glad to observe by the newspaper accounts of the conference that what the various readers spf papers and speakers had most in mind was the (importance of introducing Gaelic-speaking teachers unto schools where the Gaelic language is the (prevailing speech of the district. This is- a most [necessary reform, and a measure of the simplest fcommon-sense, which is possibly one reason why dt has long been so unpopular with our English educationists at Whitehall. To try to teach a lchild a foreign language through any other medium |save his own tongue is sheer waste of time and unjustifiable extravagance. It simply cannot be done, as experience has proved time after time. I [notice that in his speech at the dinner Mr. Robert-tson went somewhat out of his way—at least, it [appeared so to me—to pat English-speaking teachers [in the Highlands on the back. No doubt many [of them are admirable men, and excellent public servants in their way; but they have no business fwhatever to be in Gaelic-speaking schools. " Oh," [says Mr. Robertson, " we get the best men we can, [and if the best man does not know Gaelic, it is a [pity, perhaps, in some ways, but his qualifications (•in other respects are too obvious to be overlooked." This, of course, is very bad reasoning; and I am [surprised that one who is usually so shrewd and [sound on educational questions should hold such Manguage for a moment. The fact is that given an Admirable Crichton, and a corresponding measure ¦of genius for imparting knowledge, your Solomon fjs practically useless unless he can speak the language cf the individuals he is required to instruct. Is not this a self-evident fact \ Take the case of an English-speaking boy who has to be prepared for life's ibattle in the ordinary way. Do you attempt to 122 Gaelic Education Gaelic Education 123 mandate to press the question of Gaelic in the schools, therefore we do not feel justified in interfering". To which I reply, that mandate or no mandate, it is the duty of the people's representatives to see to it that the children of their constituents are not hopelessly handicapped in the struggle for existence; and that if their constituents are so ignorant as to be incapable of seeing the matter in this, its true, light, then the sooner they set to work to educate them up to it the better it will be for all concerned. The question of the future of Gaelic will be settled in the schools—of that there can be no shadow of doubt. If the Gaelic language is to live, it must forthwith be introduced into the schools, not tentatively, half-heartedly and partially, but thoroughly, uncompromisingly. It has been proved—the fact is patent to every modern educationist—that the possession of two languages —even though one of the two be a non-commercial one—supplies a better equipment than the possession of one only. The Gaels of Scotland are in the fortunate position of being a bi-lingual people. They should therefore bestir themselves, and see to it that they are not deprived of their remaining national possession—a most valuable educational asset—by a similar process and by the self-same agencies as have already despoiled them of so much. If Gaelic could be wiped off the list of living tongues to-morrow, then, indeed, sentiment apart, it might become a debatable question whether, in the interests of pure commercialism, it would not be better to sign the warrant for its execution and burial; but as, fortunately, for many reasons, in my opinion, it cannot be so summarily disposed of, then the "cram" him through the medium of French, or German, or any other foreign tongue that you may care to mention? Pray, what would be thought of the " system," or of its aiders and abettors, that should sanction or encourage so monstrous and ridiculous a proceeding ? The mill-stone of ridicule would promptly be tied about their necks, and they would be cast into the sea of extinction, amidst the plaudits of all. And yet, owing to the ignorance and apathy of the Highland people, and the insane and pettifogging prejudices of their educational rulers, this is precisely what is being done at this, very day in a really scandalous number of cases throughout the length and breadth of the Highlands, and Isles! The educational growth of thousands, upon thousands of promising intelligent Gaelic-speaking children is thus being mercilessly stunted, if not positively prevented, by this iniquitous. " system ". Can anything more monstrous, unjust, and ridiculous possibly be imagined ? But when you have arrived at the fact that the perpetrators of this outrage are English educationists, and the victims mere miserable Highlanders good for nothing-but soldiering, you will have indicated cause and effect as plainly as, under these unpromising circumstances, it is necessary to discover them. For this altogether anomalous, discreditable and ridiculous state of affairs I do not so much blame the Highland people themselves, who, no doubt, in many cases are stupid and short-sighted in no common degree, as their accredited representatives, county councillors, members of Parliament, and so forth. Pray, what are these last about that they should tolerate so parlous a condition of things? They may object, "The Highland people, as a whole, has given us no 124 Gaelic Education obvious thing to do is to make it as useful as possible. To leave it to die a " natural" death by neglect and starvation would be a most heartless and improvident proceeding. The death agony of our grand and venerable tongue would necessarily be severe and protracted; and during its continuance thousands of promising children would be subjected to a species of educational torture {and to life-long educational disabilities) for absolutely no fault of their own, and merely in order that a government scheme of no " official recognition" as regards Gaelic might be pushed to its logical limits. However unselfish and "paternal" may be the attitude of the modern Highlander touching posterity, and however subservient his conduct to government, I scarcely think he is prepared to sacrifice his immediate offspring in order to confer a doubtful benefit upon generations which are yet unborn. That being so, he will, if he is wise, insist on his children being educated on common-sense lines—on their being efficiently instructed always in Gaelic, that is to say. Hitherto I have dealt with the practical side of this question—with the aspect that regards exclusively Gaelic-speaking districts, that is to say. I propose to make a few observations, in conclusion, on what is, more or less, the sentimental side of the subject under discussion. Personally I am a firm believer in the Celtic Renaissance, which possibly may seem an odd thing for a Scottish educationist to say; and I would willingly see "the movement," as it is called, embracing the whole of Celtic Scotland, or at all events as much of it as is left to us. Now, as I have already said, the question of the Gaelic Education 125 future of Gaelic rests with the schools—with the educational authorities throughout the country, that is to say. No amount of shouting at public meetings, writing to sympathetic newspapers, wearing of kilts and drinking of toasts, will save the language, if it is not introduced into the schools. Now, of these last there are a number in the Highlands in which the Gaelic language forms no part of the curriculum, although the home speech of many, perhaps the majority, of the children's parents is the ancient language of Alba. These children grow up with but a smattering of Gaelic—in too many cases they do not acquire even that—and so the language first languishes and then perishes. It seems to me, therefore, that the Comunn Gàidhealach and its allies have hardly yet realised the great strategetic importance of the great glen of Scotland (for it is in the countries bordering, east and west, on that great thoroughfare that such mixed-speaking districts are most numerous) from the language point of view. In these countries —Grantown, Braemar, Tomintoul, etc., represent typical districts in which Gaelic is still the home speech of great numbers of the natives—the tongue of our ancestors is dying out with a rapidity which should be alarming to every true friend of the Gael; and unless something be done within the next few years, to check the decay of the language, in no long space of time Gaelic will have ceased to exist in those districts, and a large and important part of Alba will cease to be truly national. Once the great glen and the neighbouring countries have been thoroughly Anglicised, it stands to reason that we shall then be within measurable distance-of a time when Gaelic will be confined to the 126 Gaelic Education Isles, and to a comparatively narrow strip of country flanking the western sea-board of Scotland. Its utter decay and extinction, under these circumstances, can only be a question of a further slight extension of time. What the Comunn Gàidhealach and its friends should therefore now do is, obviously, to carry the war into that part of the country which comprises the great glen, and adjoins thereto, tohilst yet there is time. They should at once seize, as it were, all the passes and strategical points of that country, and hold them, for all that they are worth, in the interests of the Gaelic language and nationalism. The language is dying fast in the great glen and neighbouring territories; but sufficient remains to form a casus belli, as it were, and a means whereby the Gaelic tongue might yet be preserved to future generations of Highlanders. Mods and conferences are all very well in their way, but unless they bring their lessons home to the people at large, they are bound to result, sooner or later, in merely so much wasted effort. The people, especially the inhabitants of the mixed-speaking districts, must forthwith be informed and instructed, and the whole " movement " brought into line with the principles of the "Welsh and Irish language propaganda. Organisers must be sent them, who should explain and expound the gospel of nationalism; and, then, when public opinion is ripe for it, the language itself must be introduced into the schools. All this requires, of course, the sinews of war; and, doubtless, the existing resources of the Comunn are quite inadequate to cope with so great an effort. But surely the opening of a national subscription list in Scotland (and wherever Scots congregate throughout Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 127 the world) in behalf of the Gaelic language is a measure which lies well within the limits of the province and capacity of our Celtic societies. Our Irish kinsmen collect through this channel several thousands of pounds a year to help them in their language crusade. I am loath to believe that the Gaels of Scotland, Canada and elsewhere would prove themselves one whit less generous and patriotic, in the event of a similar appeal being addressed to them. A Scottish Educationist. seachd mor mhaoir na h-alba (Air a leantainn) So againn, uime sin, Seachd Roinnean na h-Alba, a rèir Giraldus Cambrensis, maille ri Seachd Roinnean a bha fo uachdrannachd dhoibh : Athol 1 Gabharaidh J Aonghas \ Magh-Chirchinn no Moern J Srath Eirinn \ Menteith J Marr \ Buchan J Fiofa 1 Fothreve J Moiridh \ Ros J Gallaobh \ Citra montem et Ultra montem ) Thugamaid fainear, a nis, an clàr-ainm so. Tha e cinnteach gu'n robh na roinnean so uile 'n am mòr-roinnean na h-Alba o chionn fada. Tha Athol, 128 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 129 laobh) gu'n robh Alba air a roinneadh mar sin 'n a làtha-sa, ach gu'n robh e air a roinneadh mar a thubhairt e, còrr agus mile bliadhna roimh sin. Tha Scene ag ràdh, "is urrainn duinn a chur an cèill coig as na seachd roinnean " ; ach cha 'n urrainn da, no do neach sam bith eile innseadh dhuinn gu pongail an cruth a bha air an dùthaich so 'nuair a bha i air a roinneadh le Cruithne agus a mhic. Anns na làithean sin, bha priomh-mhuinntir na h-Alba ann an làn-seilbhe air an dùthaich so air fad. Bha Earraghaidheal agus na h-Eileannan air an àiteachadh le Gàidheil; agus cha d'thàinig na Pàganaich fhathast o Loch-linne gus an dùthaich so an toir air creich, agus suil aca criochan ceann tuath na h-Alba a chur fo smachd. Aig an àm ud, bha Alba air fad aig na Gàidheil; agus, mar sin, ma bha an dùthaich so air a roinneadh mar a thubhairt an t-Easbuig Aindrea, na h-eachdraichean agus mòran eile, nach e tha h-anabarrach iongantach gu bheil an sean-sgeul so mu Chruithne agus a mhic ag innseadh dhuinn dad sam bith thaobh Earraghaidheal agus nan Eileannan? Na tha Scene ag ràdh anns an leabhar ris an canar, The Highlanders of Scotland, nach 'eil sin gun teagamh fior ? " Tha 'n diubhras so (ars esan, thoiribh fainear gu'm beil e 'labhairt mu'n dà chlàr-ainm a bha air an cur a mach le Giraldus Cambrensis), a' cur an cèill gu solleir an dà linn air leth d'am buin iad. Tha a' cheud chlàr-ainm a' fagail a mach Earraghaidheal: tha 'n dara clàr-ainm a' gabhail beachd air Earraghaidheal, ach tha e 'fagail a mach Gallaobh. Rinn an naothamh ceud linn na caochlaidhean sin ann an Alba a chuir soilleireachadh air an diubhras so. Chuir a' bhuaidh Ghàidhealach anns a' bhliadhna 843, Dail Riada ri Alba; agus mu dheireadh na linne sin, thuit Aonghas, Fortrenn (is a sin Srath Eirinn is Men-teith), Marr, Fiofa agus Moiridh air an ainmeachadh gu tric anns na h-eachdraidhean Eirinneach; agus, tha Mor-mhaoir nan roinnean so air an ainmeachadh gu tric, mar an ceudna, anns na leabhraichean ud. Beachdaichidh sinn air na roinnibh uile ann am beagan bhriathran. Cha 'n 'eil dad sam bith thaobh Ghabharaidh anns na h-eachdraidhean Gàidhealach, ged a tha e comasach gu'n robh an leithid sin do roinn ann, an uair a bha Alba an seilbh nan Cruithneach. Tha sàr fhios agam, co dhiu, nach 'eil iomradh air bith air Mor-mhaor Ghabharaidh anns na h-eachdraidhean a bhuineas do na Gàidheil, no anns na h-eachdraidhean a bhuineas do na Sasunnaich. Bha Buchan, gun teagamh, 'n a aon do roinnibh na h-Alba, ged nach 'eil iomradh air, no air a Mhòr-mhaoir anns na h-eachdraidhean a bhuineas do na h-Eirionnaich. Gidheadh, tha fios againn gu'n robh e, a dh'aindeoin sin, 'n a roinn na h-Alba bho Leabhar nan Deur, anns am beil mòran iomradh air, 's air na Mòr-mhaoir a bha os a chionn. A thaobh Fhorthreve, cha 'n 'eil iomradh air anns na h - eachdraidhean Gàidhealach. Tha e comasach gu'n robh a leithid sin do roinn, agus Mor-mhaor mar an ceudna, ann ; ach cha 'n 'eil fios cinnteach sam bith againn umpa. Bha Ros, mar a bha Buchan, gun teagamh 'n a aon de roinnibh na h-Alba, ged a b'e "Iarla" Uilleam a' cheud Mhòr-mhaor a bha os cionn na dùthcha sin, a tha aithnichte do dh'eachdraidh. Bha an t-Uilleam so ann anns a' bhliadhna 1153. A nis, ann am bheachd-sa, is e an ni a's neònaiche a thaobh a' chlàr-ainm so, a neo-iomlanachd. Cuimhnichidh, guidheam oirbh, nach 'eil d'thubhairt an t-Easbuig Aindrea (a bha 'n a Easbuig an Gal- 130 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 131 an uair a bha Cambrensis a' sgriobhadh, agus ma tha 'chuis mar sin, carson nach d'rinn e iomradh oirre? Cha d'rinn e sin, rèir na h-uile coslais, a chionn's nach b'urrainn da suim a' gabhail dith, agus an sean-sgeul mu Chruithne agus a sheachd mic a chur an cèill cuideachd. Cha b'urrainn da an dà sgeulachd a dheanamh rèidh ri chèile. Ach ged is maith a dh'fhaodas sinn teagamh ghabhail a thaobh an t-sean-sgeoil so, cha 'n 'eil còir duinn a bhi gabhail ris mar ni nach fiù, mar tha 'n rannsachail- anns an Edinburgh Review a' deanamh. Tha easan a gabhail ris mar ni aig nach 'eil bun sam bith. Tha Bruce no na fir-taice a bh'aige ag ràdh gu soilleir, gu'n robh '-les Seet Countes d'Escoce" ann an uair "il avoit guerre entre le Roi de Engleterre et le Roi d'Escoce . . . que les Seet Countes d'Escoce feussent tenus de serment," etc., etc. A nis, tha e cinnteach nach robh comas aig Bruce, no aig na fir-taice a bh'aige sgeul bhreug de'n t-seòrsa so a chur a mach. Tha iad a' labhairt mu thimchioll nan "Seet Countes d'Escoce" air dòigh tha nàdurra gu leòir, agus ge b'e air bith luach a th'air an eachdraidh a sgriobh iad, tha e cinnteach gu'n robh iad a' labhairt mu rud èiginn air an robh na h-uile fear fiosrach an uair a bha iad a' labhairt mu thimchioll nan " Seet Countes d'Escoce". Cha 'n 'eil Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba, no na "Seet Countes d'Escoce" air an cur air chois an uair an connsachadh airson caithir-rioghail na h-Alba a' dol air aghart, is e sin ri ràdh, air do Bhan-righ na h-Alba bàs fhaotainn an uair a bha i air turas a dh'ionnsuidh na h-Alba. Anns a' bhliadhna 1250, an uair a bha corp Ban-righ Mhairearaid air a ghluasad as an àite anns an robh e gus an ionad-ciùil aig Dun Phàrlain, Gallaobh fo smachd uan Lochlannaich. _ Tha 'n dara clàr-ainm, uime sin, a nochadh gu soilleir nan roinnean a bha aig Righ na h-Alba an deigh an naothamh ceud linn. Tha a' cheud chlàr-ainm a' deanamh deilbh a thaobh rioghachd nan Cruithneach a tha ceart cho firinneach ris an fhear eile, agus tha e roimh a' bhuaidh a thug Gàidheil na h-Eirinn air an Earraghaidheal. Tha na Seachd Boinnean air a' cheud chlàr-ainm a' nochdadh gu soilleir seilbhean nan Cruithneach. Is i a' chuid a tha air a' fagail a mach gu ceart a' chuid sin a bha aig na Dail Eiadianaich. Agus tha so ro chudthromach ; oir tha e 'dearbhadh gu'n robh pairteachadh air na Seachd Roinnean dualach do na Cruithneach, agus gu'n robh e aig bun rioghachd na h-Alba." Ach, mo thruaighe! air son na tha de fhirinn anns a' bheachd so (a chur Scene a mach le leithid do stri), bhuin pairteachadh na h-Alba, a tha air ainmeachadh anns an t-sean sgeul mu Chruithne agus a mhic, do'n choigeamh linn roimh Chriosd. Ach tha e so-fhaicinn, a nis, gu'm buin an sean sgeul so do'n ochdamh, no do'n naothamh ceud linn; oir cha 'n 'eil e a' gabhail beachd air Alba, nuair a bha i air fad ann an seilbh nan Cruithneach! So againn ni eile thaobh an t-sean-sgeil so mu Chruithne a tha cur an cèill a shuarrachas mar eachdraidh fhirinnich. Cha 'n 'eil an clàr-ainm a chuir Giraldus a mach a' gabhail beachd air Leamhainn, Mòr-mhaorachd cho mòr agus cho aosda 's a bh'ann ann an Alba gu lèir. A rèir O'Flaithbheartaigh, bha a' Mhòr-mhaor-achd so air a cur air cois le mac a bha aig Core, righ Mhumhan ann an Eirinn; ach ge b'air bith ciod a thubhairt easan, tha e cinnteach gu bheil an àrd-inbhe so glè aosda. Bha i ann, gu cinnteach, 132 Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba tha e air a ràdh gu'n robh an gnothuch sin air a ghabhail os làimh an làthair nan "Septem Epis-coporum et Septem Comitum Scotiae". Anns an ath bliadhna, rinneadh casaid air Dorsair an Righ do bhrigh gu'n d'fheuch e a bhean a chur suas mar bhan-oighre dhligheach agus laghail na rioghachd, agus air an dòigh sin a dheanamh greim air a' chathair-rioghail i fèin. Rinneadh casaid air Rob Dhun Phàrlain aig an àm cheudna a chionn gu'n d'rinn e oidhirp air a' chomh-run so a chuideachadh. Air an aobhar sin, cha d'thugadh seachad an Seul Mòr do Ghamelin, a bha 'n a mhorair nan Seul a bha 'n a fhear-leantainn dha; ach bha e air a bhriseadh 'n a bhloighdean an làthair nam flàithean a bha an ceann a chèile aig an àm sin; oir chur iad Rob as àite a chionn gu'n d'rinn e droch ghrèidheadh air an t-seula. Cha 'n 'eil fhios againn an robh a' chasaid so air a bunadh gu math, no nach robh; ach na 'n d'fhuair Dorsair an Righ ceartas a mhna air agradh, 's e an ath cheum a ghabhadh e a bhi a' cur air aghart na còrach a bha aig a nighean air crùn na h-Alba. Gun teagamh, cha bhiodh comas no cead aige am feasd air Morairean na h-Alba "a chur air chois air son a' ghlacaidh eucoraich so "; ach, mar tha Robertson e fèin ag ràdh gu math "cha 'n 'eil e do-chreidsinn gu'n deanadh e oidhirp ' Cùirt Sheachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba 'a thoirt air ais, no a chur air chois gus an glacadh eucorach so a dhaingneachadh". Bha Seachd Mòr-mhaoir air an suidheachadh an toiseach anns a' bhliadhna 1250, agus anns a' cheart ath bhliadhna, rinneadh casaid an aghaidh Dorsair an Righ. " Tha 'n comh-chordadh so," arsa Robertson, " eadar an aon chùis agus am fear eile glè shonraichte, gu h-àraid ma The Celt in Spain r33 tha sinn a' beachd-smuaineachadh (mar bu chòir dhuinn) gur e Bruce, aon de na fir-taice a bu mhò a bha aig Dorsair an Righ; agus gur e easan a chur an cèill e fèin, an deigh sin, mar aon de na luchd-leanmhuinn a bha aig "Seachd Mòr-mhaoir na h-Alba." Tha aobhar maith againn a bhi saoilsinn gu'n do thagh muinntir na dùthcha so o chionn fhada an Righ air son fèin, no, an àite sin gu'n do ghabh iad ris, air dha 'bhi air a chur air chois dhoibh le "Morairean na h-Alba". Tha e comasach, gu dearbh, gu'n do thaghadh an Righ le "Riaghladairean Sheachd Roinnean na h-Alba " aig amannan na's traithe na sin; ach a thaobh eachdraidh na h-Alba an deigh linn Chaluim a' Chinn-mhòir, cha 'n 'eil iomradh againn air comunn no còir sam bith de 'n leithidibh sin. CiARiAN Mac Chtarian. (Ri leantainn.) the celt in spain That brilliant historian, Martin Hume, observes very truly that each race, each civilisation, which in turn reached the Spanish Peninsula, could get no farther, and on that account was obliged, of necessity, there to stand, fight, and finally to pass away before the social or racial dispensation that supplanted it. The geographical position of Spain sufficiently explains this just assertion; for situated as it is at the extreme left of the European continent, and nearly isolated by two seas and by the steep barrier of the Pyrenees, it nevertheless constitutes a central point to which successive immigrations were propelled in the form of invading 134 The Celt in Spain tides, drawn from all quarters, from north, east, south, and, it is possible, even from the west. To a daring people, southward bound, the Spanish promontory was the natural goal. Its Atlantic coasts were constantly exposed to the roving incursions of the primitive wanderers. The Gibraltar isthmus, which once undoubtedly existed, connected in bygone ages the African continent and the then marshy and sea-swept islands which later came to be known as the Hesperia of poetry. And when by incessant and mighty erosion that link finally disappeared, the connexion with Africa was destroyed and a formidable obstacle erected to the progress of invasion from the South. In spite, however, of that ancient link—the isthmus formerly connecting the Peninsula and Africa— it has been well said that Spain is one of the most highly composite ethnographic groups that exist among the western nations. And, certainly, prehistoric and historic data account for no less than twelve principal invasions, some of which have been subdivided into several branches. There are traces on the Spanish soil of the Neanderthal, or Canstadt, a man of low stature but robust physique, who went from Central Europe to the Peninsula. There are abundant proofs, also, of the existence, within the same area, of the so-called North African, a man strongly built, of great height and dolichocephalic, who is believed to have entered Spain by the isthmus of Gibraltar, and traces of whom survive among the inhabitants of many localities, particularly amongst those who presently inhabit the territory of Andalusia. Moreover, sufficient evidence remains to prove that a Turanian man of Asiatic origin reached Spain after having over-run Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine and Egypt, The Celt in Spain 135 Greece, a great part of Africa, the occidental coasts of Europe, the British Isles and Sicily. History speaks of yet another great invasion by a race akin to the Semite (but its predecessor), which once about the fifteenth century b.c. formed the vast Ibero-Lybian empire, stretching from Asia and extending to both coasts of the Mediterranean Sea down to the western end of the then known world. And coming to historical times, we find that the Phoenician plantation followed the Greek establishment ; then came the Celtic conquest, the Carthaginian occupation, the Roman dominion, the various barbarian irruptions, and, last of all, the Moorish subjugation. Setting aside as of no practical account the pompous theory of the existence in Europe of three sorts of graduated beings, homo Europeus, homo Alpinus, and homo Meditermneus—a theory invented, apparently, to flatter the vanity of those who wish to be included in the first, and, consequently, the superior group, we have instead something less synthetic indeed, but a great deal more intelligible and at the same time agreeable to fact, namely, the opinion that out of all the different peoples who from the beginning have occupied and possessed the Spanish Peninsula, some have proved to be essentially basic and some essentially dynamic. Some have proved to be strata, amenable to fecundation by higher civilisations, but impervious to despotism, absorption, and, consequently, to destruction. Some indeed have been conquered, the imperial sceptre has swayed over their enslaved bodies—but it has been powerless, in many cases, to subjugate their wills, or to exterminate in them the consciousness of national honour and those fine ideals touching liberty and ireedom which animate a highly-strung 136 The Celt in Spain independence-loving people. They may have been temporarily depressed indeed; but their subjection lasted so long only as the arm which kept them down was possessed of its repressive force. They seem to have had a strange recuperative power under tyranny and misfortune, and have never been entirely obliterated. They have always risen again after each successive defeat, and asserted more strongly than ever their peculiar traits. Why ? For what reason ? Let us examine. The two peoples which constitute the basis of the Spanish nation are the Iberian and the Celt, who are both of the same stock, although specialised during the long period of their wanderings from their Asiatic birthplace to their European home. They were brothers. The Iberians, the elders, had been fertilised, as it were, by reason of their long contact with the Egyptians, before they came to the Peninsula, as is abundantly proved by the evidence of their ceramic remains, which are numerous in Spain. The Celts, the younger branch of the same race, were already welded into a great empire in the third century b.C. This empire comprised, to the north, the territory now known as Germany, to the east, the territory about the shores of the Danube and Thracia, to the west it was bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the British Isles, and to the south it comprised northern Italy, where the Celts came in close contact and relation with some branches of the Iberians. When both met in the Peninsula, the one as occupier of the soil, the other as invader, neither of them was greatly inferior to the other in respect of culture, although the most advanced, generally speaking, were those who had profited by the correspondence with Egypt. After warfare and considerable fric- The Celt in Spain 137 tion, they amalgamated ; and, as anthropology expresses it, the most energetic physically, invigorated the more ancient race in different degrees, according to the proportions of the numbers that became blended in the various regions planted by the two peoples. It is commonly said and believed, that the Celt came into the Peninsula through the Pyrenees, not in one particular invasion, but in a series of waves of immigration—each successive invasion pushing the one that had preceded it farther and farther into the heart of the country, until at last almost the whole Peninsula was laid under contribution by the Celtic immigrants. When they were stopped they fought and conquered; and then pushed on again, carrying with them their wives and children, their cattle, sheep, and goods and chattels. Where their numbers precluded conquest, they stayed as friends, but only in a very few cases were they obliged to withdraw altogether. Speaking generally, their numbers thinned in proportion as they advanced from north to south, the south and south-eastern parts of Spain being those in which their influence was least felt; and as there was necessarily to be a point at which the rival influences of the two elements became neutralised, the fable arose in due course of the existence of yet another racial unit, to which the name of Celtiberians has been given. But such was not really the case. There was no essential difference between the social foundations on which the two elements rested, which were then, as always, substantially the same; and although it is doubtless true that the two peoples presented many points of difference, yet, as will be noted later on, their sense of possessing a common origin (remote enough, it is true) was never entirely eradi- 138 The Celt in Spain cated from their minds. The principal divisions of the Celts were : the Galaicos, who were in possession of modern Galicia; the Astures, inhabitants of Asturias; the Cantabros, who extended from Villaviciosa to Castro-Urdiales; the Autrigones, Vardulos and Vascones, who occupied territory-corresponding to the Vasconian provinces, Navarre, and part of Aragon; the Ilergones, Bargusios, Lace-tanos, Suesetanos, Cerretanos and Indigetes, who were planted from Huesca to Cataluna; the Edetwnos, who established themselves in Valencia and part of Castellon and Zaragoza; the Contestanos, residing in Alicante and Murcia; the Twdetanos, who dominated the south of Extremadura and the west of Andalusia; the Lusitanos, holding nearly-all Portugal and part of Extremadura ; the Vacceosr lords of Castilla la Vieja; the Celtiberos, masters of part of Castilla la Neuva and Aragon; the Vetones, who lived in the territory stretching between the rivers Duero and the Guadiana, and were particularly numerous in Extremadura, Salamanca, and Avila; the Carpetanos, who settled in Toledo and part of Madrid and Guadalajara; and the Oretanos, seated in Ciudad Eeal. The Phoenicians and Greeks possessed as their own but a narrow strip of the western sea-board of Spain, extending from Ampurias to Gibraltar. They had, also, another small strip extending from thence to Cadiz. Segorbe, the nearest Celtic possession, was no farther from the Mediterranean than thirty ks.1 Càrtama, also Celtic, was in the province of Malaga, and in the province of Cadiz the Iberian stuck fast to his mountains. There is no need of air-built theory in order to 1 About nineteen miles. The Celt in Spain 139- understand how it was that the Celtiberian successfully resisted, throughout the ages, the various attempts that were made either to destroy or to absorb him. It was his lot to be chained to a great promontory, the approaches and exits to and from which were most difficult to negotiate. Even the very seas seemed to press together, and to hedge in, as it were, the daring invaders, whose acquaintance with the art of prolonged navigation was but slender, and whose elementary knowledge of naval warfare rendered them distrustful of the sea as a means of escape from their precarious situation. Surrounded on every side, and with no place to go to in the event of attack, they had thus to conquer, or to suffer martyrdom on the spot in which they had been born and bred. Whilst in their infancy they resembled pilgrims. But once they had definitely settled in the Spanish Peninsula, they could not leave, closed in as they were by obstacles on every side—obstacles to successfully surmount which required far more art and address than they were possessed of. But at the same time the peculiar geographical conformation of the country prevented them from being absorbed by new in-coming peoples. When they were attacked they took refuge in the hilly parts, which were admirably adapted for defence. There they were safe, and at liberty to develop their own character and social and political individuality. A bird's-eye view of the Spanish Peninsula discovers it to be a great promontory, which inclines from the north to the south. In the centre is a table-land, now made up of the Castiles and Extremadura, with slopes falling abruptly eastwards and more gently westwards, barred by huge The Celt in Spain mountains and further strengthened by deep and intricate ravines. The highly civilised Phoenicians who were established as merchants on the coasts of Spain during the long period of over five hundred years, undoubtedly imparted to the Celt-iberians a considerable knowledge of agriculture and the mining industry. From their establishments at Erythia, Melkarteia, Malaka, Sexi, Abdera, Hispalis, Gadei, Aibusos, Ituci, Olontigi and elsewhere, their civilising and educational influence spread. But when they attempted to penetrate into the interior, they found themselves •confronted by the natives who united to sweep down upon them from their mountain fastnesses and secluded retreats. More sympathetic to the Greeks, because these last were though less aggressive yet more enlightened even than the Phoenicians, the Celtiberians received from the Greek colonists political, religious and moral teaching congenial to Celtiberian freedom of thought and organisation. The Greeks never assumed the ròic of conquerors, but played the part of friends and helpers to the Celtiberian forces, and looked on unconcerned whilst the great fight for the world's mastership, initiated on Spanish soil, was being waged between Roman and Carthaginian. How these two great peoples battled, and how the great Hannibal recognised and utilised the military value of his Celtiberian allies, I do not propose to enter upon here. Nor do I propose to discuss the Roman victory, which after years of bloodshed and anarchy was finally effected. Suffice it to say that the independence of the natives was ultimately destroyed, and they were obliged to pass beneath the Roman yoke. What is more to my purpose, however, is to discover as much The Celt in Spain 141 as possible the causes that led to that defeat, and. to ascertain its social and ethnological effects upon the conquered people. Neither Phoenicians nor Greeks, it is clear, could have made an enduring impression upon the Celtiberian race, so far as the blood of that people was concerned. The Phoenicians were discomfited as soon as ever they tried to substitute the art of the warrior for the peaceful employments of the merchant; and the Greeks themselves inform us how careful they had to be to guard against any appearance of hostility or any act which might even indirectly seem to justify the suspicion that they designed to dispossess the Celtiberian of his lands and towns. More congenial to the natives than either of these two races, the Carthaginians soon won a way to their hearts by obliging themselves to respect their laws and institutions, and by limiting their demands to money and men in order to enable them to carry on the war against the Romans ; and although they brought from Africa vast numbers of soldiers and labourers, they did not succeed in impressing their peculiar and advanced civilisation upon the natives of the Peninsula in general, although they undoubtedly were successful in influencing the populations of Andalusia. The Romans dominated Spain, as they did all other countries that they subjected, by means of their superior political insight. The long centuries of bloody strife which they imposed on Spain, prevented, no doubt, the free development of the primitive native institutions ; but the Romans endowed the people with a purer and loftier religion, and imparted to them the abstract idea of a united nation, which was much superior to that reflecting a state of society in which the 142 The Celt in Spain -cian system was the dominating, if not the only, social and political factor; and as they had done all over the world, in Spain also they subjugated and transformed in the interests of civilisation and progress. What they were powerless to effect, however, was to change the character of the people they found in Spain. Inter-communication was also difficult and frequently dangerous. And it was in consequence of these disabilities that the political growth of the Celtiberians gradually assumed the character of an individualism which was modified only by the pressing urgency of war and by the indispensable intercourse of trade, for which latter purpose they used to form themselves into confederacies. Although the various degrees of civilisation in the Peninsula produced -various types of society, the vast majority of the Spanish people in those times used to live in small villages, as for instance, the Lusitanos, the Celtici, the Galaicos and the Astures. Where the population was more advanced, large cities were built, as happened in the case of the Turdetanos. These cities were intended primarily for mutual protection and defence. But in every case, the social foundation was the cian -the gentilitas of the Romans— that is to say, groups of several families of the same stock united and became bound by a common tie of relationship, precisely as their kinsmen did in Ireland and Scotland. Each cian, which was independent politically, had its proper religion, its -own law and government, which were wont to be regulated at the Mòd or general appointed meeting-place of the cian. Various clans used to band themselves together into a tribe or mbr-tkuatha, precisely according to the ancient custom of the -men of Eirinn and Alba. These large tribes were The Celt in Spain H3 essentially political organisations; and each was provided with a capital, or fortified town, in which all the people of the surrounding districts were wont to congregate under the leadership of a chief controlled by one or two assemblies —the Senatus and Concilium. The various tribes, as I have already intimated, formed together a federation, which was ruled by a chief or king and by an assembly, and had its proper name. The analogy between the state of society existing in Celtic Spain and that which obtained in Ireland and Scotland is thus practically complete. Marriage amongst the Celtiberians was always monogamous. The woman took a leading part in family affairs ; and in many cases took as prominent a place in the government of the town as the man himself. Society was divided into the two " orders " —freeman and slave or serf; and these again were subdivided into several classes, as in Ireland and Scotland. The freemen consisted of aristocrats and plebeians; but the relationship existing between these two classes never assumed a feudal character. The plebeian was practically only a commoner, but his dependence was not derived from a lord (as in Ireland and Scotland) but from a city, where the aristocracy lived. Between chief and follower there was the bond of a pact only ; and this pact in the majority of cases was the Agermanamionto— that is to say, an agreement by virtue of which the warrior freely and unconditionally undertook to follow his leader, to defend him at all hazards, and not to survive him in warfare in the event of his chiefs falling in battle. Of the strength of this1 connexion between lord and vassal—to use convenient feudal expressions—we have abundant proof in the eases of the two cities of Sagunto and 144 The Celt in Spain Numancia, whose inhabitants, after offering a lengthy and heroic resistance to Romans and Carthaginians respectively, voluntarily destroyed themselves, rather than surrender at discretion to their enemies and oppressors. Martin Hume says, and says truly, in his Spanish People that " notwithstanding the centralising governmental conditions which the Roman system had grafted upon the primitive town and village government of the Celtiberians," it "had struck so little root in Spain during six centuries, that long before the legionaries left the country the centralised government had fallen away, and the towns with their assemblies of all free citizens survived with but little alteration from the pre-Roman period. No centralising governing genius of Neo-Celtiberian blood continued the national traditions introduced by the Romans, or endeavoured to employ Roman methods to consolidate Spain into a civil self-constituted nation; and by the time the Goths appeared, all was clear for them to begin afresh on their own lines." These lines, however, were at variance with those of the Celtiberians, and here is the explanation of the conspicuous fact to which the same accomplished writer calls attention. " At first sight," he says, " it would appear that such a system as this (the Gothic one) would have been in entire accordance with the individualistic instincts of the Spanish people; but this was not by any means the case; and the permanent influence of Gothic governmental traditions on Spain was comparatively small. The individuality, so characteristic of the Spaniard, arose out of a natural proud personal independence and impatience of restraint by another man; whereas the Gothic recognition of the individual was in The Celt in Spain 145 a great measure the outcome of the stage of civilisation the race had reached, and the peculiar road by which it had reached it. The difference will be easily appreciated by the readiness with which the Goth accepted the Arian doctrine of predestination which made the acts of the individual of no importance in his spiritual evolution, while the Celtiberian from the first fiercely asserted the individual responsibility and rational independence of each creature towards his Maker." The Visigothic invasion had, in fact, very little influence on Spanish culture. Inferior to their predecessors, the Romans, in every respect, they themselves adopted the Latin civilisation to the full —preserving only their language—and soon came to be a military aristocracy hateful to the Celtiberians. They were unable to reshape their social structure by reason of this fact; but the new intruders, if not directly, at all events indirectly, reinforced the Celtic elements in the Spanish population, which they did by two means, viz., by the importation of great numbers of Celtic slaves from Germany and the Danubian territories, and by a policy of enforced segregation towards the greater part of the old inhabitants—which latter policy they adopted in order to break down the resistance of the natives. So when the Goths, who gradually became absorbed into the Spanish elements, settled themselves as a monarchy which to a certain extent was national, they fell under the influence of the native Concilium, in whose constitution the prelate and the noble were the principal governing factors. The monarch, it is true, was in every case a Goth, and the military chiefs were also Gothic; but it was precisely on this account that the Gothic rule was eventually 146 The Celt in Spain unsuccessful; for in the hour of trial and danger, the appeal addressed to the subjugated people met with little or no response, so far as their conquerors were concerned. There can be no other explanation of the rapidity of the Mohammedan conquest. History records the fact that the Arabs were invited, as a friendly party, to favour one of the rival claimants to paramount political power. And history also records the fact that at first the Arab conquerors of the Peninsula respected the religion and the national Customs of the vanquished. And so long as the Moorish campaign assumed the specious character of a kind of crusade in behalf of the re-establishment of the royal prerogatives, and the restoration of the nobility to their patrimonial properties, the progress of the invasion was but slow; and the success which attended it but partial. It was when the ambitions of the Arabs reached the point of demanding unconditional submission on the part of the Spanish people that the first real resistance was offered, within the limits of what is to-day called Castilla la Vieja .and Cantabria. Then Muza was obliged to confirm what centuries before had been said by a Roman consul touching the Spanish people : " They are lions inside their fortresses and eagles on their horses. They never lose the occasion, if favourable; and, defeated and vanquished, far from finding dishonour in deserting the battle-ground, climb up to their rough mountains and fastnesses —there to recover themselves, and from whence they swoop down again with renewed ardour, and even greater bravery, for the fight." The eight centuries during which the Peninsula was convulsed more or less continuously, resulted in the consolida- The Celt in Spain 147 tion of Spanish nationality. To this end the Arabs undoubtedly contributed through the channel of their advanced culture and learning, especially during the critical periods of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From this time forward, the law and social life, with but comparatively few relapses, began to revert to the primitive national ideals. From that time forward began to disappear the feudal system, which had never taken strong root in Spanish soil, and in its place rose again the town, the council and the count (the Gaelic Mor-mhaor), which last was ever the true leader of the people and the typically Spanish title. Then began that great upheaval of the Spanish people, which was destined to sway a great part of Europe, and to carry the principles and characteristics of our race to a new world across the seas. It is no easy matter to determine, theoretically even, the psychology of a nation; but a few characteristics of Spain and of the Spanish people may be postulated without fear of error or exaggeration. The Spaniard of to-day, as the Celtiberian of old, is a highly individualised social unit. Individually, he has an overwhelming sense of his own personality. He is passionately attached to personal independence. He resists strongly any form of discipline save that which springs from his own innate sense of honour and chivalry. He has a deep sense of his duties to his family, his friends, his town, and his territorial region. He is characterised by extraordinary endurance in the face of hardship and adversity. He believes profoundly in the equality of man -whatever the race, the colour, or people, " we are all children of God," he says; and this is his favourite sentiment. He is 148 The Celt in Spain also endowed with a high sense of courtesy, and of that respect which he shows to others and expects others to show to him. As a social being, he is marked by a deep and enduring affection for his family ; and the relations between husband and wife are those of absolute equality. In law, the common regimen is still the partnership, in equal shares, of all profits accruing to husband and wife, no regard being had to the actual or relative measure of their respective properties. Thus the Celtic system is still the foundation of Spanish law. Politically, the Spaniard is characterised by his attachment to decentralisation—an extremely Celtic feature in his character —and consequently by a certain disregard for the higher solidarity of the nation. But this individualistic tendency disappears in the face of a threatened national danger or actual calamity, though in times past it must be allowed that it operated very disastrously, plunging the country into bloodshed and confusion as often as the higher ideal was lost sight of, and the local divisions and dissensions were allowed to be prosecuted in defiance of the common danger. Fortunately, however, those days are over. Purged and chastened by centuries of political despotism, and sobered by the adversities which she has passed through, the Spain of to-day would neither relish nor tolerate any return to the ancient order of things. She has now permanently founded the conception of Patria, full of life and hope but purged of preposterous optimism, illusion, and bravado, and is only anxious to be led into the ways of peace and prosperity through the channel of a wise and beneficent rule. j. Laborda. Foghlum Naomh anns a Ghàidhealtachd 149 foghlum naomh anns a' ghaidhealtachd Bha ceasnachadh ann o chionn beagan mhiosan a thaobh foghluim naoimh anns a' Ghàidhealtachd. Is e mo bheachd-sa gu'n robh feum againn air, gu fior; oir tha a' Ghàidhealtachd glè bhochd a thaobh nan nithe sin. Bha e air a ràdh le cuid, gu'n robh mòran leabhraichean naomha anns a' Ghàidhealtachd; ach tha e 'cur mòran duilichinn orm ri ràdh gu'n deachaidh a' chuid is mò de na leabhraichean so à clodh-bhualadh o chionn fada. Mur 'eil mi air mo mhealladh, cha 'n 'eil e comasach do neach sam bith leabhar urnuigh Chaitliceach 'fhaotainn ann an Alba air an là an diugh. Tha e air a ràdh le cuid nach 'eil iarrtas ann airson nan leabhraichean so ; ach tha fios agam nach 'eil e mar tha iad ag ràdh, agus gur mòran a tha ag iarraidh aig a' cheart àm so nach biodh soirbheas sam bith aig na leabhraichean so. Thugamaid fainear a nis ciod a chaidh a dheanamh a thaobh nan nithe so anns na h-àmannan a chaidh seachad. Gun teagamh, bha roimh so, eud mòr ann thaobh sgrìobhaidh ; agus bha mòran leabhraichean naomh' air an cur a mach ann an Alba air son Chaitliceaich na dùthcha so. Cha 'n urrain domh ainmeannan nan leabhraichean sin uile a thoirt seachad, a chionn 's nach 'eil iad aig mo làimh an dràsda, agus tha iad ro ghann co-dhiù; ach dh'ionnsuich mi cuid dhiubh air mo chridhe, agus mu'n timchioll-san, bheir mi oidhirp air labhairt gu h-aithgheàrr agus gu math. Gun teagamh, is e an Tiomnadh Nuadh a bha air eadar-theangachadh leis an Athair Mac 150 Foghlum Naomh anns a' Ghàidhealtachd Eachainn agus an Athair Grannda, an leabhar naomh a's mò agus is feàrr a th'againn anns a' Ghàidhealtachd. Bha an obair so air a cur a mach anns a' bhliadhna 1875 ; agus tha mi 'n dùil nach 'eil an clòdh-bhualadh fathast air a ruith a mach. Tha 'n eadar-theangachd so 'n a deagh eadar-theangachd air an Sgrìobtur Naomh. Tha e air a sgrìobhadh air dòigh a's ro thaithniche ann an cainnt nan Gàidheal; agus, a bhàrr air sin, cha 'n 'eil mearachdan clòdh-bhualaidh ann ach glè ainmig. Ach, a nis, tha feum aig litreachadh na h-eadar-theangachd so a bhi air a cheartachadh air chor 's gu'm bi i a rèir litreachadh an là an duigh. A thuilleadh air sin, tha feum aig na comharraidhean-fhocal a bhi air an ceartachadh cuideachd. A rèir mo bheachd-sa, bha sùil aig na h-eadar-theangairean ri nithibh àrda ; ach tha mi 'cur an teagamh ma rinn iad gu tur glic an uair a dh'fhàg iad a mach na h-uibhir de chomharraidhean-fhocal, agus an uair a cheadaich iad na h-uibhir de ghiorrachadh ann. Bithidh fhios aig neach air bith air an ni a tha mi a' ciallachadh leis na briathran so, ma ni e coimeas eadar an da roinn a leanas, a thagh mise a thaobh tuairimeis as an Sgrìobtur Naomh :— N. Luc. xvi. Caib. 19. Bha duine araid saibhir ann, a bha air eideadh am purpur's an anart grinn, 's bha g-ithe gu soghail a h-uile latha. 20. Agus bha diol-deirc ann dha 'm b'ainm Lasarus, a bha 'na laidhe aig a' gheata lan dhreuchdan. 21. A miannachadh a bhith air a shasachadh leis na criomagan a bha tuiteam bho bhord an duine shaibhir, 's cha robh gin gan toirt dha; ach thainig na coin, agus dh'imlich iad a chreuchdan. 22. Agus thachair gun d'fhuair an diol-deirc Foghlum Naomh anns d Ghàidhealtachd 151 bàs, 's gun do ghiulaineadh e le ainglean gu uchd Abrahaim. Us fhuair an duine saibhir e fhein bàs: agus thiodhlaiceadh ann an iutharna e, 23. 'Sa togail suas a shuilean, nuair a bha e an doruinn, chunnaic e Abraham fad as, agus Lasarus 'na uchd. 24. Agus dh'eigh e, us thuirt e: Athair Abrahaim, gabh truas dhiom, agus cuir Lasarus a thumadh barr a mheoir an uisge gus mo theanga fhuarachadh, 's mi air mo chràdh san lasair so. 25. Us thuirt Abraham ris : A mhic, cuimhnich gun d'fhuair thusa nichean matha ri do bheo, agus Lasarus mar an ceudna nichean olca ; ach tha e nis ann an sòlas, us thusa an doruinn. 26. 'Sa bharrachd air so uile, eadar sinne agus sibhse tha aibheis mhor air a suidheachadh, air nach urrainn daibhsan dol thairis, a dh'iarras à so h-ugaibhse, no tighinn a nall h-ugainn bhuaibhse. 27. Us thuirt e: Tha mi guidhe ort ma ta, Athair, gun cuir thu e gu tigh m' athar : 28. Oir tha coignear bhraithrean agam, gus a thoirt teisteanais dhaibh, eagal gun tig iadsan cuidheachd gu àite na doruinne so. 29. Agus thuirt Abraham ris : Tha Maois 's na faidhean aca: eisdeadh iad riusan. 30. Ach thuirt esan : Cha n-eadh, athair Abrahaim, ach ma theid aon gan ionnsuidh bho na mairbh, gabhaidh iad aithreachas. 31. Us thuirt e ris : Mur eisd iad ri Maois agus ris na faidhean, cha mhua chreideas iad, ged a dh'eireadh neach bho na mairbh.—An Tiomnadh Nuadh, 1875. So againn a' cheart roinn cheudna mar is còir dha bhi air a sgrìobhadh:— 19. Bha duine saoibhir àraidh ann, a bha air 'eideadh le purpur, agus anart grinn, 'sa bha ag ithe gu soghail a h-uile là. 152 Foghlum Naomh anns a Ghàidhea'ltffiM 20. Agus bha diol-deirc ann, d'am b'ainm Lasarus, a bha 'n a laidhe aig a' gheata lan chreuchdan. 21. A miannachadh a bhi air a shàsachadh leis na sbruileach a bha a' tuiteam o bhòrd an duine| shaoibhir, agus cha robh gin 'gan toirt dha; ach! thainig eadhon na coin, agus dh'imlich iad a chreuchan. 22. Agus thàrladh, gu'n d'fhuair an diol-deirc bàs ; agus gu'n do ghiùlaineadh air falbh e le] ainglean do uchd Abrahaim. Agus fhuair anj duine saoibhir bàs, mar an ceudna, agus thiod-J laiceadh ann an iutharna e. 23. Agus ann an ifrinn, thog e suas a shuilean, agus e an am piantan, agus chunnaic e Abrahamj fada as, agus Lasarus 'n a uchd. 24. Agus ghlaodh e, agus thubhairt e, Athair Abrahaim, gabh truas dhiom, agus cuir Lasanta Ios gu'n tum e bàrr a mheoir ann an uisge, agus] gu'm fionnairich e mo theangadh; oir tha mi ann] an doruinn anns an lasair so. 25. Agus thubhairt Abraham ris. A mhic, cuimhnich gu'n d'fhuair thusa nithean math rè] do bheò, agus Lasarus, mar an ceudna droch nithean; ach a nis tha e ann an sòlas, agus thusa ann an doruinn. 26. Agus a bhàrr air so uile, eadar sinne agus sibhse tha doimhne mhòr air a suidheachadh airj chor agus iadsan le am b'àill dol as à so do 'ur] n-ionnsuidh-se, nach urrainn doibh ; agus nach mò] a dh'fhaodas aon air bith tighinn thairis as a sin! d'ar n-ionnsuidh-ne. 27. Agus thubhairt e: Tha mi a' guidhe ort mata, Athair, gu'n cuireadh tu e gu taigh, m'athar.] 28. Oir tha coignear bhràithrean agam, Ios gu'n toir e teisteanais dhoibh, air eagal gu'n tig iadsan,ì mar an ceudna, do àite na doruinne so. Foghlum Naomh anns a' Ghàidhealtachd 153 29. Agus thubhairt Abraham : Tha Maois agus na faidhean aca: eisdeadh iad riusan. 30. Ach thubhairt easan : Ni h-eadh, Athair Abrahaim; ach ma thèid aon d'an ionnsuidh o na mairbh, gabhaidh iad aithreachas. 31. Agus thubhairt e ris : Mur 'eisd iad ri Maois agus ris na faidhean, cha mhò a chreideas iad, ged a dh'èireas aon o na mairbh. Dh'eadar - theangaich, mar an ceudna, an t-Athair Mac Eachainn (a bha '11 a eadar-thean-gair air an Sgrìobtur Naomh) An Cath Spioradail, le Scupoli. Bha an obair so air a cur a mach ann am Peart, anns a' bhliadhna 1835, ach chaidh e à clòdh-bhualadh o chionn fada. Tha eiseamplairean an leabhair so ro dhuilich ri fhaotainn aig an àm so. Chuir an Sagart easgaidh, ionnsuichte, ceudna, eadar-theangachd a mach air De Imitatio Cristi, le Tomas à Cempis, ann am Peart, anns a' bhliadhna 1826. Mheal an leabhar, sin, mar an ceudna, meas mòr o shluagh na Gàidhealtachd, ach, mo thruaighe! tha e 'nis mar a tha iomadh leabhar math eile air an là an duigh—is e sin ri ràdh chaidh e à clòdh-bhualadh o chionn fada. A bharrachd orra so, chuireadh a mach Leabhar-Cheist ann an Inbhirnis anns a' bhliadhna 1869. Chlòdh-bhualadh a rìs an obair so o chionn ghoirrid ; agus is e an Leabhar-Cheist a tha 'san fhasan air feadh dùthaich nan Gàidheal aig an là an diugh. A thaobh Leabhraichean - Urnuigh, chaidh iomadh seorsa a chur a mach anns a' Ghàidhealtachd 0 àm gu àm; ach chaidh iad so uile, mar an ceudna, à clòdh-bhualadh o chionn fada. Gun teagamh, is e an Leabh-TJrnuigh, ris an goirear Iul a' Chrìostaidh, a rinneadh leis an Easbuig Abareadhain, agus leis an Easbuig Earraghaidheal *s nan Eilean, an Leabhar-Urnuigh a's feàrr a th'againn, ach tha eiseamplairean na h-oibre so ro 154 Foghlum Naomh anns a' Ghàidhealtachd dhuilich ri faotainn a nis. Chuireadh a mach clòdh-bhualadh air an Leabhair-Urnuigh so ann an Canada o chionn ghoirrid; ach tha e làn de mhearachdan clòdh-bhualidh. Chuireadh a mach Ordo Missce ann an Dun-eideann anns a' bhliadhna 1877; agus chuireadh a mach air feadh nan ceud bliadhna deireannach, beagan de dh'oibrichean naomha ; ach mu thimchioll nan leabhraichean so cha 'n 'eil feum againn 'innseadh gu poncail an dràsda. Gideadh, tha feum agam ri ainmeachadh an so an deadh Leabhar-Luaidh a chuir a mach an t-Athair Mac Dhòmhnuill à Erisgaidh o chionn ghoirrid. Bha, air lorg sin, eud mòr ann, a thaobh nan nithe sin, anns a' Ghàidhealtachd anns an àm a chaidh seachad; ach, mo thruaighe! ciod tha sinn a' deanamh a nis ? Tha e 'cur mòran dorain orm ri ràdh gur e beagan gu fior a tha sinn a' deanamh anns a' ghinealach chum foghlum naomh a' chumail fa chomhair muinntir Caitliceach na Gàidhealtachd. Leugh sinn anns an àireamh dheireannaich de Ghuth na Bhliadhna mu'n ni a tha muinntir na h-Eirinn a' deanamh a thaobh nan nithe so; agus is còir dhuinn gluasad agus car a chur dhinn cuideachd. Tha mòran oibrichean math againn, agus, ann mo bheachd-sa, is math is fhiach a' chuid a's mò de na leabhraichean so a bhi air an ath chlòdh-bhualadh, agus air an cur a mach cho luath agus is urrainn duinn. Nach 'eil e 'n a nàire agus 'n a mhasladh gu'm biodh e neo-chomasach do Gàidheal na h-Alba, a tha 'n a Chaitliceach, Leabhar-Urnuigh fhaotainn ann an Gàidhlig, anns an dùthaich so? Tha mise 'foighneach oirbh, cia an dùthaich eile air feadh an t-saoghail gu lèir, anns am fuiligeadh sluagh na nithe so ? Tha e air a ràdh, agus sin gu math, gu bheil aobhar creidimh agus aobhar dùtcha 'n an aon aobhar; agus nach 'eil e comasach do Tobar na Reil neach sam bith fear dhiubh a dhearmad gun dearmad ni's miosa a dheanamh air an fhear eile-Is e creidimh agus cànain maoin dhligheach choitchionn nan Gàidheal; agus is e an dòigh a's-feàrr a th'ann, agus a bu chòir a bhi againn, an t-aon a' chumail suas le brosnachadh an fhir eile. Iain Mac An Abba. tobar na reil Right at the summit of the pass it lies, nothing; above it but the sky. On every side the billowing heath-clad hills engirdle it about. Flat stones encircle it, and on its surface water spiders walk. Red persicaria, with wax-like stalks and ragged leaves, grows by its edge. Below it stretches out. a vast brown moss, honeycombed here and there with black peat hags, and a dark lake spreads out, ringed on one side with moss, and on the other set like a jewel in a pine wood, with a white stretch of intervening sand. On it are islands with great sycamores and chestnuts, stag-headed but still vigorous, and round their shores the bulrushes keep watch like sentinels. Mists rise from moss and lake and creep about the corries of the hills, blending the woods and rocks into a steamy chaos, vast and unfathomable, through which a little burn, unseen, but musical, runs tinkling through the stones. So at the little bealach the well lies open to the sky, too high for the lake mists to touch it, as it looks up at the stars. They say that on a certain day in midsummer,, a star when at its zenith shines into the well. Which the star is, if Rigel or Algol or Aldebàran with his russet fire, is clean forgotten, for nowadays-tradition has scant place in men's imagining. He 156 Tobar na Reil Tobar na Reil 157 of were waiting to be heard. So as a Highlander went past, driving his cattle from the low country in Menteith, or in the summer evenings a group of men wrapped in their plaids, with curly hazel shepherd's sticks, and carrying long single-barrelled Spanish guns, trotted along the steep and winding path, their deerskin shoes making no sound upon the stones, the rabbits sitting at their holes watched them expectantly. The birds upon the branches turned their round heads and looked towards the well. The trees and plants and heather on the hill seemed to sigh softly in the summer air, as if inviting them to halt until the mystic star should rise, then drink and break the spell. But they, absorbed in the affairs of life, which lead men onward prisoners to the grave, discoursed of hogs and pownie-beasts, of trysts and markets, and of the price of hirsells and of queys. At times they stopped and drank, but never lingered, scooping the water in their palms or in their cuachan of birch-wood hooped with silver, drawing their hands across their mouths, and sometimes murmuring, "Aye, och aye, they say that when a body drinks here, when the stars are up, he learns a vast o' things, that's why they ca' it Tobar na Reil, but I mind lying here aince o' a summer's nicht, sleeping ye ken, after some awqua that I had doon by at old McKurston's, and never learned a thing ". And whilst they talked, the trees and stars,, half-sleeping in the cold moon's light, listened but drowsily, and all they heard was Angus answer Finlay, " Och aye, McKurston just keeps the finest awqua that I ever tasted no more, Finlay McLach-lan," and his compeer and fellow-driver, looking up whilst kneeling by the spring, would answer sapiently, "And neither did I too". And so the who looks on the water at the fateful hour, and sees the star reflected in the well, acquires again the ancient universal tongue, by which in ages past men and the animals held speech. For him the language of the birds becomes intelligible. The trees that groan or whisper in the breeze divulge their lore, and disclose all that they have seen in their long peaceful lives. Fish in the rivers and the lakes have no more dread of him, and, rising to the surface of the linns, tell him the marvels of the deep, whilst snakes and lizards, with newts, the moles and bats, impart their troubles or their joys, making their little secrets plain, by the strange virtues of the mystic star transmitted through the well. There is no record of any one who, having drunk, obtained the power and straightway got into communication with all animals and things. No doubt if at the appointed hour the fountain had turned all to gold, a town would have arisen on the pass, and Baal's priesthood or an aristocracy would have reserved the right to drink and gaze upon the well, and temples of Algol or Alde-bàran would have sprung up as if by magic from the hill. But man, who lives an outcast from all living things, cut off by pride and want of sympathy from beasts and birds, and careless of his own connexion with the world except so far as it may bring him the twin curses, wealth and power, which have combined to make him vile, cared not for such a gift. So trees and animals and beasts, with stones and streams, watched vainly every recurring year throughout the centuries for some adventurer who should break through the bonds which held the self-crowned monarch of the world in silence, condemned for ever to live dumb but to his own kind's speech, whilst on all sides secrets he never dreamed Tobar na Reil Tvell slept on, having for its one tragedy the fight between the Grahams of Menteith, and Stuarts on a raid from Appin, whose leader's head, struck by a sword-cut from his body at a blow, rolled down the pass, calling out imprecations even after death. With the exception of this brief tragedy, history the well has none. Its very name means nothing to the men who now inhabit where once its namers dwelt. The legend lives as a tradition, to be laughed or wondered at, according to the attitude of mind of him who hears it, for education has new superstitions of its own, which have expelled those of the older race. Who that to-day, when all flee from responsibility as from the plague, who would incur the burden of the sorrow of the trees, the winds, the beasts ? for man aspires not to equality but to command, by which, when he possesses it, he instantly becomes an outcast from his kind. Yet, had it been but for the pleasure of another sorrow to his life, 'tis strange that no one quenched his thirst, for joy is transient, whilst sorrow lives for ever, and to prove sorrows yet unknown might have stirred some one with imagination, had there been any such a traveller on the road which winds by Glenny to the valley of the Teith. And yet the district set with Sith-bhrughan and with traditions of a fairy causeway in the lake, a borderland of races in the past, a frontier where the Lowland hob and Highland pixie met on neutral ground, to dance up the green, seemed to invite experiment, and call for its Columbus to explore a newer world than that he saw in Guanahàni from his caravel. A gentle world in which no hatred reigns; where envy and all malice are unknown, where each one tells his secret to his friend unwittingly, ^because the speech they use is universal and with- Tobar na Reil 159 out volition, and not as ours, confined to persons and articulate. The speech that lives in the clear water of the well, at the conjuncture of the star, has no vocabulary, no rules, no difficulties, but he who has it, speaks as does the wind, and saying nothing in particular, is understood of all. Thus it can never lie, or lead astray, and so is valueless to us, as valueless as gold upon a desert island, with no one to enslave. No one has claimed it since the first framers of the legend paddled their coracles upon the lake; no one will claim it, or ever think but for an instant of the treasure waiting to be grasped. Red-deer and roe and kyloes on the hills are all born free of it, and swallows from the south need no interpreter, but straightway tell their travels to the birds who but a week ago have left the pole, or to the weasels and the wrens who never wandered more than a mile or two from where they saw the light, and find themselves as much at home amongst the scrubby copse, as they were, only a month ago, in cane brakes and in palms. But if the birds and beasts, the trees and grasses and the stones, mourn the estrangement and the want of faith of man, so does mankind feel vaguely its own loneliness amongst created things with which it cannot have communication, and before which it always must be dumb. What tender idylls moss and lichens could unfold, if only some one of the passers by throughout the centuries had learned their speech, and taught his children, taking them, as the most sacred duty in his power, upon the star's appearance in its round, to drink and learn, and thus transmit their knowledge to their children, making them all hereditary dragomen by right divine, betwixt their race and the creation of the beasts. i6o Tobar na Reil Drink and admire, the motto says, upon the well in far Marràkesh set among its palms. Above* the fountain, built by some pious pilgrim, who! perhaps had felt the desert's thirst and reared this] monument to the one God—He who alone bringsi comfort in the sands—the horse-shoe arch is blue! with pottery. Intricate patterns marked in lus! trous tiles cross and recross each other, and araa besques repeat some pious saw or play upon God'sj name. Over the humble fountain on the pass.l unknown to fame, the skies are canopy, and the] stars set in them, celestial glow-worms of the] firmament, which mark the hours the passers by! neglect. No pious pilgrim there has hedged about! the spring with masonry; no sculptured stone re-S lates its virtues, for it serves but as a drinkina place for roe, who as they drink admire and give] their thanks instinctively, wiser by far than man.j 0ften succeed to fathers and brothers were rent in kind or in money. These are th re(j ^ children". Under the Gaelic system, exactions' referred to iri the entries in the i re WOmen succeeding to lands and hus-Deer. The somewhat bewildering success^ holding in right of their wives. We have names in the entries is also of interest. S< aDle instance of an Irish queen succeeding not often succeed fathers, and brothers ar^ a throne in the case of Queen Maebh. ferred to children. This points to sm, j)r MacBain would not contend that suc-Pictish influence in the succession, where s j m her case was regulated by Pictish in-sion was in the female line. The mention ^ 1 ^e know that the ecclesiastical systems the daughter along with her husband as gr and Ireland were precisely the same; lands conjointly, shows the husband's right > far |j.0IQ regarding " the social system out-on the female alliance." by t^e Book of Deer" as supporting Dr. For my part I fail entirely to see inLjn'g peculiar theories on the Pictish ques-respect this social system differs from the|regar(jit,asnothingif not entirely destructive The Ard - Righ is obviously the same ro|m countries. The Morair—or Mor-mhaor- ' F. S. A. sponds to the provincial "Righ," so famil students of the early literature of Erin; an Tòiseach, or Chief, is common enough to countries. As for the " exactions " spoken ol are in every respect identical with those men' by O'Curry in his Manners and Customs, 1 one can ascertain for himself by referring ti work. The " brithem," or judge, who also i in the Book of Deer, as also the "Ferlegin Reader, are surely typical Gaelic offices, who troduction here serves to complete the pictnn the purely Gaelic point of view. Dr. MacE gards the system of succession outlined by thi of Deer as due to Pictish influences ; but here.| I fail to see what need there was to go to; for an explanation. The system of succession] [To be continued.) i For GOOD VALUE and PURE WINE 1 TRY JAMES KEITH Mine Merchant HAMILTON, LANARKSHIRE! PURE FRENCH " CHATEAU " CLARET. 15/- per doza. PURE HOCK. 18/- per doatj PURE MOSELLE. 19/- per dol LIGHT PURE CHAMPAGNE. 62/- per doi Vintages, 1889 and 1893, PURE BRANDY. 66/- per dozet PURE (1869) LIQUEUR BRANDY. 120/- per dom WHISKY—12 Years Old— ADVERTISES ITSELF. 44/* per doir Guth na Bliadhna LEABHAR IL] AM FOGHAR, 1905. [AIREAMH 4. maighstir ailean, eiriscaidh " 'S ann agamsa tha'n sgeula thiamhaidh, bhrònach duibh an nochd. Shiubhail Mr. Ailean, Eiriscaidh, mu aon uair's a' mhaduinn an diugh." 'S ann mar so a labhair Pears'-Eaglais nan Gàidheal ann am baile Ghlaschu air feasgar Dhidonaich air an ochda la dha'n mhios a chaidh seachad. Air dha so a ràdh, chaidh gaoir mhuladach roimh a chothional, oir bha mòran do'n luchd-eisdeachd a bha eòlach air Mr. Ailean o thùs an òige. Air ball, thairg iad a suas a' Chonair-Mhoire, Ios gun tugadh Dhia fois agus tàmh dha anam. Rugadh Mr. Ailean ann an Gearrasdandubh-Ionarlochaidh, air a 25 do Mhios deireannach an Fhoghair anns a' bhliadhna 1859. Fann do Chloinn-a-Phearsain a Mhathair, agus b'ann do Chloinn-Dòmhnuil a bha 'Athair (Iain Ailein òig). Mu'n robh e ach dusan bhlaidhna 'dh'ois, chaidh a chuir do Cholaisde a' Bhleirich faisg air Abareadhainn. As a sinn chaidh a chuir do'n Spàin, do Cholaisde nan Albanaich ann am Bhaladolid. Bha e daonan ro-ghàolach air a* Ghàidhlig, agus ged a bha e air bhacadh dha a, bhi labhairt cainnt a mhathar anns a' Cholaisde thuathach na dhùthaich fhèin, thòisich e fhèin, a (1) Maighstir Ailean, Eiriscaidh agus a chompanaich, air a chainnt cheudna ionnsachadh gu pongail ann an tir chèin. An uair a thill e dhachaidh, fhuair e Ordugh Naomh ; agus fad dà bhliadhna shaothraich e anns an Oban-latharnach ann an seadh nach leigar air diochain 'an cabhaig. As 'an Oban, chuir an t-Easbuig Aonghas e do dh'Uidhist-a-chinn-deas, do Dhalabrog. 'S i Sgireachd Dalabrog is mua ann an Sgireachd-Esbuigachd Earraghaidheal's nan Eilean ; agus an àm air bheil mi a labhairt, bha eilean Eiriscaidh fuaighte ri Dalabrog. Ach ged a bha, cha robh an domhain fhein tuille 's farsuinn airson eud-anama Mhr. Ailein. Cha d'thug e riabh cothrom dha fhèin. Shaoirich, agus shaoirich, e daonan cearta coma air fhèin, gus mu dheireadh, bhris a shlàinte. 'S math a dh'fhaodamaid a ràdh mu Mhr. Ailein:— " Tha mo chridhe air a leòn Le saighead a' bhròin Gur a fràsach na deòir bho'm shuil. Fàth m'èislean ri m' bheò A bhi g'eisdeachd a sgeòil Gu'm beil Sagairt mo ghaoil fo'n uir. Bha e caoimhneil làn bàigh Bha 'ghnùis aluinn làn gràidh Air nach laidheadh a ghruaim no mhùig. Och! nan ochain! mar tha Tha mise tùrsach an dràsd' Mo chreach lèir, gu la bràth gu'n dùil. Och ! 's ann aige 'bha'm beul Bu mhath gu teasgasg a' threud 'S brigh sòisgeul Mhic Dhè 'thoirt dhuinn. Mar chithear sneachda bho'n speur Dhòirteadh briathran bho 'bheul Sèimh, tuigsineach, rèidh, ro chiùin. Maighstir Ailean, Eiriscaidh 299 Mar ghaoir sheillein am bruaich 'N deis nead a thoirt bhuap' 'S amhuil cor do shluaigh do dhùthaich. Tha d'eaglais an diugh fàs Co ghabhas dith càs Chaill i 'n caraide b'aird's a' chuirt. Oir tha fior agam fhèin Gu'm bith sonas is sith Agus sòlas gun chrich gu bràth leis." An uair a bhris slàinte Mhr. Ailein, chaidh a chuir do dh'eilean Eiriscaidh. Thog a stigh dha fhèin, agus cha do stad e gus a fac e eaglais anns an eilean a tha cho grinn ri eaglais sam bith's an dùthaich. Bha meas mòr aig a h-uile duine air Mr. Ailean. Neach air bith a thachair air, bha iad ro dhèidheil air. 'S e duine fòghlumte a bh' ann. Bha e 'na sgoilear Gàidhlig cho maith 's bha 'sann dùthaich. 'S e rogha agus taogha 'bhaird bh' ann. Sgriobh e Laoidhean a tha fior bhriagh, agus tha mi 'm beachd nach 'eil eaglais eile 's a' Ghàidhealtachd anns a faighear Laoidhean Gàidhlig 'gan seinn mar a sheinneas iad ann an eaglais Eiriscaidh. Bha eòlas mòr aig Mr. Ailean air luibhean na dùthcha, agus bha e ainmeil leis an eòlas a bha aige air sgeulachdan agus seann chleachdainean an t-shluaigh. Ach dh'fhalbh Mr. Ailean! Dh'fhiach e e fhèin fhalach, fhad's a bha beò e. Ach cho luath 's thàinig crioch air, sgaoil a chliù anns gach cearna. Bha na papeirean-naigheachd a' stri ri chèile cho a b'airde a thogadh chliù, air allt agus gu'n cuala domhain gu lèir mu Mhr. Ailean. Eisdeamaid ri bhriathran agus gabhamaid sùim ris na tha e ag ràdh. 3°o Cas No Bas " Tha bràth agaibh bho'n chiad latha a thàinig mi . . . cia mar a ghiulain mi fhèin maille ribh fad na h-ùine: a' seìrbhiseachadh an Tighearna leis a h-uile umhlachd, 's le deòir, 'us buairidhean. . . . Cia mar nach do chum mi aiteal bhuaibh a bha gu leas dhuibh, gun innseadh dhuibh, 's gun a theagasg dhuibh gu follaiseach, 's bho thigh gu tigh." " Bithibh aoibhneach, a bhriathrean ! bithibh coimhlion, gabhaibh comhairle, bithibh a dh-aon inntinn, bitheadh sith agaibh ; agus bithidh Dia 'na sith agus a ghràidh maille ribh." Fois agus tàmh soirruidh dh'a anam ! Gille aspuig Mac Dhòmhnuill Mhic Eoghaw. cas no bas The current number of this Review brings to a' conclusion our second year of publication, consequently, with our February impression, we shall enter upon the third year of our existence as a Catholic bilingual periodical. We beg leave to tender our thanks to all those who have hitherto supported us, and to express the hope that they will continue to do so in future. Our aims are clear, and have never been disguised; and although we are not to suppose that all who read these pages do so from a conviction that what is set forth in them is entirely agreeable to their religious or political opinions, we are at least entitled to assume that they find our point of view not uninteresting. To be able to engage the attention, is the next best thing to bringing home conviction. Since this periodical was started some considerable advance has been made in both the causes which lie near to our hearts. The progress of the Cas No Bas 301 Catholic Religion in Scotland, though slow, yet is sore. In proportion to population, we may make fewer converts per annum than the Church makes in England, but there is less " leakage ". Scottish bigotry dies hard, as befits our strenuous climate; but perishable vessels of this sort must one day swim to the bottom. Our Presbyterian fellow-countrymen are beginning to realise that slavery and wooden shoes are not necessarily symbolic of Catholicism, and that the Pope and the Devil are not as nearly related as at one time they were imagined to be. More enlightened and tolerant views are beginning to make their influence felt throughout Protestant Gaeldom, in consequence, we believe, of the growth of historical research and study What might be characterised as the " out-and-out" Protestant view finds no support in history as science now requires it to be writ. The old lies, the old calumnies which the older generation of Protestant pamphleteers—historians they can scarce be described as—indulged in, with a view to bubbling the public, have been swept away. They could not bear the fierce light shed on them by historical science; and although a considerable substratum of ignorance and prejudice may remain, yet the spirit of sympathetic and intelligent inquiry which that science has been the means (under God) of eliciting is an encouraging augury for the future. And on the Catholics of Scotland themselves these discoveries (for such they really are) are beginning to have a stimulating and bracing effect. Time was when Catholics skulked about the country much as a "Little Englander" would do at a Primrose League gathering. In many cases their attitude towards their Faith was one of unceasing 302 Cas No Bas Cas No Bas 303 the influence of the Faith; let us act on that lesson. ¦The principles for which our ancestors fought are ithe same to-day as they were when they laid down [their lives in behalf of their Faith and their country; llet us not run away from them to please any one, or [suffer ourselves, or any one else, to compromise [them. History shows us that the so-called Reformation and all its works, religious and political, twere anathema; let us spend our lives in getting Bid of that humiliating and ridiculous incubus. LWe have a clear field before us. History—experience—are on our side. Nearly every great evil, religious, political, social and commercial, [which Alba labours under, owes its existence, hor its continuance, to Protestantism. Protestantism despoiled Alba of her brightest jewel, which was her Faith, and has multiplied her sects and her schisms till they are almost as numerous as the sands of the sea-shore. Protestantism robbed Scotland of her independence. Protestantism introduced the English influence, which is hostile to our language, manners and customs. English misrule keeps the Highlands and Isles impoverished, neglected, sparsely populated and undeveloped; and [the causes of English misrule came in with English [gold at the time of the so-called Reformation. The cause of England cannot possibly be our cause if, as we maintain, we are a nation; and the English cause is essentially Protestant. Poland and Ireland—the two countries in Europe which have made the best fight for their national rights and liberties, and which have refused to be absorbed by powerful and tyrannical neighbours—are Catholic countries, in the true sense of the word. Scratch a Scots [Protestant and you will find him little better than an Englishman; scratch an Englishman and you and humble—if not abject—apology. Hence arose] that feverish desire—by which so many well-meaning] but timid souls were at one time grievously pos-j sessed and tormented—to show themselves just as many other men are—" loyalists," " jingoes," " imj perialists," "patriots," big-Englanders, King-worshipa pers, and all the stupid rest of it. To take pride in] religion, to cherish the principles for which thein ancestors fought and died, were forms of "disl loyalty " to the State. The Catholic, to be merely tolerable to his fellow-countrymen, must imitate] them in everything, nay more, must devote all his] talents, time and energies to going one better. Asj to his religion, he would profess it, of course; hel would even avow it, if called on to do so; but, in] consideration of the feelings of his Protestant fellow-countrymen, the less said about that matter—at all events in public—the better. These were the views of certain bad old days not so very long overpast; and we confess thau they are not particularly beautiful in our eyes! History, however, always nowadays indulgent to] merit, however timid and bashful, has refreshingly come to his rescue ; so that that curious crustacean! the hermit or shell-living Catholic may now safe™ emerge from his place of concealment without] causing scandal, or seriously outraging the feelings! of his Protestant fellow-countrymen. The lesson] of history is, that we should take pride in our religion—not that we should endeavour to make ouq actions and opinions " square " as much as possible] with those whose religious and political faith is still] summed up in the word Protestantism. We have nothing to do with Protestantism; let us consist-, ently show it. History teaches us to be proud alike of our Faith as of our country when unden Cas No Bas will soon find that with him Protestant ascendancy and Englishism mean the same thing—namely, Anglo-Saxon ascendancy. Is it to be wondered at therefore that the Gael of Scotland in ever-increasing numbers is turning his back, in disdain and disgust, upon so foolish and mischievous a creed ? To turn from things sacred to profane, there is the same encouraging progress to report. The Gaelic movement is undoubtedly increasing in Scotland; and here again progress, though slow, yet is sure. It is true that our rate of progression is not what it ought to be, considering either the simple common-sense principles upon which the movement is founded and proceeds, or the splendid example offered us by Ireland ; but in these hard times of small mercies, it behoves us to be grateful. The people of Alba—as the Highland News recently remarked—"may not be very specially interested in the work" of the Gaelic Association; but as that periodical justly remarked they are at long last beginning to realise the thundering mistake they made in neglecting language and nationality. Near two hundred years of English rule, and with nothing to speak of at the end of it, save what is attributable to the species of creeping paralysis which passes for " progress" in the Highlands and Isles is a fact which is beginning to stagger even the denationalised spiritless humanity which still has foothold—and barely that—in our straths and glens. Two hundred years of almost unmitigated neglect of nationality and all that it best comprises—two hundred years during which the Gael of Scotland has done everything that his political pastors and masters advised him to do—two hundred years during which Lord Rosebery's foolish and perni- Cas No Bas 305 cious advice to the Isles men to go forth and take their part in the work of supporting the " burden " of Empire—that is, to go into England's army and navy—has been followed as generously in spirit as it has been scrupulously as to letter—and what is at the end of them ? If in the year after next, in 1907 that is to say, any one should be so foolish and misguided as to propose a national celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the passing of the Union, we venture to prophesy for it, so far as the Highlands and Isles are concerned, as great and humiliating a " frost" as that which mercifully has attended the recent " celebrations " in honour of that earlier Jingo, Missionary of Empire, and Pretender to Liberal Principles—John Knox. For our own parts, we promise to use our very best endeavours to knock the bottom out of any ridiculous proposal of that kind. But though we have progress to register, paradoxical as it may seem, out of our people's retrogression, yet timidity and subserviency are still rampant amongst us ; and these two evils constitute a formidable obstacle to the cause. Ignorance and timidity are our besetting sins. We are ignorant when we despise or neglect our nationality; we are timid to the verge of abjectness when we refrain, from a motive of fear, from giving voice to that which we know, and is in us. Timidity taints even the highest places of the Gael; ignorance is the portion of the common run. To begin with timidity. The Gaelic Association is timid when it transacts all ite important business at the annual Mòd in English. The chosen vessel, or presidential figurehead, is all very well in its way, and doubtless, like the ordinary gramophone, which, by the way, it painfully resembles, it has no Gaelic; but con- 3o6 Cas No Bas sistency, to say nothing of scholarship, requires! at least one oration in the language of the Gael, in which the year's work—the year's output—shall I be briefly summarised and some attempt made tol canvass the future. A " cautious policy," since it is felt to be the best and safest one, for the present! at all events, commands, as moderate men, ourj warmest support; but we venture, nevertheless, tol plead for just one Gaelic annual oration. We hope! that our audacity will be taken in good part, and! that it will be found to offer no appreciable violence] to that " cautious policy " which it is the manifest! intention of the Association in question to pursue.! We think, also, that jokes at the expense of the Gaelic language savour somewhat of timidity, tol say nothing of vulgarity, especially when they are] perpetrated at the Mòd and, according to newspaper] report, are received with " laughter and applause "1 by the audience. At the Dingwall Mòd a Mr.j Davidson, of Tulloch, stated that his medical at-1 tendant had advised him not to attempt to learnl Gaelic, as it might injure his jaw. We strongly ad\ vise any one desirous of emulating the example] of Samson with the jaw-bone of an ass to apply to J this intelligent son of David for the loan of a] suitable weapon; but is not such "joking," andl the mind which can find humour in it, a trifle con! temptible? The Gaelic Association has now itsl own organ, An Deo-Ghrèine (to which we wish all] manner of success); it should set to work to ridia cule this kind of thing out of existence. : We find the same note of timidity struck in Professor Mackinnon's recent address from thel Edinburgh University Celtic Chair, on the subject! of Gaelic in the Schools. It struck us as a very! tame performance, spiritless and absurdly apologetic! Cas No Bas an tone. His argument seems to be that Gaelic 'should be encouraged to the extent only of making it an occasional and limited medium for the teach-[ing of English to Gaelic-speaking children, and after [that—the deluge, so far as Gaelic is concerned, krhis sort of attitude is all very well in Anglicised Scotland; but in Ireland the occupier of a Celtic. [Chair who should presume to indulge in such pre-Iposterous language would be promptly, and deservedly, "howled down". Verily, we are yet lamentably timid. We are ignorant when we refuse or neglect to profit by the lessons of history, and when we subordinate ourselves and our interests to foreign influences. The Gaelic cause stands in no need of apology; nay more, we hold that he who condescends to argue the point with such as oppose us is guilty of a species of insult to nation and language. If we were better informed, we should bo less subservient—less timid; but it is because we are ignorant—because our people do not know as pey should do the proud and splendid past that-lies behind us—that we are so ridiculously timid. ¦The Gaelic cause stands in no need of apology, fit is above it. If we were really worthy of it— Ireally worthy descendants of the men from whom we are descended—we should recognise this and act on it. But we do not so recognise ; we do not. so act. So we are yet absurdly timid, and childishly, fantastically, superstitiously ignorant. There is one thing more in conclusion of these; heads. If the movement is to make better progress in the future than it has done in the past more-pttention must be paid to the purely commercial [side of the question. In Ireland the literary and Ithe commercial movement go hand in hand; they 3oS Focailin are there rightly regarded as inseparable. A peopli does not live by literature alone: neither does it^ live by bread and butter alone; but the two things] -combined are necessary to the civilised state. In Alba we have plenty of people talking about lan: guage and literature; but comparatively few who] concern themselves with the bread and butten which is necessary to support them. The grievance] tof Alba is, primarily and fundamentally, largely ain -economic one ; and if we would make the national! cause not only attractive but essential to the great] mass of our countrymen, we must embrace all avail-] •able means to improve their social condition! Two hundred years of distress and stagnation are not a bad capital to start a comprehensive national cama paign on. For our parts, we are quite willing and] ^prepared to embark on the speculation. focailin Is fada an la o bhi Gaedhil na hEireann agul Gaedhil na hAlban fa aon ri amhain. Do scaradar o cheile aimsir an Righ Aedh] Mac Aenmire ins an mbliadhain 574 a.d. agua bhi "Home Rule" agus a righthe fein os cionn] Albanach as sion i leith. Is docha go bhfuil eolas ar an meid sin ag gach aon Albanach indiu. Gidh nach rabhadar fa churam an ri ceadhna o aimsir Aedha mhic Aenmire ar a shoin sin nior fhag sin na go raibh caradas eatortha go cearna mile bliadhan 'na dhiadh sin agus ba mhinic do •chabhradar le cheile. Bhi dream calma de Ghaedhealaibh na hAlban -ar chluain Tairbh i nEirinn ins an mbliadhain 10l3 Focailin 309 ag eabhra le Brian Boirmhe i gcoinnibh Lochlannach, agus bhi dream laidir de Ghaedhalibh na hEireann ar Blàr-allt a' Bhonnaich ag tabhairt con-gnaimh do Riobard Bruis. Feach cad deir an file Sasannach, Chaucer, i dtaoibh na nEireannach la-an chatha mhoir ud :— " To Scottish ... we ne'er would yield, The Irish bowmen won the field ". Ba mhor an truagh na'r lean na hEireannaigh agus na hAlbanaigh ar chabhra le cheile riamh o-shoin mar dheanfadh an meid sin moran maitheasa !dhoibh araon. Thainig na Sasanaigh idir Eire agus Albain agus-cuireadh o na cheile muintear an dha thir. Ta an Sasanach 'ga ndeighilt gus indiu agus ni doich tliomsa go mheidh aon rath ortha araon go dtugaid isiad druim lamha leis an Sasanach soin. Ni leigeanm 'na hAlbanaigh ortha go dtuigid siad an meid sin ach muna ndeinid mar sin ni mheasimse gur feidir le daoine an da thir an sean-chion ceadhna do bheith aca ar a cheile fa mar do bhiodh ins an. aimsir do ghabh tharainn. 'Se mo thuairm gur mhaith leis na hEireannaigh-an tsean-bhaidh agus an tsean-charadas do bheith-aca aris leis na hAlbanaigh, mar nior bhuail aon 'Eireannach Horn ar feadh mo shaoghail 'na go raibh "muinntearas na chroidhe aige do Ghaedhealaibh, Alban. Deir siad mar seo: " Is d'ar dtreibh fein iad. agus ba mhor againn acheile fado ; ni maith linn amh go bhfuil uraim agus cion chomh mor soin lag an Albanach ar an Sasanach mar da reir sin fchabhrochadh se leis an Sasanach 'nar gcoinnibhne agus ni mar sin do ghnidheadh se ins an tsean-[shaoghal. Nior thugamair aon chuis ghearain do'n Albanach le bheith 'nar gcoinnibh. Mheall an Sas- Deer Forests anach e, acht beidh failte againn roimhe aris ma thagann se isteach sa Ghedealtacht, agus beidh se 'na bhrathair againn aris le congnamh Dè." Is èl mo thuairm gurab e sin smuaineamh na nEireannl ach agus ni mheasaim go bhfuil aon bhaoghal gel ngeillfidh Eire do Shasana, 'na go mheidh cion aicl uirthe go dtugaidh Sasana a ceart di. Ba mhaith le hEire cabhair na nAlbanach agus ta suil aici leis an gcabhair sin, acht ma ta se ìl ndan do mhuinntear an da rioghacht caidreamh dol bheith eatortha ar an chuma do bhiodh fado, ntì fhuil aon nidh eile chomh maith leis an gcaradai subhailceach ud do thabhairt ar nais, leis an dteanga] bhinn sin ar sinnsear do labhairt aris, mar is daoinl sinn d'aon treibh agus d'aon chinneadh agus ta se do reir riaghlacha Dè aon teanga umhain do bheith againn. Conan Maol. deer forests It is hard to find any discussion respecting tha vexed question of deer forests conducted in an] impartial and statesmanlike manner. The opa ponents of deer forests, equally with their apologists and supporters, are wont to approach the subject with biased minds, the consequence being that the general public is left in considerably doubt as to the respective merits of the two cases! The man who denounces deer forests wholesale] is just as familiar (and obnoxious) as the person] in whose opinion all forms of "sport" constitute ¦a species of selfish and ignoble fetish. Both extremists are in our view equally absurd, though! were we obliged to state a preference, we would! •sympathise rather with the anti-deer-forester than Deer Forests with the other fellow. After all, those who have themselves been expelled in order to make room ilor deer, or whose forebears were set adrift for the same reason, can scarcely be expected to discuss [this subject without some heat. The old word says : "An cunnart a chaidh seachad, is cùis fhar-maid"; and on much the same principle we who have not suffered, or whose ancestors suffered not, [may be too apt to cry " Hold ! enough !" to those who have been less fortunate in this respect than [ourselves. Still, our opinion is that the views of a disinterested party are more likely to find acceptance with the general public than are those of either of the extremists above-mentioned. The proprietor who seeks to prove that deer forests, so far from being a curse on the land, are a social and economic blessing, is not likely to find his views endorsed I to any great extent, save by the limited class to [which he appeals. On the other hand, the " agi-rtator," as he is termed by the deer-preserving [fraternity, prejudices his case by reason of his [violence. He seeks to prove too much. Deer and deer-forests are not necessarily an evil. It is 'only the abuse of both which constitutes the i scandal, which is true of a great many other things besides that which we are presently discussing. The truth of the matter, therefore, lies where I the sensible man will naturally expect to find it, I namely, between these two extremes. It is something disagreeable to our vanity to be obliged to confess that the "golden mean," which so many i trifling and commonplace people unite in praising, is, after all, the wise man's portion. It is not too I much to say that contempt for these shallow-pated 1 reasoners frequently drives a young man of genius 312 Deer Forests to regrettable extremes. He hates "moderation'^ because it is preached by so many ridiculous peoples We admit that it is unfortunate that many good] causes cannot be dissociated from the blockheada who subscribe to them, not because they have] arrived at that end by a process of intelligent] thought, but simply by dint of prejudice, breeding! and other circumstances over which they are as] incapable of exercising any control as they are ofj understanding them. This is the penalty, however,! which the wise man must pay, sooner or later, to! the commonplace world in which he moves; and! however much he may despise the company of foolsj and dunces, he will be wiser still if he discovers] sufficient philosophy to put up with them. I We propose to approach this subject of deer forests entirely from the Gaelic point of view:! As to any other there may be, we earn »1ess|^M than the proverbial two straws whether or not ifc'J be agreeable, or the reverse, to our ownìl It is indeed high time that the Gael of Scotland began! to look at questions which concern him, not froml the point of view of his political pastors and masters J but from the standpoint of his own individuality— of his own race. We shall, accordingly, have our] say on this subject without fear and without^&vour; and we trust that what follows will recommend itself to our countrymen, irrespective of creed and party. One of the earliest views of our history is that which discovers to us our ancestors as mainly subsisting by hunting; and even when the nomadic state of society passed away, and the primitive tribal system gave place to more settled conditions, we find that hunting formed no small part of the occupation of our ancestors. Ancient Gaelic litera- Deer Forests 313 ture abounds in references, poetic and otherwise, [ to the chase. The exploits of the Fianna of Scotland [and Ireland constitute a moving tale, in which '.hunting and fighting go hand in hand. The same llove of venery, the same keen appreciation of the fchase, in all its forms and aspects, characterises the ¦writings of the best of our Gaelic poets. In Moladh .Beinn Dòrain, one of the best known poems in ; the Gaelic language, and justly admired on account rof its many excellencies, we have a beautiful picture I of hunting presented to us by one who was himself I a hunter; and, as a modern critic has justly observed, "neach air bith a leughas Moladh Beinn Dòrain gu faicilleach bho thoiseach gu deireadh, faodaidh an neach sin eòlas fhaotainn air na buadhan a bhiod feumail agus freagarach do dheagh shealgair, agus air cumadh a' ghunna 'bha cleachdte ann an I làithean a' bhàird ". Other well-known Gaelic poets have left on record their appreciation of the delights and beauties of the chase. In the works of Rob Donn, Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, Mac Lachlan, etc., will be found abundant evidence of [their author's acquaintance with the habits of deer, and of that intimate knowledge of nature, in her [sterner and wilder aspects, which this noblest of sports is eminently calculated to foster and encourage. And here we may well turn aside a moment 'from our main theme in order to make a few I observations touching the ancient method of hunting the deer. In the extensive literature connected with the Fianna of Scotland and Ireland are to be found many particular accounts of the old Gaelic manner of handling the chase. The more common way of hunting the deer and other wild animals 4 which then abounded in Erin and Alba was in B 3M Deer Forests company; that is to say, a particular part of thel country having been selected as likely to affordj good sport, the hunters, to the number sometimesl of several hundreds, would surround the hill or. forest to be beaten; and the dogs being unleashed] the whole company at a given signal would then] move forward, with the object of surrounding thel game. The startled animals would naturally avoid] the hunters and their hounds as far, and as long,1 as possible ; but in the end, of course, the quarry, by dint of being driven together to one place, inj one confused mass, would fall an easy victim to the] hunters, who either made a general slaughter of the terror-struck and distracted creatures'enclosed] within the human net, as it were, or slew them] singly as by breaking back upon the ever-eontractj ing ring of hunters they endeavoured to effect theig escape. This, according to the ancient sgeulan was] the more common and popular way of managing the chase. The Silva Gadelica of Mr. Standish O'Grady, and other works, prove to us, however, that thè] chase was also frequently undertaken by single] individuals, or by parties of two or threeJlThus, we see that the " deer drive," and the infinitely morel enjoyable and scientific "stalk," of to-day are] but simple evolutions of the time-honoured practices] of our far-away ancestors. The hunt in company—, the chase as generally managed by Finn Mac Cumhal and his band of heroes—continued to be] popular in Scotland down to a comparatively] recent date. Indeed, the account of a hunting in] the Braes of Mar furnished us by Taylor, the selH styled " Water Poet," who himself was present at] such an undertaking in the year 1618, reads exactly] like one of the many descriptions of such exploits] Deer Forests 315 in which ancient Gaelic literature, more especially that connected with the Fianna, abounds. The aer I count in question has often been quoted; but since jit supplies us with a terse and vivid description of Ithe chase as generally practised by our forefathers, I we make no apology for reproducing it here. " The [ manner of hunting," says Taylor, " is this : Five or I six hundred men doe rise early in the morning, and [they doe disperse themselves divers wayes, and II seven, eight or ten miles compasse, they do bring \ or chase in the deer in many heards (two, three, or I four hundred in a heard) to such or such a place as Ithe noblemen shall appoint them ; then, when day is come, the lords and gentlemen of their companies [do ride or go to the said places, sometimes wading-[up to the middles through bournes and rivers, and [then they being come to the place doe lie down on Ithe ground, till those foresaid scouts, which are called the Tinckhell (Gaelic, Timchioll, a circuit, compass) doe bring down the deer; but as the proverb says of a bad cooke, so these Tinckhell rmen doe lick their own fingers; for besides their 1 bowes and arrows which they carry with them, wee Jean heare now and then a harquebuse or a musquet goe off, which doe seldom discharge in vaine; then after we had stayed three hours or thereabouts, we [might perceive the deer appeare on the hills round rabout us (their heads making a show like a wood), which being followed close by the Tinckhell are phased down into the valley where we lay; then all the valley on each side being way-laid with a hundred couple of strong Irish grey-hounds, they ¦are let loose as occasion serves upon the hearde of deere, what with dogs, gunnes, arrows, durks and! [daggers, in the space of two hours four score fat deere were slain, which after are disposed of some 3i6 Deer Forests Deer Forests 317 referred to as supplying sufficient justification for the same, have really no justification at all, so far at all events as Gaelic custom and law are concerned. Even the " cian system," touching which much glib language is wont to be held, was in rapid process of decay when Gaelic civilisation was at its best; and a code of law which was so searching and particular that the very bees were subject to a law of injury and trespass, is hardly likely to have left undefined (and unsafeguarded) the rights of property holders, and, by consequence, the legal status, as it were, of so noble and important an animal as the deer. The most important existing source of ancient Gaelic criminal law is the compilation known as Leabhar Acaille, the Book of Aicile. This code, or rather digest, says Dr. Hyde, "professes to be a compilation of the dicta and opinions of King Cormac Mac Art, who lived in the third century, and of Cennfaeladh, who lived in the seventh" {Literary Histoid of Ireland, p. 584). Unfortunately, like most of the ancient Gaelic law books, it is a digest rather than a code, and contains a number of hypothetical cases, which may, or may not, have actually come under the cognisance of the laws of the land. However, in this book, as in the Seanchus Mòr, and other law tracts, we find the law of trespass, and of compensation for trespass, on the part of deer and other animals clearly set forth; and under the heading, "what is lawful in deer judgments," in the first mentioned book we find the expression "the unlawful hunter" constantly used. The learned translators of this interesting digest have the following note upon the use of this term. " If the hunter were ' unlawful,' i.e., if the hunting was an illegal act, the amount one way and some another, twenty or thirty miles, and more than enough left for us to make merry withal at our rendevouze." Let us now proceed to examine the question of deer forests from the Gaelic legal point of view. It has been asserted with more vehemence than knowledge, that the Gaelic people have an inalienable right to the deer of our glens and forests, which, if it means that any Gael has, or used to have, an inalienable right to kill deer whenever occasion or humour urged him to do so, we have no hesitation whatever in characterising such a belief as absolutely unfounded. Such loose assertions are too frequently in the mouths of those who, meaning well no doubt, yet allow their prejudices to exceed their discretion—to say nothing of their learning. It would say little, indeed, for our boasted Gaelic civilisation if the conditions under which our ancestors lived were so far removed from "law and order" that license of this sort was everywhere tolerated if not explicitly sanctioned and encouraged. We have observed a similar tendency to exaggeration on the part of those who advocate what is called "land nationalisation". With the view that the Gael is the proper and rightful inhabitant of our straths and glens we have, of course, all imaginable sympathy; but we beg leave to state that, contrary to what is often asserted, the socialistic notions underlying many of these revolutionary schemes of land reform derive absolutely no justification from Gaelic law. It is as well that we should be clear on this point; for it will be found, on examination, that certain predatory instincts, for the exercise of which what is loosely described as the "cian system" is frequently erroneously 318 Deer Forests Deer Forests 3*9 of laws with their consequent penalties and prohibitions. That Gaelic jurisprudence lacked what we should nowadays regard as the essential accompaniment of an executive authority was, no doubt, a serious blot upon the social and legal system under which our ancestors lived ; but it has to be remembered that although the responsibility—even the concern—of the judge ended with the formulation of the sentence attaching to the cause he was by birth entitled to decide, yet public opinion was so strong that the wrong-doer or trespasser rarely, if ever, escaped the just penalty of his misdemeanour. The extraordinary "particularism," and, in some respects, exactitude of the whole body of Gaelic law—of such, at all events, as has come down to us, and it should be borne in mind that of our ancient jurisprudence but a moiety has been preserved—joined to the swift and sure manner in which, thanks to a highly developed state of public opinion, justice was executed, forbids the notion either that the "unlawful hunter" was regarded with unconcern or that he could reckon on the sympathy of the populace to enable him to shirk or escape from the just penalties of his misdeeds. There is one other aspect of this branch of our theme to which we should like to draw attention before bringing this head to a conclusion. The existing game laws are, no doubt, the offspring of the feudal system, but as in many other departments of Scottish law, it is curious to note how much these laws have been influenced, and to some extent modified, by pre-existing Gaelic laws and customs. The vivid narrative left us by Taylor discovers to us a whole country-side employed in hunting. The men of the glens—alas! where are they now 1—go forth to the sport armed as hunters. of dire-fine in each case was fixed in a greater ratio." It is evident, then, that in addition to our ancient Gaelic law providing for compensation to be paid to the person whose crops or other property were damaged by deer, the trespasser in pursuit of game which did not belong to him was considered as " unlawful," and was mulcted accordingly. Not only this, and other entries in our ancient law books, but the whole tenor and spirit of Gaelic jurisprudence seem effectually to dispose of the theory that the Gael had an " inalienable right" to go forth and slaughter deer, and to appropriate the spoils of the chase, whenever his larder needed replenishing or his sporting proclivities roused him to action. We are convinced that it only requires a little thought on the part of the candid and unprejudiced reader to enable him to arrive at the conclusion that this must needs have been so. No doubt, in primitive communities the unwritten law is that what a man finds or acquires that he shall keep, if he can. But it is obvious that such an understanding refers only to very early, not to say barbarous, stages of society. Our primitive ancestors were, no doubt, in this respect no better and no worse than are the negroes of Central Africa to-day, to many of whom hunting is the sole means of subsistence. But as soon as ever the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland passed out of the nomadic state and became a civilised people with fixed habitations, and all the multiform rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities which such a state of society necessarily involves, the old happy-go-lucky, selfish and irresponsible existence could no longer be endured, and, for its own well-being and safeguard, society became hedged about, as it were, with all manner 320 Deer Forests They even lend their hounds to " bring down the* deere," and themselves assist at the slaughter of the quarry. "And," says Taylor, "unless men are kind unto them, and are in their habite," i.e., wean the Gaelic dress, they will on no account participate] in the chase. What a difference is here exhibited; between the ruthless and barbarous manner in which the feudal game laws were executed im England, and the spirit in which the same observances were administered in Scotland. A difference,! we beg leave to state, which took its rise from thej infinitely milder, more reasonable, and humane, views of our Gaelic ancestors. On the other handi it must not be imagined that under the Scottish' feudal game laws (as under the Gaelic system) thej subject was free to kill deer whenever he had a mind to do so. It is significant of the hold which even the tradition of a vast body of Gaelic law had on feudal society, and of the respect which, even under that system, was paid to Gaelic opinion and' customs, that in a document which is before us as we write and which belongs to feudal times, the tef^H of the law are to be invoked to restrain those only who hunt " unlawfully," that is, for such as have no right, or have obtained no proper permission to do< so. Here, then, we obtain a glimpse again, after, the lapse of many hundreds of years, and under a totally different social and legal system, of the "unlawful hunter" of our ancient Gaelic laws!! Whilst at the same time, reading not only between but the actual lines themselves of Taylor's descriptive narrative, we obtain a clear view of manners] and customs, of rights and privileges, which must] have come down to the Gaelic people of Scotland from time immemorial. Truly, it has been welll said that Gaelic manners and customs die hard! Deer Forests |:Long may they continue to do so, if deserving and? worthy to be had in remembrance ! We have left ourselves but little space in which [to refer to our concluding head, which is the abuse* 1 of deer forests. It is hardly necessary to state [that we view with consternation and alarm the-recent increase in the number of these jealously guarded preserves. The modern sportsman is, un-[fortunately, in too many cases, nothing if not selfish ~ and, if the choice has to be made, he is neither [slow to express his preference for deer over men. nor ambiguous in the statement thereof. It seems to be the view of a class of sportsmen which is unfortunately much on the increase that nothing—no [human or social interests and obligations, that is to say—must be suffered to come between themselves and the selfish prosecution of their sport. We are* very far, indeed, from thinking that all sportsmen are of this dangerous and disagreeable type; but. it is useless to attempt to disguise the fact that [sport tends more and more to become the exclusive-[privilege of a few rich men, whose first and last concern is the dimensions of " the bag " which they are able to fill. This being so, and modern sports-^Bl||ing what they are, it is hopeless to expect pat the argumentum ad hominem, however temperately urged and dexterously employed, will produce-jmuch effect in the quarter indicated by these re-^Eks. We shall be callously told that the time when men and deer flourished abundantly side by side, as we know they did in the days of our1 ancestors, is long gone by ; and that since modern ' requirements insist that the presence of deer in-pur glens and forests is incompatible with that of [human beings, the latter must be discouraged, and,, if necessary, expelled, in order that the moniedt 322 Deer Forests bounder from England or America may gratify his " sporting " propensities in the manner and in the form which he demands. In these circumstances we see nothing for it but the continuance, in the meantime, of that agitation whose object is the compulsory limitation of these overgrown and superabundant preserves. It is really monstrous that huge tracts of the Highlands and Isles should be denuded of their inhabitants in order to make room for deer; and we beg leave to remark that were this country governed at home instead of at Westminster a state of affairs so humiliating and depressing, so morally unsound and so economically wrong as this is would never have been suffered to endure, much less to attain to its present scandalous dimensions.1 For ourselves, we have as little faith in appeals and applications to the English Parliament with a view to the curtailment of this evil as we have liking for and confidence in some of the arguments which those employ who would be our friends in this matter.2 1When the Crofters Commission was sitting there were 109 deer forests in Scotland, and they covered an area of 1,975,000 acres; now there are 150 deer forests, and they occupy an area that cannot be less, and that may be considerably more, than 3,000,000 acres. What this means in extent two simple illustrations will suffice to show. If the united •counties of Aberdeen, Kincardine, Forfar, Fife, Haddington, Edinburgh, Linlithgow and Stirling were all converted into wild and given over to red deer, they would hardly do more than suffice for the forests of the north. And if Kinross, Clackmannan, Dumbarton, Lanark, Benfrew, Ayr, Dumfries and Wigtown were similarly restored to nature, they would still be lacking, by an area greater than that of Peebles, of the domain presently oocupied by deer. In other words, from one-seventh to one-sixth of Scotland belongs to red deer. 2 For instance, we like not the sound of the argument that sour lands should be repeopled in order that, like fat stook, the An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan 323 an t-arm dearg agus an dearg amadan Bha mi 'leughadh 's na paipearan-naigheachd air an àm mu'n Rannsachadh mhòr a bh'ann dlùth do Dhun-eideann o chionn ghoirid. Bha seachd a' chorr air 30,000 de dhaoine air an cruinneachadh, agus a' chuid mhòr dhuibh o'n Ghàidhealtachd. Bha Righ Eideard e fèin air an ceann, agus thug e suil gu geur orra 'na shean laoch mar a tha e. Fhuair mi fios o chuid gu'm b'e an Rannsachadh mor so am fear bu mhò a bh'ann o linn a' 5mh Righ Seumas, an uair a bha Alba uile air an inhabitants might be reared for the English military market. He must be a very unsophisticated individual, however, who pins his faith to so visionary a consummation. Experience shows that our national concerns are systematically neglected in that clubmen's paradise; and that the deaf adder of the Psalmist is attention and sympathy itself compared with the average English statesman's attitude towards Gaelic affairs. We can only hope, therefore, that as part and parcel of the infinitely more important and more solemn question of national self-government, this question of deer forests will not, in the meantime, be lost sight of by the Gaels of Scotland; and that however much our friends the politicians may strive to ameliorate existing conditions, through the channel of the English Parliament, they will not lose nor be allowed to lose sight of the future —of that day when Alba will be Alba—in deed, in name and in spirit—once more. 324 An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan 325 cruinneachadh fo armaibh chum dol gu cogadh ris na Sasunnaich. Co dhiùbh, ciod is ciall da so ? An e ni maith no olc do Ghàidheil na h-Alba a bhith air an comh-cruinneachadh mar shaighdearan 's an dòigh so? Deich mile thar fhichead de dhaoine air an cruinneachadh fo armaibh, agus a' chuid mhòr dhuibh o'n Ghaidhealtachd ! Le armailt cho lionmhor, cumhachdach ri sin, bheireadh sinn buaidh air na Sasunnaich gu lèir; ach 's e so a' chuis, nam biodh toil is fàth againn an ni sin a dheanamh. An e ni maith no-olc do Ghàidheil na h-Alba an cùl a chur ris an Arm-dhearg no nach 'eil ? Tha cuid ag ràdh gu bheil: air an dara làimh, tha cuid ag radh nach 'eil. Ciod e, mata, mo bheachd-sa air an gnothach so ? Gun teagamh, is feàrr agus is freagarraiche do Ghàidheal air bith a chùl a chur ris an Arm-dhearg shuidhichte, a chionn gur e an t-Armailt Sasunnach a th'ann. Tha feum mòr aig na Sasunnaich air an àm so air saighdearan. Car son? Chum gu'n cuireadh iad cinnich is dùthchannan eile fo smachd, agus o'n nach urrainn doibh am muinntir fèin a thoirt a steach do'n Arm fèin le duais 's le tàladh is èiginn doibh sluagh eile fhaotainn, Ios gu'n lionamaid na brogan tha falamh, gun fhiù, aca a nis. Air mo chomhairle's e sin a' chùis. Ach ciod e a thachaireas do na Ghàidheil, agus e cho amaideach gu bhi'n a shaighdear dearg ? Mur 'eil e cheana 'na Shasunnach thaobh inntinn is mothachaidh is cainnt, gu dearbh bithidh e mar sin an prioba na sùla. Tha a' bhuil ann. Is e an t-arm Sasunnach a th'ann. Nach e an t-Arm Sasunnach a th'ann ? 'Se Sasunnaich a th'anns na h-oifigich. Tha a' chuid is mò de na daoine 'tha fo ughdarras doibh Sasunnach, agus tha a gach ni's gach neach a bhuineas dha Sasunnach. Cainnt is inntinn an dà ni bu chòir a bhi nan cuisean a's dluith' agus a's priseile do chridhe nan Gàidheal—falbhadh iad sin oirnn nam bitheadh sinne 'n ar saighdearan Sasunnach. Gu dearbh, is dearg-amadan esan a tha 'treigsinn a dhachaidh is dhùthcha chum fuaim na druma Shasunnaich a leantainn. Tha Gàidheil na h-Eirinn a 'cur an cùil ris an Armailt Shasunnach aig an àm so. Foghnadh sin duinn mar eisimpleir mar an ceudna. Ach ciod e mo bharail-sa thaobh an armaillte neo-shuidhichte, "armailt nam Breacan" anns a' Ghàidhlig—an t-Armailt ris an abrar's a' Bheurla the Volunteers? Theagamh, tha cùis eile ann an so. Gun teagamh is maith agus is glic do Ghàidheil na h-Alba is na h-Eirinn iad a' bhi làn-deanta ri armaibh, ma's urrainn duinn gabhail a steach do'n armailt Sasunnach agus sinn fein a' ghleidheadh 0 shalachadh. Ach neach air bith tha dol a steach •do dh'armailt nam Breacan chum cinnich eile a shàrachadh no a mhilleadh, no 'n Iompaireachd Shasunnach a chuir am farsuinneachd — is fear-brathaidh agus amadan e. Rachamaid a steach anns an arm chum gu'n deanamaid sìth (no rèite) air ar-son fèin, agus air son ar dùthcha-ne. Cuimhnichibh air na daoine o'n d'thàinig sinn, agus air an sean fhacal, a tha ag ràdh :— " Is maith an duine còir ; Ach's e duine còir fo armachd Ni's fheàrr na esan ". Gun teagamh ma tha sinne lag, meath-chridheach, is aineolach air armaibh, bithidh sinn air ar cur an •dimeas le 'r naimhdean. Is e aonachd neart: ach ciod e sin duinn gun armaibh, gun neart ? Thug sin buaidh air Sasunn gu h-iomlan ach beag 's a' bhliadhna 1745. Bha Alba uile deanta ri armaibh 326 An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan i>27 aig an àm ud, ach, gun chleachdadh ri annaibh, cha'n urrainn sinne a dheanamh na chaidh a dheanamh air an àm ud. Is ann mar sin a bha. Ach a nis tha Sasunn 'n a charaid duinn, ma 'a fior na tha iad fèin ag ràdh air an àm so: agus, leis a sin, tha sinn dol gu cogadh an aghaidh a naimhdean-sa, o'n nach 'eil comas no cumhachd aige a chùisean fein a chur air adhairt! Gu dearbh,, is taitneach sin! Nach iongantach am buidheachas bu chòir a bhi oirnn ? Agus car son, nach 'eil ? Nach e Gàidhealtachd na h-Alba tha na tir bhainne is mheala? Nach 'eil ar gleanntan 's ar srathan fèin luma-lan de mhuinntir, sona, is soirbheach? Nach 'eil an talamh fo ar chasaibh fèin againn fèin 's le 'r cuid cloinne ? Agus ar cuisean fein, nach iongantach a leithid sin de chaoimhneis's de bheachdachaidh a tha iad faotainn 's a Pharlamaid ann an Lunnain ? Mo thruaighe! na Gàidheil neo-mhisneachail, dìm-buaidheach sin, air a bheil mi-thaingealachd 'thaobh Shasuinn nan tiodhlaicean I Thugadh ar saorsa mar chinneach air leth air falbh 's a bhliadhna 1707, agus o'n àm sin tha sinn 'suidhe aig casan nan Sasunnach, co dhuibh, tha iad 'n an fior-chairdean ruinn no nach 'eil. Tha gaol aca aig an àm so do na h-Iaponaich, mar an ceudna ! Tha gaol is dèidh aig na Sasunnaich daonnan, cha'n ann air son na feadhnach tha 'toirt cuideachaidh riu fein, ach air son neach air bith tha 'toirt cuideachaidh riu-san! Bha feum aca o chionn ghoirid air saighdearan chum criochan Innsean na h-aird-an-Ear a dhion o'n Russianach—o'n nach 'eil comas aca an gnothach sin a dheanamh gun chuideachadh leo fèin. Mar so thuit iad ann an gaol mòr air na h-Iaponaich: agus s'ann (ma' s e fior) a bha meas aca do mhuinntir chalma thuigseach nan eileanan so, agus thug na Sasunnaich orra còrdadh a dheanamh eatorra, le sùil aca fèin ri'n seilbhean fèin ann an Innsean na h-aird-an-Ear^. agus ann an aiteachan eile air feadh an t-saoghail. Nach iongantach a' mhuinntir a th'anns na Sasunnaich ! Bha " cluichean Gàidhealach " ann o chionn ghoirid, dluth do dh'Inbhirnis, agus bha Gàidheil is Iaponaich le cheile à lathair. Rinn an caraid òg; iomairt is togail ris an t-sean-charaid do Shasunn, agus bu mhòr is àrd an tlachd a bh'ann. Chùm na Sasunnaich an sùil gu geur orra. B'ann mar sin a b'abhaist doibh ! An ceann beagan bhliadhnaichean, ni na h-Iaponaich agus na Russianaich iomairt ri cheile air blàr Innsean na h-aird-an-Ear7. agus mur 'eil mi air mo mhealladh bithidh na Sasunnaich à lathair a rìs le suil aca ri geall, agus-'gam brosnachadh gu cothrom na Feinne! B'ann mar sin a b'abhaist doibh ! Anns na linntean a dh'fhalbh, b'abhaist do-Ghàidheil na h-Alba èiridh fo armachd air uairibh chum droch chomhairlichean a chur a mach o-chomhair an Righ. Is ann mar so a bha 'nuair a bha Alba 'n a rioghachd shaor, air a bonn fèin le a righibh, 's a laghanna, 's a cainnt, 's a cleachdaidhean fèin; agus bu mhòr am feum a bh'ann air son a leithid sin de ghiùlan, mar a tha ar sean eachdraidh a' nochadh gu soilleir dhuinn. Gu dearbh, tha droch luchd-comhairle ni 's leoir fo» chomhair an Righ aig an àm so — daoine fein-chuiseach, aineolach, sanntach, uaibhreach, cuil-hheartach, agus aig nach eil facal maith 'nan cinn as leth muinntir na Gaidhealtachd, no 'chainnt no-na cleachdaidhean a tha aca. Ach ciod tha sinn a 'deanamh aig a' cheart àm so gu droch luchd-comhairle a chur air falbh à lathair an Righ? Rùnaich cuid de na daoine so o chionn ghoirid na duaisean sonraichte, a tha na maighstirean- _328 An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan An t-Arm dearg Agus an dearg Amadan 329 laidir " (no lag is faoin) dhuinn fein ? Nach Sasunn a mhàin a th'ann ? Gu dearbh, gu dearbh, cha'n 'e a' Ghàidhealtachd no Albainn a th'ann. Thuig ar sinnseara so gu math, agus, leis a sin, chog iad ris na Sasunnaich uair is uair, cha' n' ann air an taobh mar a tha sinn a' deanamh, air an àm so. Agus ged a chaidh an ruaig a chur orra mu dheireadh mu'n àm ris an abrar "Bliadhna Thearlaich" is dona a thig e dhuinn a' bhi daonnan a' striochdadh ri agus (ni a's miosa na sin) a' bhi' cuideachadh ar naimhdean, agus sin anns na slabhraidhean a chuir sinn orinn fein. National efficiency ciod e sin dhuinne ? 'S e bheir freagairt gu ceart do na cheist sin, ar gleanntan fàsail, neo-threabhta, gun mhuinntir 's ar taighean briste, lèir-sgriosta, 's ar cinneach is muinntir ar gràidh air am fuadachadh a mach do gach cearn's do gach aite de'n t-saoghail. Gu dearbh tha national efficiency cosmhuil ri deirceachd—'s e sin ri ràdh bu choir dha 'toiseachadh 'nar measg fhein, air neo tha è 'na sheorsa de dh'fhochaid's de chealgaireachd a mhàin. Tha e 'na amadan 'na aonar—gach neach 'tha 'dol a steach do'n Armailt Shasunnach, a chionn's gur e an t-arm Sasunnach a th'ann. Tha Arm nam Breacan beagan ni's fhearr na sin, chionn's gur e seorsa de dh'armailt Gàidhealach a th'ann; ach co dhiùbh a's fearr no a's miosa e na sud, 's e so ar comhairle fèin do na h-uile fear " Cuimhnichibh na daoine o 'n d'thàinig sibh," agus cumaibh bhur n' urchuir air a h-ais ! Theagamh gu'n d'thig an latha sin fhathast anns am faod sinn a ràdh a ris Bithidh an oidhche na h-oidhche nam biodh na gillean 'nan gillean. Fear-togail nan Spraidh. sgoile ann an Eirinn a' faighinn airson teagaisg na Gàidhlige, a thoirt air falbh. Thàinig na duaisean so gu £12,000 Shasunnaich's a bhliadhna, agus is mòr agus trom am bacadh a tha iad dol a' chur air a' Ghaidhlig leis an ordugh mi-rùnach dimeasach so. Is ann air son ni bheannaichte sin ris an canar Economy's a' Bheurla 'tha iad 'deanamh mar so: ach is cealgairean, fir-aithris-bhreug iadsan. Nam b'e economy a mhàin ris an robh an suil, bheireadh iad na duaisean so seachad gu h-iomlan. Ach ciod e 'tha iad dol a dheanamh leo ? Cha toir iad air falbh iad idir, deir iadsan, "ach cuiridh sinn iad air còcaireachd is an Fhraingeis !" Gu fior, 's i a' Ghàidhlig a mhàin a tha iad a' fuathachadh : cha'n e còcaireachd no'n Fhraingeis anns am bheil iad 'gabhail tlachd mòire ! Tha aon ni eile ann air am feum mi iomradh a dheanamh mu'n toir mi crioch air na briathran so. Labhair luchd-sgriobhaidh is luchd-comhairle na riogachd mòran nithe as ùr 'thaobh daingneachaidh chum muinntir is dùthcha—ni ris an abrar's a' Bheurla national efficiency: 'nis ciod e national efficiency f agus co iad 'tha labhairt mu dheidhinn aig an àm so ? Tha national efficiency a' ciallachadh daingneachaidh, sabhailteachd agus dion air Sasunn a mhàin : agus tha an t-Iarla Rosebery agus Ioseph Chamberlain 'nan ard-fhaidhean dheth. ^Siad sin ris an canar Missionaries of Empire's a' Bheurla, agus is mòr agus nimheil an spairn agus stri 'tha eadar an dà laoch sgaiteach so. Ach ciod .so, no iadsan, dhuinn ? Chunnaic sinn, mar chin-neach air leth " Sasunn laidir " iomadh uair, agus o chionn iomadh bliadhna, agus am bheil sinn ni's fheàrr dheth a nis 'thaobh nan uile nithe 'tha feumail dhuinn mar mhuinntir air leth, na bha sinn anns na linnibh a dh'fhalbh? Ciod e "Sasunn 330 Gaelic Arts and Crafts gaelic arts and crafts ARCHITECTURE II. DOMESTIC It is unnecessary in these pages to enter at all deeply into the early beginnings of domestic architecture, as practised by the Gaelic race. The primitive dwellings of our Celtic forefathers were but rude structures to which the description of "houses" can scarcely be applied with any degree of propriety. They were simple habitations built 1 for the most part of wattles and rudely thatc^M and were obviously more designed for shelter tham| for "show". There is a good representation of J one of these primitive dwellings on the column of\ Antoninus at Rome. It shows us what the Gaulish! habitations were like in those far-off days; but its primitiveness is such as to discourage the expression] of more than a very temporary and languid interests in the subject of primitive Gaelic " architecture ". It is difficult to determine even approximately the date at which Gaelic pagan civilisation first! came in contact with that of Rome. It seems probable, however, that the event of which I speaki antedated by at least a couple of centuries the-arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland—the period com-J monly ascribed to the opening up of that country] to the influences of Latin civilisation. All modern Celtic scholars seem to be pretty well agreed that the art of building in stone was at least known in] Ireland before the arrival of Christianity; and on] the hypothesis that the Christian religion was] practised in Ireland before St. Patrick touched its shores, this theory seems probable enough. Un9 Gaelic Arts and Crafts 331 fortunately, we have no accurate means of knowing ^^tjmeasure of correspondence there was between [pre-Christian or rather pre-historic Ireland and the 1 nations of the continent. - On the whole, however, considering the utterances of Gaelic tradition on [this subject, it seems only reasonable to suppose Kthat some such correspondence there was, however Ismail in volume and intermittent and precarious in character; and that amongst its earliest fruits L-was some acquaintance with the highest branch lof the architect's art, that of building in stone. ¦¦Roughly speaking, however, the assertion no [doubt holds true enough, that stone architecture was a fine art introduced into Ireland from the ^^ment of Europe at the same time as the blessings of Christianity were first made effectually known to her through the channel of St. Patrick and his fellow missionaries. It is not to be supposed, however, that between that date and that of the [primitive wattled " bee-hive " dwelling which figures fon Antoninus's column no progress in the art of building had been made. The next step in the [evolution of Gaelic architecture was the substitution of wooden buildings, of more or less substantiality and durability, and possessing more or [less claims to architectural feature, for the primitive [habitations already briefly described. And that [our Gaelic ancestors had made considerable progress in this branch of the art before they began [to acquire that of building in stone, we have [abundant means of knowing from written records. [The ancient descriptions left us of the great hall [at Tara of the kings, supply positive proof that khe more Scottorum—as Venerable Bede styles the jancient Scottish practice of building in wood— had attained to no inconsiderable dimensions, and 332 Gaelic Arts and Crafts acquired no mean architectural features, in pagan Ireland. In his essay on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill the late Dr. Petrie went exhaustively into that subject, and his learned and interesting description of the huge building alluded to above will be read with profit and satisfaction by all who take an interest in the subject of Gaelic architecture.1 The plain square houses such as we see to-day dotted in their hundreds over the fertile plains of Ireland, and, to a much lesser extent, over the low country of Scotland, are symbolic of Teutonic influences in architecture. The houses, etc., of the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland were either round, oval, or oblong in shape —the square house being unknown amongst them. A curious feature of the ancient Gaelic residence was that each room of the house formed a separate building. The inconvenience of this arrangement does not seem to have struck our ancestors ; and though it points to very primitive influences, yet the obvious inference to be deducted from that circumstance is by no means borne out by fact. The richness and splendour of the houses of the Gaelic nobility are, indeed, favourite themes with our Gaelic poets; and allowing for a certain amount of exaggeration on the ground of poetic license, the accounts left us of the residences of some of the Gaelic kings and nobles are altogether too circumstantial and detailed to be dismissed as purely imaginary. In the Colloquoy, translated by Mr. Standish O'Grady, 1 Keating, writing from ancient authorities, states in his History of Ireland that the dimensions of the great hall at Tara were as follow: length 300 feet, breadth 75 feet, height 45 feet. The interior of the hall was much carved and the exterior brilliantly decorated. Gaelic Arts and Crafts 333 and published in his Silva Gadelica, there is a wonderful account of a Gaelic mansion of the period of St. Patrick. We read of green door-posts ornamented with gold, silver and precious stones, of the roof composed of the variegated wings of birds, of couches encrusted with the precious metals, and of the ceiling and roof-tree similarly adorned and elaborately carved. We know little, unfortunately, as to the architectural form, or rather value, if I may so express myself, of these fairy-like mansions; but from the description left us of the interiors it is at least permissible to argue that they showed considerable taste and skill on the part of the makers. However severe and simple the architectural form of these ancient buildings, they must, nevertheless, have presented a very imposing and picturesque, if not weird, appearance, with their rich interiors and gorgeously painted exteriors. The now familiar Celtic work seems to have been extensively used in the embellishment of the outside of the house—red, yellow, blue and green being apparently the colours most frequently employed to complete the exterior decoration of the dwellings of the Gaelic upper classes. If we bear in mind the fact that houses made of wattles were in use by the poorer classes, at all events in some parts of the Highlands and Isles, even so late as the middle of the eighteenth century, the conservative attachment of the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland to the mare Scottorum—an even later evolution—will not be wondered at. Again and again we read in the Annals of the Four Masters, and other similar compilations, of the destruction by fire of this or that Dun or Eath in Ireland or Scotland. At least down to the time of Malcolm III. (Caenn ?nor), and perhaps later, 334 Gaelic Arts and Crafts the dun of wood seems to have been the favourite habitation of the Gaelic magnates of Scotland. In numerous cases the sites occupied by these wooden structures became those, in later years, on which famous feudal castles of stone were erected. The castles of Kildrummie (in Aberdeenshire) and Dunstaffhage (in Argyllshire), to cite but two, are certainly cases in point; and to the obstinate partiality of the Gael for his native perishable wood must undoubtedly be ascribed the lamentable dearth of early architectural Celtic remains—an observation which applies even more to the field of Gaelic domestic architecture than it does to the ecclesiastical. It may be inquired, how came it to pass that so ingenious and artistic a people as the Gaels preferred wood to stone as building material? So acute a nation as the Gaels, and one so ready to apply and so quick to improve foreign inventions, and customs introduced from without, must surely have recognised the superiority of stone over wood as building material, if but by reason of the former's greater durability and resisting powers. The solution of this problem is, perhaps, less difficult than it seems at first. The Gael was, and is, intensely conservative in his likes and dislikes. We know, from many ecclesiastical authors, how obstinately he clung to the more Scottorum, long after the Latin or continental method of building in stone was familiar to him. His attachment to his own customs was, in this respect, something remarkable; for we have it on good authority that the Scotic missionaries who flooded Europe during the eighth and ninth centuries almost invariably preferred to build in their native manner (even in France, Germany, Switzerland, etc.) than to adopt the Gaelic Arts and Crafts 335 Latin method of building in stone—a manner which their country had been familiar with for some hundreds of years. Apart from inborn prejudice, however, something must be allowed on the ground of political dislike to a radical change of this kind. There is evidence to show that the Latin civilisation was not everywhere acceptable; and certainly in the case of Scotland, the tendency of our kings to extend their dominions southwards operated to confirm and to foster the perhaps hereditary tendency mentioned above. But there is another and more important factor in the situation, which yet remains to be mentioned. The Gael's love of bright colours and artistic decoration for art's sake alone, is well known, and requires no proof in these pages. Now the castle of stone afforded but few opportunities—or rather outlets—in this respect, so far at all events as exterior decoration was concerned ; and, as is well known, this was a feature to which very properly —for the house beautiful must, to be harmonious, be beautiful without as well as within—our Gaelic ancestors paid great heed. In spite, therefore, of its greater durability and substantiality, the fact that the stone house did not at all adapt itself to the peculiar method of external decoration practised by our ancestors is one and by no means the least of the various reasons, social and political, why the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland used wood long after stone had almost everywhere else expelled the more perishable, but by no means necessarily less artistic material. What might have happened had Scotland and Ireland been left free to work out their own respective political destinies it is, of course, impossible to say, and perhaps idle to speculate at any length. The group of " houses " 336 Gaelic Arts and Crafts Gaelic Arts and Crafts 337 present. Those to whom the rich and mellow interiors of some of our cathedrals, where wood is largely employed, especially in roofings, ceilings, rood-screens, etc., are familiar, must at all events incline to this opinion. Unfortunately, in this branch of art, as in almost all others, the Gaelic people were cut off and reduced to political and social subjection before their talents had time to mature, and to produce imperishable art-forms, stamped with the indelible impression of their rare genius. Their history resembles, in this respect, a gorgeous spring morning, whose bright promise it would appear to be the evil intention of a dark and stormy day, the posthumous offspring of winter, to defeat. " It is too bright to last!" we are accustomed sorrowfully to remark of so fair a beginning. It may be unfashionable to quote " Ossian " nowadays ; but the following beautiful lines seem to me to be here charged with a double lesson and significance; so, with many apologies to the expositors of Macpherson, I venture to give them :— "As a beam of the wintry sun swift gliding over the plain of Leno. So are the days of Fingal's race, like the sun gleaming by fits through the shower. The dark grey clouds of the sky have descended, •and snatched the cheering beam from the hunter. The leafless branches of the wood are mourning, and the tender herbs of the mountain droop in sadness. But the Sun will yet revisit the fair grove, whose boughs shall bloom anew. And the trees of the young summer shall look up, smiling, to the son of the sky." There are unfortunately no remains of Gaelic would no doubt, in course of time, and in obedience to the inexorable laws of evolution, have assumed a composite form, and we should have had a distinctively Gaelic style of architecture, just as we had, and have, a Norman and a Gothic. Under favourable political circumstances the Gaelic prejudice against stone would, no doubt, have worn itself out as the years went on; and a school of architects would have arisen who would have frankly recognised the superiority, utilitarian and artistic, of the more durable material, and have accommodated their genius to the erection of grand and beautiful buildings in the manner first made known to this country through the channel of Latin civilisation. Nor is there any discoverable reason why the more Scottorum should not have flourished side by side with the continental method. The rich and beautiful effects that can be produced by wood are familiar to every student of architecture; and however unsuitable that substance may be— owing to its lesser durability and greater liability to destruction by fire, etc.—for edifices ecclesiastical and lay, which are designed to last for all time, and to serve the greatest ends which the mind of man can conceive, the artistic effect produced by wood is, in some respects, even greater than that which is the outcome of building in stone, and, generally speaking, is not much inferior to that which is the consequence of the exclusive use of the more durable material. If we could dissociate our minds from ideas springing from a consciousness of the perishable nature of wood, it would be found that the rival merits of the two materials—looking to their purely artistic effects—would, in the opinion of competent judges, be considered to correspond more than, owing to this prejudice, they do at 338 Gaelic Arts and Crafts domestic architecture in Scotland to-day, a fact which must be ascribed to causes glanced at above. Even in Ireland, such remains as there ar'efifi&iram from purely ecclesiastical edifices, either belong to a period before the art was properly formulated upon true Gaelic principles, or are here interesting only as supplying evidences of the existence of Gaelic influences in architecture long after the political system had undergone radical change!; In Scotland, as I have said, there are no remains which might be described as distinctively Gaelic. Here, as in Ireland, the character of the political changes introduced was highly unfavourable to the development of native art. The Gaelic nobfiS seem to have shut themselves up, as it were, in their wooden palaces and to have thought to defy, by so doing, the irresistible inrush of the age of stone. In one or two castles yet remaining we have traces of Gaelic exterior decoration, such as-at Dunderave in Argyll, and at one or two others, but no such thing as Gaelic lay architecture, if we except the Round Tower at Brechin, exists to-day in Scotland. The introduction of the Norman castle into the south of Scotland by David I. meant the ruin of native domestic architecture, just as the substitution of feudalism for the Gaelic system of government revolutionised Scottish contemporary politics. The example of David rapidly spread throughout the kingdom. It would even appear to have infected the semi-independent Lords of the Isles, who soon gave up their Raths and Duns for feudal strongholds built of lime and stone. The "Norman Conquest," however, so far as Scotland is concerned, was limited to stone and mortar, but the changes-introduced by the Norman castles and keeps were Gaelic Arts and Crafts 339 scarcely less weighty and important than if they had been effected by force of arms. The Norman influence, however, like the Norman language, was. not destined to be an abiding force—even in architecture, in Scotland, and the later entente cordiale* with England soon gave place to the French alliance, ^^M1 to hatred of everything English. Without in any way intending it, of course, the alliance with France profoundly influenced our domestic architecture, which, under the aegis of that arrangement, soon began to re-assert some of its latent original principles. The Franco-Scottish, or so-called Scots baronial style, undoubtedly owes some of its most pleasing and characteristic features, to Celtic influences. The round tower, and the- Mfèndency to floriation in respect of ornamental detail so observable in some of the best specimens,, reveal at once their far-off Celtic affinities. Nor is this to be wondered at, if we consider for a moment, the source from which this imposing and agreeable style emanated. It was from the district of the Loire, and, generally, from the south of France— the most Celtic parts of that country—that the French style of architecture was brought to us; The warmth of its welcome in Scotland, and the rapidity with which it spread, testify to the existence of inherent, though latent, corresponding^ tendencies in the inhabitants of Scotland. We do-not find that the French language ever became the speech of the Scottish court, which, considering the-intensity of the hatred for England and things. English, and the cordiality and strength of the French political connexion, it might reasonably be; expected to have done. The explanation of this seeming phenomenon lies in this, namely, that whilst the French language was not in the blood of: 340 Guth 6 Thir nan Og our people, no small part of the principles underlying French domestic architecture was so. The oblong building flanked by turrets, and the " high-shouldered" ornate place of strength—modifications, and yet elaborations, of pre-existing Celtic architectural forms—appealed to our ancestors with a force and to an extent which are not understandable save on the ground of affinity. I venture to think that in this case, at all events, imitation implied no flattery. It owed its existence to race-tendencies, which though sub-conscious, perhaps altogether unconscious, yet were bound to manifest themselves, whenever circumstances proved favourable to their appearance. On no other hypothesis, I venture to think, can our ancestors' attachment to French architecture, and the avidity with which they adopted it, be satisfactorily explained. In my next paper I propose to treat of the application of Gaelic principles to modern architecture, domestic as well as ecclesiastical. G. L. guth o thir nan og Eath 6 ghrein agus ò ghaoith oraibh, rath 6 mhuir agus 6 thir oraibh, rath anuas agus rath anios oraibh, a shliocht na bhFiann. Buadh trèine, buadh fèile, agus buadh filidheachta agaibh, agus beannacht an fhir ghlègil Columcille, teachtaire an Biaraidhe Mhoir. Mise Feargus mac Fhinn agaibh, a thainic ar cuairt chughaibh 6 Thir nan Og, agus seo dhuibh m' im th each ta. Och monuar! an chead uair riamh a bhi me ins an tir aluinn seo bhi Fionn le m' chois, agus Guth 6 Thir nan Og 341 Diarmuid O Duibhne, agus Oisin, agus Oscar, agus moran eile de'n Fhèinn. Bhi ceol agus aoibhneas againn, agus sealg ar sliabh, agus marcuigheacht ar eachaibh; agus do chlos duinn fuaim na h-adhairce agus guth nan gadhar imeasg nan gleannta. Agus do chuadhmar ar ais go h-Eirinn. Agus do thuit Fionn agus Oscar agus mise i gcath Ghabhra. Agus do chuadhmar sios as san go Tir an Uaignis. Och monuar! Tri chead bliadhain dom i dTir an Uaignis, agus, an rae cèadna d' Oisin i dTir nan Og. Thainic Oisin ar ais go hEirinn, agus do chonnaic Padraic mac Alpruinn è. Agus do rug Padraic Oisin leis go Tir na Naomh. Bhi Niamh chinn Oir bean Oisin go dubhach bronach ag caoineadh Oisin, go bhfuair Oisin d' athchuinge ò Phadraic mise dh'fhuasgailt 6 Thir an Uaignis, agus leigint dom dul go Tir nan Og ag cantann laoi do Niamh chinn Oir, ar ghail agus ar ghaisge agus ar fhèil© na Fèinne. Agus tagaim ar an gcuairt seo uair ins na tri chead bhiadhain ar m' each caol bàn. Ar mo chead chuairt 6 Thir nan Og bhi Suidhe Finn agus Dun Diarmuda 'n a bhfàsach. Thainic me ins an tir seo ar thuairisg na bhFiann, agus nior chualaidh me rosg catha na fuaim cloidhimh re sgèith, acht clèirigh agus maighdin ag cantann salm. Ba bhinn an ceol san, acht ba bhinne liomsa ceol cloidhimh ar mhachaire an air; agus, do chuaidh me ar ais go Tir nan Og. Tri chead bliadhain eile dhorn annsan gur thainic me aris. Fuair me Brian agus Maoil-sheachlain ag cosgairt Danar in Eirinn, agus fuair me Maolcholm ag cosgairt Danar in Albainn, agus d' f hill me go meidhreach go Tir nan Og ag cantann laoi agus rosg catha do Niamh. .342 Guth 6 Thir nan Og Rae tri chead bliadhain eile, agus chonnaic me cruadh chomhrac agus gniomhartha gaisge, agus an cath dà chur go dian ag Danair ar fhearaibh Eireann. Agus bhi iomarbhadh idir chlannaibh Baoisgne agus chlannaibh Mòrna. Thainic me anail thar Maoil do'n chor soin, agus chonnaic me Danair dà n-èirleach agus dà ruagadh as Albainn ag Roibeard Brùs; agus bhi adhbhar laoi agus rosg agam ag filleadh dhorn go Tir nan Og. Tri chead bliadhain eile agus thainic me aris; agus bhi neul dubhròin os cionn Eireann agus Albann. Tir Chonaill agus Tir Eoghain ag caohv eadh na dtaoiseach a bhi ag imtheacht tar sàile, ag caoineadh na laoch a dh'imthig agus nar thainic. Agus bhi Fianna Albann go deorach ag caoineadh na mnà mania do cuireadh chun bais go grànda insa charcair iasachta. Ochon na treun-fhir, dà ndibirt as Eirinn. Ochon an choròin riogdha, dà leigint as Albainn choidhche. Is troma-chridheach a bhi me an uair sin ag dul thar n-ais dom ; agus bhi rùn agam gan teacht ins na tiorthaib se go deo aris. Acht tar èis tri ¦chead bliadhain eile ise do ràidh Niamh, "Sgeala Chlanna Gaedheal agat dom, a Fhearguis". Do ghluais me aris, agus mo bhuaireamh cad è seo ¦dochim:— Sliocht nan Gaedheal i ngèibhean chruaidh, Gan duan na dreucht, acht Beurla fuar, | Gan aoibhneas sèin, gan eucht ag sluagh, % Na gniomhartha treuna ag èigse 'a luadh. Is beag a shil me go bhfeicfinn go brath sibh in... chàs so. Is baoghal liom, nuair a chloisfidh Niamh an sgeula ata agam go mbrisfidh a cridhe le h-uabhar agus le nàire. A Ghaedheala Albann, feuchaidh in bhur ndiaidh agus feuchaidh romhaibh. Ma thrèigeann Qsa mil The Scots at Clontarf 343 sibh caint agus ceol agus laoithe agus meanma na bhFiann ni bheidh de shliocht agaibh acht Danair dura go brath aris. Bhi agallamh agam le Righ Fheinnibh na hEireann indè, agus do chuireadar iad fein fè gheasaibh fior laoich go leanfadis raon na bhFiann. Sin iad na geasa ata uaim oraibh-se a Righ Fheinnidhe Albann. Muna bhfuigh me uaibh iad càinfidh me sibh, agus aoirfidh me sibh, go dtògfaidh me tri cluig ar eudan gach mac mathar [agaibh. Agus ma thugann sibh dom na geasa san beidh àthas ar mo chridhe ag filleadh dhorn go Tir nan Og. Feargus Finnbheil. the scots at clontarf1 The battle of Clontarf, fought on Good Friday in the year 1014, is deservedly regarded as one of the most famous and important in Gaelic history. The events immediately preceding the battle may be briefly recalled. Brian Borumha had made himself Ard-Righ of Ireland by a combination of talents lof which military address and dexterity were the principal characteristics. His throne, however, ¦could not be regarded as secure, so long as the Scandinavian settlers in Ireland possessed more than a jWe foothold in that country. With Dublin, or Bail'-ath-Cliath, and other important ports in the hands of the sea-faring Lochlannach, no Ard-Righ of Ireland could consider his power as consolidated, or his sovereignty as intact. Brian Borumha, who was as good a statesman as he was a warrior, must have perceived long before he led the Gaelic lErom the Gaelic Cluain, a meadow, and Tarbh, a bull = Cluain Tairbh. 344 The Scots at Clontarf host to Clontarf that sooner or later he must try-conclusions with an enemy who had been despoiling and oppressing his country for the best part of 300 years. Such " intelligent anticipations " are the essence of good statesmanship. Nowadays, we speak of wars as being " inevitable" long before they actually come to pass. A similar gift of prophecy was probably amongst the many accomplishments of Brian Borumha. When the Irish Ard-Righ determined to give battle to the Danes, he by no means under-rated the magnitude of the task that confronted him. Indeed, both sides seem to have simultaneously reached the conclusion that the coming contest would be upon no ordinary scale. Gaels and Black and White Foreigners had been conducting-"little wars" against one another for centuries, and with varying success to both belligerents. The time was obviously now approaching, however, when these series of fisticuffs or "pin pricks" would give place to something infinitely more serious and destructive; and when the die would be cast, one way or another, which must finally decide all the points in dispute. Both sides, accordingly, began their preparations with an evident eye to the future. The preparations of the Lochlannach were both careful and extensive; but with these we are here not so much concerned. Suffice it to say that they literally scoured the seas for armed support; and that practically all their available resources were laid under contribution. The kingdom of Man, their settlements on the Western Coast of Scotland, the Orkneys and, of course, Scandinavia itself, were actively recruited, and with encouraging results to the barbarians. On the other hand. The Scots at Clontarf 345 the Gaels of Ireland were no less solicitous of augmenting and strengthening their forces, and no less determined to put the best possible face which they could upon their affairs by inviting assistance from every likely and available quarter. Centuries of Danish warfare, and alas! of internecine strife had drained Ireland of much of her best blood. Instead of composing their differences until at least the foreigner was expelled, the Gaelic rulers (of which the Celtic system allowed too many) had persisted in the prosecution of their private feuds under the very noses, as it were, of the Danish invaders, with the inevitable result that the best strength and manhood of the nation had been ignominiously frittered away in these extravagant, costly and contemptible quarrels. Moreover, even in view of the solemn and extensive preparations which the Ard-Righ of Ireland now found himself obliged to undertake, in order to counterbalance those of his enemy, whose galling yoke he designed to throw off, there were found some Gaels so mean-spirited and unpatriotic as to prefer the indulgence of a feeling of spite and revenge against Brian to the performance of their obvious duty. Happily, however—happily for the cause of civilisation in Ireland, and for the honour of the Gael—these hirelings and traitors were in a minority. Throughout almost the length and breadth of Ireland Brian's preparations for the offence against the common enemy actively proceeded. From North and South, East and West, recruits for the Ard-Righ's army daily poured in;: and either anticipating or imitating his enemy's, preliminary tactics in respect of his own allies,, messengers were sent to the Gael of Scotland to implore his immediate assistance. 346 The Scots at Clontarf The battle of Clontarf was fought on Good Friday, 1014. The contest began in the early morning, and continued to be waged, with great courage, fierceness and determination on both sides throughout the day. For many hours the event was in suspense; but towards sundown the Danes began to give way, and to flee. Many picturesque details of this famous battle are supplied by the Irish historians and annalists, whose accounts may, in general, be implicitly relied on, being no less remarkable for the plain and easy style in which they are written than they are for their moderation and fairness to a barbarous, though gallant, enemy. The Scots contribution to this Homeric contest will be, however, I imagine, a Scotsman's principal concern. And in this respect, too, the Irish annalists have fortunately not left us without some information, though it is much to be regretted that the wholesale destruction of our national records prevents us from indulging the hope that that information will ever be appreciably supplemented. In the first place, it must be remembered that the ancient relations between Scotland and Ireland were of a very close and intimate character. Dal-riada was an Irish colony, and whatever may be thought as to the ethnology of the Picts, the "Scottish conquest" of Alba, as this country used to be called, and still is called, in the Gaelic language, is a well-ascertained historical fact. The language of Scotland and the language of Ireland moreover were practically identical at the time Clontarf was fought. The social and commercial correspondence between the two countries was great. The arts and crafts of Ireland were precisely the same as those of Scotland, and, to The Scots at Clontarf complete the resemblance, the ecclesiastical systems were, so far as we know, precisely the same. Under these circumstances, we should naturally expect to find the Gaels of Scotland assisting their kindred in Ireland to throw off the hated Scandinavian yoke. Besides, the interest, as well as the inclination, of the Scottish Gaels was actively engaged by the Irish cause. The west coast of Scotland had been the scene of countless barbarities on the part of these ferocious and, for the most part, heathen " Summer-sliders," who, in their bloody depredations, had not even respected the sacred soil of Iona. The settlements of these marauders, too, along the entire west coast, and in the islands adjoining thereto, constituted a standing menace to the Gaelic power, and constituted a species of insult which a high-spirited people would be apt to avenge at the first favourable opportunity. Accordingly, when Brian's messengers arrived in Alba announcing that at long last a determined attempt was about to be made to crush the Danish power in Ireland, the Scottish Gaels, whose sympathies in such an undertaking were naturally with their Irish kinsmen, needed little encouragement to induce them to take up arms, with a view not only to assisting their allies, but with the further object of including their own country in the promised emancipation. The late Mr. Skene, whose valuable work on Celtir Scotland is still the accepted authority on our early history, and whose principal conclusions have, on the whole, stood the test of time and later scholarship in remarkable fashion, was of opinion that the Scottish contribution to the army of the victors at Clontarf was more than respectable both as to quality and quantity. It is probable, he says, 348 The Scots at Clontarf that the "whole force of Alban was arrayed on Brian's side". And considering all the circumstances of the conflict, and its importance to Scotland, as well as to Ireland, Dr. Skene was probably not far wrong in his surmise. The best Irish historical source, however—the historical tract known to English readers as "The Wars of the Gael with the Galls" (Gaelic, Gall, a foreigner generally speaking; but here more particularly a Northman or Scandinavian)—mentions the name of only one Scottish chief as having been present at the battle, namely, Donald, the son of Eimin, the son of Cainnich, Mormaer or sub-king of Marr in Aberdeenshire. I regret that a very careful search amongst the available early Irish historical sources has failed to establish other names in this connexion, although, with Skene, I am strongly of opinion that if not the whole force of Alba, at all events the greatest part of it went to the assistance of Ireland on that memorable occasion. It is worthy of note that the tract in question states that Brian had ten Mormaers with him at Clontarf, with their foreign auxiliaries. Now, the word Mormaer (Gaelic, Mòr-mhaor, modern Morair, a lord or great man) is seldom met with in Irish literature. No doubt the title had its Irish equivalent in the familiar Righ, which does not so much mean a king, as nowadays we understand such to be, as a sub-king or provincial prince. Consequently, the employment of the word Mormaer—a purely Scottish appellation—by an Irish writer seems strange. Again, the plural of the word Gall, a foreigner or Northman, is Gaill, and this is the word used to describe the auxiliaries who were with the Ard-Righ and the ten Mormaers at Clontarf. Skene says "the word Gall, here translated 'foreign' (by The Scots at Clontarf 349 himself), usually means the Northmen; but it seems here used as its general sense of foreign ". I beg to differ. The word Gall was, I believe, never applied to a Gael; and in the particular circumstances we are considering would surely be the last epithet a Gaelic historian would employ to designate some of his own allies! For my part, I believe that the ten Mormaers of Brian were Scottish Mormaers who with their foreign auxiliaries had gone over to Ireland to share the fortunes of the day with the Irish High-King. It would not be difficult to compose a list of ten contemporary Scottish Mormaers, without exhausting the number of such dignities, then subsisting. And as for the allusion to the ten Mormaers'/ore^w auxiliaries—it would not be necessary to allude specifically to their own men—what with Saxon and Flemish and even Scandinavian settlers in Scotland, it would be by no means surprising if some volunteered for, or, what is more likely, were pressed by their Gaelic overlords into, this momentous service. Again, foreign auxiliaries, assuming for the sake of argument that they were Scottish, would hardly be likely to engage under Irish Mormaers. The prominence given to Donald by the Irish historians, and his evident importance in their eyes, both as magnate and ally, precludes all idea of such a thing. As I have already said, the Irish historians and annalists mention the name of only one Mormaer as being present at Clontarf, viz., Morair Mhair?', the above-mentioned Donald. From this circumstance, Skene places Donald of Marr at the head, that is, in command of the Scottish forces. " In addition," he says, "to the native tribes of Munster, Con-naught, and Meath, who followed Brian, he had 350 The Scots at Clontarf also an auxiliary force from Alban under Donald son of Eimin son of Cainnich, the Mormaer of Marr."1 But with this opinion, also, I do not agree. If the Mormaers were practically independent princes, as there is every reason to believe they were, who rendered to the Ard-Righ of Scotland such allegiance only as he was able to exact from them vi et amis, it surely follows from thence that they would not have submitted to the authority of one of their own order, especially upon so public and formal an occasion. Skene thought that Donald was in command of the Scottish forces at Clontarf, from the circumstance that the Irish historians mention no other Mormaer. For my own part, I am disposed to attribute Donald's isolation in this respect to a different cause, which I shall proceed to explain. O'Flaherty, who wrote his Ogygia (or History of Ireland) in Latin, states in the second volume of that work (page 304) that "in the battle of Clontarf, fought in the year 1014, we read there fell on the side of Brian, monarch of Ireland, Donald the son of Evin, the son of Canich Mor-mhaor Mair (Mor-mhaor Mhairr) and Muredach Mormaer of Lennox. From the former, the descendant of Carbery2 the Pict, are sprung the ancient Earls of Marre. From the latter we are of opinion that the Earls of Lennox are descended." I have already said that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, no available ancient Irish account of the battle mentions the names of any Scottish Mormaer save that of Donald, the Righ 1 Celtic Scotland, vol. i., p. 387. 2 Carbery, son of Core, hereinafter mentioned: he was a Piet on his mother's side, and was so called (by the Irish) because he was brought up in Pictavia. The Scots at Clontarf 351 or Mormaer of Marr. O'Flaherty, however, composed his Ogygia at a time when the terrible and lamentable destruction of priceless Irish MSS. had not proceeded as far as, unfortunately, we have bitter reason to know that it has since been carried; and I have no doubt whatever that, in the composition of his history, he had access to materials now, alas! lost to us. But the significance of the appearance of these two names (those of the Mormaers of Marr and Lennox) in connexion with the battle of Clontarf has yet to be explained. Brian Borhuma, Ard-Righ of Ireland, and King or Righ of Munster, was of the line of Heber, son of Milesius, the Spanish eponymous, according to the genealogists of Ireland and Scotland, of the Gaels of these two countries. Oilioll Olum, a descendant of the above-mentioned Heber, and who was certainly an historical personage, had two sons by his wife Sadbh, viz., Eoghan Mòr (slain a.d. 250) and Cormac Cas. From the second of these two the Ard-Righ of Ireland (Brian) was descended; whilst from Eoghan Mòr, the ancient earls (or rather Mormaers) of Marr and Lennox derived their descent, according to the same authorities. It should be explained that Oilioll Olum had a son called Maccon Lughaidh, whom he banished; but, before his death, the Munster king settled his kingdom, or rather principality, upon his two sons, Eoghan Mòr and Cormac Cas, and their posterity; and, in accordance with a fatal Celtic custom, directed that the Toiseachail or heirs of these two clans should succeed alternately. That some such arrangement actually took place is rendered certain by the fact that succession to the throne of Munster was in constant dispute 352 The Scots at Clontarf between two rival families, both claiming descent from the above-mentioned Lughaid; which deluged that province with blood and kept it in a state of unrest and turmoil so long as the Gaelic chiefs were in possession of the predominant power. Doubtless, the fact that Brian and the Mormaers of Marr and Lennox could claim a common ancestry, however visionary and remote, would be sufficient to account for their presence as Brian's allies at Clontarf; but the connexion between the Ard-Righ and his Scottish auxiliaries is rendered yet more certain and significant in view of what follows. Eoghan Mòr had a descendant called Conall Core, who was banished by his father (Lugaid) to Scotland, on account of an animus which Lugaid's wife had conceived against her step-son, the above-mentioned Conall Core. Whilst in Scotland, Con-all Core, who be it observed was equally the ancestor of the Mormaers of Lennox, married a wife (a "Pictish" princess), and by her founded the houses of Marr and Lennox. Core (from whom the town of Cork in Ireland derives its name) eventually returned to Ireland, apparently on his father's death, and became Rìgh of Munster. The connexion between the houses of Munster, Marr, and Lennox was thus established upon a twofold basis—the common claim to be descended from the same remote ancestor, and the much later and more certain one which I have just explained. In these circumstances, I conceive the presence of the Mormaer of Marr (and in all probability that of the Mormaer of Lennox) at Clontarf is easily accounted for, as is the particular manner in which the former is mentioned by the Irish historians. There is one other point which serves to give Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa 353 emphasis to the probability of this explanation so far as it concerns the Mormaer of Lennox; and which I will briefly refer to before concluding. O'Flaherty, who bears the character of an accurate and honest historian, states that the Lennox Mor-inaer's name was Muredach. Now, "there is a Muredach occurring at a very early date in the Lennox pedigree, who was probably the individual alluded to by O'Flaherty. I say "probably" advisedly ; for, of course, since no date is given in the pedigree, nor other particular serving to fix his identity, I am unable to prove it. The conjunction is, nevertheless, I conceive, significant; and in view of what has been stated above the conjecture I have founded on it will not, I hope, be considered as extravagant. j. Chisholm. ciad mhac riogh africa [An so sìos focal air an fhocal leis an Ollamh Seòrus Mac Eanraig o bheul-aithris Iain Mhic Fhiongain, an Dalabrog, Uidhist Chinn A Deas.] Bha Africa uile gu lèir aige dha fèin. Cha robh aige shliochd ach dithis ghillean agus dh'èug a bhean air. Cha do phòs e riamh tuilleadh. Bha e fhèin a sin a fàs sean agus a tuiteam sìos le h-aois. Dh'fhàs e sin bochd s laidh e suas air leabaidh. Nuair a dh'aithnich e gu robh 'm bàs air chuir e fios air a dhithis mhac airson gu'n dianadh e 'thiomnadh riutha. Thuirt e riutha gur h-e'n lagh a bh'aig righrean eile mar a chual esa riamh bho thùs bhi toirt tiotal agus fearainn do'n chiad mhac, ach nach b'ann mar sin a dhianadh esan; "a chionn, 'illean, tha fhios agaibhpse 1 354 Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa 355 bean fhaotuinn; cha'n eil feum sa bith againn air ar cuid a roinn mar a dh'àithn t'athair ach dur bhios sinn pòsd' roinnibh1 sinn bonn air bhonn. "Tà gad a dhianainns a sin," os a fear og, "tha fhios agam gad nach fhaiceadh na boirionnaich a chèile fad bliadhna gur h-e dol far a cheile nì ead." "Ma tà," os a fear bu shine, "cha bhith sin mar sin; faodaidh sin cnaimh-aimhreit a thogail eadar mis' agus tusa; tha Africa farsuinn s. cuirinn2 sinn litir gu taobh tuath Africa caisteal thogail a sin; nur bhios sin dianta s na h-iuch-raichean a'sna glasan cuiridh sinn dà chrann dh' fhiachainn co theid ann, mise no thusa." S ann mar sin a bha. Thainig ead dhachaigh as8 a bheinn-sheilg. Sgriobh ead gu luchd-ciùird gu h-ealamh gu taobh tuath Africa caisteal a thogail. Sgriobhar air ais gu'm biodh sid dianta aig àm mar bha iàd-san ag iarraidh s nach robh sion a dhìth orra-san ach obair. Leum a' luchd-ciùirde rompa gos an robh 'n caisteal ullamh gus na chuir ead na h-iuchraichean air na glasan am muigh agus a stigh. Dar a rinn ead sin sgriobh ead a dh'ionnsuidh Riogh Africa le cunntais mu fhad 's a liad s na bh'ann a sheomraichean. Chairich Clann Righ Africa an t-airgiod air falbh. An uair sin bha clann an righ dol a shealg mar bu ghnath dhaibh o thus. Thubhairt fear bu shine ris an fhear a b'oige gu'm b'fhearr dhàsan posadh s gu'n cuireadh ead cruinn, gu'n robh esan deonach falbh nan tigeadh an crann air gad bha bean agus dragh aige. "A. bhrathair ghaoilich! tha bean agus dragh agadsa mar nach eil agamsa s falbhaidh mi do'n chaisteal 1 For roinnfidh = roinnidh. 8 So the reciter. 8 à in this word thus accented means that the pronunciation is with short, open e and not a. gu bheil a h-uile fear agaibh cho dligheach agus se'n aon rud bonn dhe na bhonn dheth gach nì bhi agaibhsa dheth na bhios mise fàgail as mo dheoghaidh. Riutsa (os esan), ris an fhear bu shine, tha mise ag earbs an gnothuch a dhianamh ceart agus dligheach. Thoir do cheart aire gu bheil mise ag earbsa riut bonn dhe na bhonn thoirt do d'bhrathair òg mar bhios agad fhèin; cha'n eil mo chaistealsa cho faoin agus ma phosas sibhse nach bi e cho mòr s gu faodadh bean a fear bhi agaibh ann gun a chèir fhaicinn fad na bliadhna. Air an taobh eile mur cord sin, tha Africa farsuinn s-faoduidh sibh leth an aoin bhi agaibh s crann a chur mu dhèighinn." Is ann mar seo a bha. Chaochail an Riogh s thiodhlaic a chuid mac à.1 'Nuair sin bha dithis chlann an Righ a falbh dh'ionnsuidh na beinn-sheilg a h-uile la diag sa bhliadhna; cha robh'n còrr cosnaidh aca; air dhaibhsan bhi ris an obair sin thuirt am fear bu shine gu'n dheonuich e posadh s nam bu deonach esan gu'n tugadh e dhachaigh a chaisteal athar i a bhi dianamh co-chuideachaidh dhaibh fhein le chèile. An uair sin phos am fear bu shine dhiubh ; thug e dhachaigh a bhean 's rinn e bainnis mhor eibhinn aighearach bha seachd la agus seachd oidhche na suidhe. Bha bhrathair òg an uair sin ceart cho gaolach air a mhnaoi ris fhèin gad nach d'robh e dol na dh'aon leabaidh rithe. Bha ià-san dol a shealg mar a b'abhuist. Fhuair ead moran shaighdearan s moran oifigearan s bha ead ag geaird a chaisteil. Là dhe na lathaichean shuidh ead air an torn sheilge: thubhairt a fear bu shine cha'n urrainn a bhith gu bheil thu cho toilichte riumsa's mar sin tha mise ag orduchadh dhuitsa posadh agua 1 Dialectal for e — him. .356 Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa shin1 gu deonach gun chrann a chur ged is e caisteal m'athair is docha leam air an t-saoghal." Thuirt e ris gu fagadh e seann chaisteal athair2 aige o b'e bu shine s bho'n bha esan gun dragh gun tòrachd air gu falbhadh e fhein. Rainig a fear og nuair sin taobh tuath Africa na aonar fada goirid dha'n tug e air an rathad. Nuair a rainig e e s nuair chunnaic e'n caisteal bha e a cordadh ris cho math ri caisteal athair. Se'n aon fhada s an aon mhiad a bh'annta. Bha fear og a sin a dol a shealgaireachd -an taobh tuath Africa mar a bha e cleachdadh s mar a bha e cur roimhe mar ghnàths. Nuair sin bha e a coimhead mu'n cuairt dh'fhiach an tachradh boirionnach air chum gu'm posadh e i. Thachair .a sin boirionnach mor briagh ris na rioghachd fhein s thubhairt e rithe gu na ghabh e cuid du8 ghaol .anamanna oirre s dh'fheoruich e dhi biodh i toilicht a phosadh. Rinn ead airson posadh s rinn ead bainnis mhor eibhinn aighearrach an sin dhaip fhein. Thug e dhachaigh bhean d'a chaisteal fhein. San àm sin lean esan a sealgaireachd mar bha e fhein a cleachdadh bho thus. La dheth na lathaichean is ann a smaointich e gur ceacharra rinn e s gu'm bu dona rinn e nach d'fhiathaich e bhrathair bu shine chum na bainnse mar bu chòir dha. Sgriobh e gu bhrathair bu shine s ghearain e ris an dearmad a rinn e. Bha bhrathair bu shine a gabhail a lethsgeuil, nach robh duine sam bith a dianamh leithid sin gun bhi dearmalach aig an àm. Nuair sin sgriobh a bhrathair ga ionnsuidh nach robh esan cho bochd s nach fhaodadh ead bainnis dhianamh eadar dhaibh fhein mar thoileachas agus mar shòlas a chionn gu robh bean a fear ac' agus gu faigheadh esan a dha roghainn ar 1 For sin. 8 = athar. The reciter often made no difference between r and ir in these forms. * = de. \ Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa 357 n-eadh fios a chur chuige-san banais a dhianamh san aite bu docha leis, ann an seann chaisteal athairsa ar neo na chaisteal fhein. Sgriobh a fear og ga ionnsuidhsa nach fhac e aite fhathast a bu toilichte leis bainnis a bhi innte na ann an seann chaisteal athair comhla ris fhein. Sgriobh am fear bu shine ga ionnsuidh e thighinn air aghart e fhein s a thriall s air cho mar1 s dha'm biodh i gur h-e bonn air a bhonn dh'fheumadh bhi ann. Dh'uidh-eamaich a fear og e fhein s a chuid daoine s a chuid cairtean airson dhol gu taobh tuath Africa s dh'fhag e bhean a stigh na chaisteal fhein. A's an àm sin bha pèids aig an riogh òg s dar dh'fhalbh e fhein agus a thriall ghearain e gu'n dh'fhag e diochuinn sa chaisteal s gu'm feumadh e tilleadh gu iarruidh agus dh'iarr am peids airesan tilleadh air ais mu'n tugadh duine sam bith'n aire dha gu'n d'fhag e'n urrad ad cearbach. Air dha tilleadh dhionnsuidh a theagh fhein, fear a b'airde dhe na h-oifigich fhuair e cuideachd ri mhnaoi ann san leabaidh. Dh'fhalbh e s dh'fhuaith e comhla ris an leabaidh ead s dh'fhag e sid ead. Thill e air ais s mu'n d'ghluais duine s a chammp bha e aca s cha do leig e air gu'n do chairich e. La 'n na mhaireach tharruing ead air ais ead fhein s an triall gu taobh deas Africa. Dh'innis esan dha'n pheids bh'aige fhein mar dh'eirich dha s dh'iarr am peids air seo chumail air fhein gun a leigeil air ri neach sam bith. Mu'n do stad air an t-sriop sin rainig ead seann chaisteal athair. Rinn an dithis bhraithrean toileachadh mor ri cheile agus gairdeachas. Dh'uidh-eamaich iad2 iad fhein chum gu'n dianadh ead2 bainnis mhor eibhinn aighearach bhiodh ainmeil tlachdail ann sna h-uile doigh. Rinn ead sin ach nuair a bha 1 = mòr. 2 Both forms used thus, the diphthongised form and the form with short, open e. -358 Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa bhainnis cruinn s a fear og a cosg uidhir ri bhrathair cha tigeadh e an còir na cuideachd s a bhrathar gu sprogadh. Lean e fo sprochd s fo leann dubh s cha robh fhios aig a bhrathair gu de bha e ciallachadh. Seo seachad, dh'fheoruich an fhear bu shine bu mhath leo falbh chom na seilge mar bu ghnath dhaibh 'nan oige, ead fhein s an cuid sluaigh. Cha robh fear og deonach falbh ach fo sprochd s fo mhulad san t-seann seomair a bh'aig athair an druim an teagha. Chomhairl a bhrathar bu shine dha falbh le uidheam le ghunna s le chomhlan daoine. Nur rainig ead cnocan thill esan cho'n cheart bhad às an d'fhalbh e. Bha duil aig' na dh'fhag ead aig an tigh nach robh duin air sgial. Bha e coimhead a mach bharr na h-uinneig. Cha robh e fada mar sin nur chunnaic e'n t-oifigeach bu mho agus naonar eile tighinn a mach s bean a bhrathair agus te a fear s iad a laidhe leo ann sa ghàrradh. Smaointich esan an uair sin aige fhein gu'n robh 'n fhàgail ad aig na h-uile gin. Am bial na h-oidhche chaidh e'n comhdhail a bhrathair s dhinnis e dha rud a chunnaic e. Nur a dhinnis e seo dha bhrathair cha chreideadh e à. La 'r na mhaireach bha àsan a falbh a shealgaireachd mar a b'abhaist. Nur dh'fhalbh na saighdearan thill an da bhrathair le cheile s leig ead cach air aghart do'n bheinn sheilg. Nuair sin chunnaic a bhrathair bu shine le dha shuil an ni bha esan ag radh s chreid e seanchas bha bhrathar og ag innseadh dha. An uair dh'innis a bhrathar og dha rud a thachair ris fhein thuirt fear bu shine ris gu faodadh gu'n robh 'n fhàgail ad aig an t-saoghal uile s nach b'urrainn daibh thighinn as aonais. " Cha mharbh mis' a bhean idir mar a rinn sibhse ach cuiridh mi air falbh i s gheobh mi teile dhomh fhin." Cha robh air a sin ach sin fhein. Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa 359 Nuair thainig na h-oifigich dhachaigh, là na mhaireach ghabh iad tàmh. An là sin thill ead air ais s bha iad san t-seombar air an doigh chianda dh'fhiachainn co no de a chitheadh ead cearr no ceart. Air an là sin fhein gu de a mhuthaich a fear og ach spèill (gruthann) dhe na cearcan s an •coileach g an iomain. H-uile te dh'fhanadh air ais chuireadh an coileach air aghart i comhladh ri cach. Dh'fhoighnic e ri bhrathair, an robh e a faicinn an obair bh'aig a choileach ag iomain an treud chearc ? Gus am biodh smachd aig a h-uile fear air a mhnaoi s gu'n cumadh e bhean fodh chiseag nach biodh an gnothuch doigheil. Os a fear bu shine, "tha mi tuigsinn gu bheil sin ceart gu leoir ach gidheadh cha mharbh mis' i ach cuiridh mi air falbh i". Dh'fhalbh fear og an uair sin gu rioghachd fhein. Nuair chuir a righ sin air falbh a bhean dh'iarr e air fhear-comhairle bean og a thoirt uige h-uile oidhche na bhliadhna s a marbhadh ann sa mhad-uinn a maireach. Thoisich a fear-comhairl aige air sin a dhianamh. Thug ead ùin mhor air an obair sin, e fhein s fhear-comhairl ann sa staid sin chor agus gu'n robh a chuis collach nan leanadh a Riogh air an obair sin nach biodh boirionnach beo fad Africa. Bha dithis nigheana mora briagha aig an fhear-chomhairle s ead a faicinn a ghnath dhiol bh'air na boirionnaich. Dhoighnic ead da'n athair na mharbh e boirionnach an diu. Thubhairt e gu'n mharbh s gu'm marbhadh e t'èile maireach. " Feumaidh tu," os ise, mise thoirt an nochd do'n Riogh. As esan: "de am beachd a th'agad smaointinn ma theid thu dha'n Riogh gu faod mise t'fhagail beo na's mugha na dh'fhaodas mi t'èile ". Thubhairt an nighean gu'm feumadh gu'n tugadh e ann i s gu'n rachadh e ann gun taing chor s gu'm b'urrainn di radh gu'n robh i aige mar mhnaoi 'na 360 Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa bean aon oidhche. Thubhairt esan an uair sin nach d'eirich riutha ach mar a dh'eirich dha'n damh » dha'n asal. " Gu de," os ise, " dheirich dha'n damh s dha'n asal ?" " O," os esan, " se bh'ann a sin sgialac." " Ma tà," os ise, " nach gabh sibh dhuinn an sgialac air chor is gu'n cluinn sinn i." "Ma ta," as esan, " tha mi gle dheonach." Bhuail e sin air innse dhaibh gu robh treobhaiche aig duin uasal aon uair s gu'm biodh e treobhadh am bicheantas leis an damh bh'aig an duin uasal s nach robh beothach sam bith aig an duin uasail airson treobhadh ach an aon damh. Bha aiseal aige s bhiodh e aige fhein a marcachd air a mhuin na h-uile latha dh'fhalbhadh e bho'n tigh. Cha robh 'n t-aiseal dianamh car cruthaicht c-r-u-i-t) ach sin. Cha robh damh a faighinn sgàth ach canabhalach garbh chruaidh chrineachd bh'an treobhaich a tilgeadh uige s a stall. Bha'n t-aiseai a faighean pronn cruithneachd agus bhriosgaidean ann an leann am brainn tuba airson gu'm biodh e air a dheagh bheathachadh. Nuair dh'fhalbhadh an treobhaiche leis an damh bhiodh a leisean fuar fliuch. Bha'n t-aiseal air a chìreadh s an deagh bheath aige h-uile là diag sa bhliadhna. Bha iad air an suidheachadh mar sin ach oidhche dheth na h-oidhcheachan nur thainig an damh dhachaigh s nur dh'ith e roinn dhe an fhodair gharbh chruaidh chruithneachd laigh e s leag e osann throm bhruit às. "Is trom t'osann," as an t-aiseal, s e shios. " 0 seadh," ors an damh, "ciod a ni mi ? Bheirinnsa comhairl ort nan dianadh tusa mar a dh'iarainnsa ort cha ruigeadh tu les (pron. as Eng. less) bhi air do sharachadh mar a tha thu s bhiodh do bheath cheart cho math ri m' bheatha fhin. Siud an rud a nì thus, maireach nuair thig an treobhaiche mor ga d'iarruidh s a bheir e leis air falbh a threobhadh-thu nuair a bheairtaicheas e thu ann sa chrann s Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa 36i nur a shrachdas e air falbh thu gabhadh tu cam a null agus cam a nall leis agus cha dion thu aon sgriob dhoigheil. Eiridh esan air do shrachdadh s air do chuipeadh le chuid lainichean ach ann sa spot laigh thusa s leig ort gu bheil thu bochd. Nuair sin (os esan) feumaidh' treobhaiche do leigeil às s do thoirt dhachaigh do'n stabull s na h-uile seorsa 's fhearr thoirt dut nur bhios e smuainteachadh gu bheil thu bochd." Binn an damh mar a dh'iarr an t-aiseal. Nuair a dh'fhairlich an damh air an treobhaiche b'fheudar an treobhaiche leigeil às s dh'imich e dhachaigh leis dha'n stabull. Cha robh seorsa beath b'fhearr na cheile nach do dh'fhiach an treobhaiche ris an damh s e smuaintinn gu robh e bochd. Sa spot na thilg e biadh dho na damh1 dh'fhalbh e dh'innseadh do'n duin uasal, a mhaighstir, gu'n robh 'n damh bochd. Nur chaidh e ga ghearain fhein thubhairt an duin uasal, "cha'n eil fhios a'am ciod a nì thu mur toir thu leat an trusdair aiseal sin as an stabull; fiach an dian e aona sgriob dhut". "Cha mhor as fhiach na nì e," os an treobhaiche, "an t-aiseal fhein." " O! gu de'n cothrom air," os an duin uasal; " ach thugaibh sibhse leibh e ged nach biodh e ach thu fhein se fhein nar seasamh ann sa phairic." Rinneadh seo. 'Nuair a rainig e cheana-bhag chuir e'n t-aiseal ann sa chrann agus bheart-;aich e e. Tharruing e air falbh leis an aiseal agus bhuail e air treobhadh. Mhuthaich an duin uasal dha'n treobhaiche treobhadh s dh'fhalbh e dh'fhaic-ainn de bha ead a dianamh. Thainig gu leoir dhaoine choimhead an aisil s ma thainig thainig am feolad-air mor s ioghnadh air. Dh'fhoighnic am feoladair, c'ait an robh 'n damh mor. Thubhairt an duin = do'n damh. 362 Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa uasal gu'n robh 'n damh mor a stigh agus e bochd. " Nach ceannuich thu'n damh ? Gu de bhios e orm ?" " Bidh e lethid seo ort." " Se mti chuid e," ars am feoladair. Dh'fhalbh am feoladair s dh'fhalbh an duin uasal dhachaigh am bial na h-oidhche. Nuair thainig an treobhaiche dhachaigh bha'n damh ann sa stabull roimhe leis an aiseal. Dhoighnic an damh dha'n asail: ciamar a chord obair an là'n diugh ris. "Chord gle mhath," ors an t-aiseal, "ach s coma dhut-sa de th'ann, tha thu air do chreic an diugh ris an fheoladair mhor s marbhaidh e maireach thu. Tha aon chothrom agamsa ort (ors an t-aiseal), nach ith ead m' fheoilsa gu brach." Is e seo 'n sgiala bh'aig an fhear chomhairle dha dhithis nighean fhein. " Cha dubhairt sin dad," ars an nighean, "feumaidh gu'n teid mise comhla ris an righ air na h-uile cor." Dh'fhalbh piuthar comhla rithe gu dorus an Righ. Dar a choinnich an righ ann sa dorus e dh'fhoighnic e gu de chuir air tighinn leis an nighean aige fhein da ionnsuidh-san, gu'm feumadh e marbhadh là na mhaireach cho math ri teile. "Ni mise sin," ors a fear comhairle, "mar tha sibhs ag iarraidh." " Bheil sibhs (ars an righ) deonach thighinn stigh comhladh riumsa seo an nochd agus t'athair thoirt dhiot a chinn am maireach?" "S mi tha," os is, "ach 's ann na chumhnantan tha mi deonach dol ann." "De na cumhnantan a ghalad tha thu'g iarraidh," ors an righ. "Cha'n eil sion ach mo phiuthar bhi ann an aite claistinn domhs agus do'n riogh gus am bidh 'n ceann air a chur dhiom air a la maireach." "Cha'n eil do chumhnanta (os an righ) trom na cudthromach agus faodaidh sinn an toirt dhut." Nur thuirt an nighean seo ris an riogh thuirt i gu gabhadh i leabaidh-làr mur biodh leabaidh fhreagarrach ann di. Thubhairt esa gu Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa 363 1 With nasal e. faigheadh i sid agus gu dianar siud suas air a son. Thugadh a stigh dithis chlann an fhir chomhairle a sheombair an righ. Fhuair an nighean nach robh dol a dhianadh car na h-aon oidhche comhladh ris an righ leabaidh dhi fein s chaidh a piuthar a laigh leis an righ mar bu choir dhi. Nuair thug an righ lamh air a mhnaoi dh'fhoighnic an te bha thall: " bheil sibh 'n 'ur dusgadh a Riogh V " S mi tha," os a Riogh. " Nam biodh sibh cho math," as an nighean, "s gu fanadh sibh 'n 'ur dùisg gus a gabhainn fhin sgialachd dhuibh bhithinn fada'n'ur comain." Thoisich a piutharsa thall ri gabhail sgialachd. Dh'iarr i air s gheall an Righ fuireach na dhuisg. Nur a chunnaic ise colas an la tighinn ghrad sguir i. "Bheil sibh ullamh dheth na sgialachd?" ors an riogh. " Cha'n eil na leth na trianach," ars an nighean. " Ciod is aobhar nach eil thu cumail air aghaidh ma ta ?" " Tha (ors ise) mi a' smuaintinn e doruinneach duilich an ceann bhi ga thoirt dheth mo pheathar an diugh." "A nighean thapaidh!" ors an righ, " cum air t'aghart s gheobh do phiuthar an diugh a saorsainn airson do bhriathran agus air chul sin bidh 'n riogh fhein ad chomain airson cho math s a labhair thu bho na thainig an oidhch." Lean an nighean reapa1 air gabhail a sgialachd mar a bha i reamha gus an robh 'n t-àm aca bhi 'g eirigh agus a cur umpa. Thainig an sin an athar, an fhear-comhairl gus an ceann thoirt de'n nighean s choinnich an Righ e sa dhithis nighean air a ghualainn. " Fois air do laimh, oganaich, tha saors aic, bithidh i nochd fhathast comhla ris an righ." Lean an nighean roipe mar sin ag gabhail sgialachdan gus robh ceann na tri rèithchan ann s bha saors aice fad an t-siubhail. An ceann na tri rèithchan rug i leanabh mic dha'n righ. Bha e 364 Ciad Mhac Riogh Africa uamhasach toilichte s cha robh air an t-saoghal na bheireadh air an righ a bhean na phaisde mharbhadh air dhoigh sam bith. Mar sin lean am boirionnach ris s cha do mharbhadh bean ann an Africa riamh tuilleadh. Sin obair gleusd s mar bhiodh an nighean bhiodh h-uile boirionnach bha'nn an Africa marbh aig an Eiogh. [Note.—The above is from the oral recitation of John Mackinnon, Dalibrog, South Uist. His father was a noted reciter and Campbell of Islay took many tales from him. By reciting stories at night for three-quarters of a year a certain woman is the means of warding off death from all the women in Africa at the hands of a wicked, savage king, who killed a young wife for every night of the year. The reciter learned it from his father, who did not get it from any written source directly, for he could neither read nor write, although a master of plot and narrative. The diction, which in this story is simple, shows some variation, but I followed the sgialaiche closely. He knew about forty different tales fifteen years ago; though close on seventy he could recite many tales word for word in the traditional manner of the Seanachie. His style was rich in incidents, and from the point of view of folklore very interesting, though not so terse in the above tale as in others. I heard a story from John Smith, son of the noted reciter Patrick Smith, South Uist, in which a young daughter saves her sister by telling stories which introduce genii, griffins (griomhain), as in Arabian Nights. "Riogh bha'n Alba s bha e marbhadh na mnathan air a chiad oidhche. Mu choimeas seo dh'innis an nighean a h-ochd fichead sgialachd s h-ochd diag," etc. The theme is well known to students of folklore, and has traces of savagery.—Gr. H] The Oldest Scottish MS. 365 the oldest scottish ms. SOME NOTES ON THE BOOK OF DEER Opportunity makes the traveller as well as the thief! What a number of historical places in Ireland have I resolved to visit—and have not visited! I suppose other people make this kind of resolution, and break it just as easily (and frequently) as, alas! I do. When one reads an interesting book—or even a book that is not interestingly written—about interesting places, one feels inclined to rise up there and then, and, staff in hand and scrip at side, to go out and set one's pious curiosity at rest. Ireland is peculiarly rich in these places—historic places, I mean—which every Gael ought to visit, though more frequently than not he knoweth them not. I could name, off-hand, at least a score of such places to which I am pledged to go, and to which, I hope, some time or other, I shall indeed travel. Doubtless many of the Gaels of Ireland are of the same mind regarding interesting places in this country. They would like to see Iona, Kintyre (so rich in Celtic remains), Skye, Mull, or some other country in Scotland rendered familiar to them by our common history. It is, surely, sheer laziness which prevents us from carrying out these pious resolutions. The spirit is all agog to go; but the laggard flesh eagerly lays hold on any and every excuse to postpone the useful day. However, these being times in which conditional offers are popular, I herewith and hereby promise to discharge all my arrears in the matter of historical pilgrimages to Ireland, provided that there can 366 The Oldest Scottish MS. be found a Gael in Erin who is prepared to do the same thing in respect of his projected pilgrimages to Alba. I venture to think that if the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland were simultaneously to take to discharging one another's obligations and engagements in this manner and in this respect, it would be an excellent thing for the cause we both have at heart—to say nothing of the railway and steam-boat companies, and the commercial side of our common movement. There is a place of places to which I would direct the attention and footsteps of the Irish historical pilgrim; and the name which is on it is "Deer," in Aberdeenshire. To Deer came once upon a time my dear little Columba—the saint of saints in the common calendar of the Gaels of Erin and Alba. "Columcille and Drostan, son of Cosgrach, his pupil, came from Hi, as God had shewn to them, unto Aberdour (a small sea-port on the north coast of Buchan), and Bede the Pict was Mormaer (Righ) of Buchan before them; and it is he that bestowed on them that town in freedom for ever from Mormaer and from Tòisech. They came after that to the other town; and it was pleasing to Columcille, for it was full of the grace of God, and he asked of the Mormaer, viz., Bede, that he should give it him, and he did not give it, and a son of his took illness after the refusal of the clerics, and he was dead but a very little. Thereafter, the Mormaer went to entreat of the clerics that they should make prayer by the son that health should come to him. . . . They made the prayer and there came health to him. Thereafter Columcille gave to Drostan that town, and blessed it and left the saying, ' whoever should come against it, let him not be many-yeared, vic- The Oldest Scottish MS. 367 torious'. Drostan's tears (De'ara) came on parting with Columcille. Columcille said, ' Be Dear (dear) its name from henceforth'." So runs the simple story in the famous Book of Deer, the only early Gaelic national MS. which the Gael of Scotland can boast of, owing to the barbarous book-burnings of the unspeakable Lochlannach. What is called the " Legend of Deer" is regarded in some quarters rather as a picturesque summary of the views which were popular in Scotland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries respecting the foundation of the Abbey, than as an historical representation of the actual facts relating to its foundation. It does not appear, according to this view, that St. Drostan, the companion of Columba in the narrative quoted above, was ever connected with that saint; but although the naming of the town from the circumstance of Drostan's tears coming from him on his parting with St. Columba may be regarded as apocryphal, the founding of the monastery by Colum Cille is probably true enough. We know from St. Eunan (Adamnan) that the labours of that Saint were by no means confined to Iona; and that he travelled over a large part of northern Scotland preaching the Holy Scriptures, baptising converts, and founding monasteries. St. Drostan was certainly a contemporary of St. Columba; and though the former may not be found actually mentioned in connexion with the latter, there is nothing inherently improbable in the theory that they knew each other, and even laboured together for the salvation of souls. Names do not occur so frequently in those early times, nor are our existing records so numerous and so complete that we can afford to affirm that because individuals who we well know to have been contemporaries 368 The Oldest Scottish MS. and engaged in similar tasks are not actually associated together in those tasks in the annals that have come down to us, that, therefore, they did not know each other and could not possibly have acted as the writers of a later age, who must necessarily have known more than we know, positively asserted they did indeed act. The Book of Deer affords us, alas! but little information regarding the daily life of the pious inmates of that ancient monastery; but it is intensely interesting to the Scottish Gael for a threefold reason. In the first place, it is our earliest national MS.; in the second place, it contains the earliest specimens extant of Scots Gaelic; and in the third place, it gives us a glimpse of the social and political conditions under which our far-off-ancestors lived. The Gaelic of the Book of Deer is written in what is called the Irish character, which, as every one knows, is a modification of the signs of the Latin alphabet. But as this department of my subject belongs strictly to the etymologist, I apprehend I cannot do better than here quote the opinions of Dr. MacBain of Inverness (author of the standard etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language) as to the etymological character of these Gaelic entries. " The Gaelic of the Book of Deer" says he, "differs in spirit and even in form from the Irish Gaelic of the same period. The two Gaelics—Irish and Scotch—could not have been very different at that time in any case, at least as spoken languages. Irish had been a literary language for some centuries previous to this, and as such we cannot trust that it exactly represents the popular language of the date at which it was written. The Scotch Gaelic, whilst keeping to the The Oldest Scottish MS. 369 general style of spelling and writing which the Irish had, was not weighted by precedent and literary forms of bygone times. It consequently adapted itself to the time and locality in which it was produced. Hence it is that the Gaelic of the Book of Deer, as compared with the Gaelic of Lebor na h-Uidri, the oldest Irish literary MS., composed about 1100, and, therefore, of nearly the same age, has the appearance of a descendant which is two or three centuries later. In fact, the Gaelic is well advanced in what is called ' Middle Irish'. . . . But the most marked Scottish tendency is the way in which the n of the preposition 'in' is dealt with. Whilst n disappears in early Irish before s and p, we have in the Book of Deer the thoroughly (Scotch) Gaelic method of keeping it, . . . and certain tendencies are displayed which nowadays characterise Scotch Gaelic only, as compared with the Irish; so that we are quite warranted in accepting the book as containing genuine Scotch Gaelic of the time." In conclusion of this head it may be observed that Stokes and Windisch are both of opinion that the oldest source extant for Scotch Gaelic is the Book of Deer. But there is a "human" as well as an antiquarian and purely etymological interest attaching to the Book of Deer; for in it we are treated to a brief and all too insufficient glimpse of the social and political conditions under which our ancestors lived. Enough is told us, however, to justify the belief that the social and political systems of Ireland and Scotland were in those early days identical. To students of the Gaelic history of both countries this will seem natural enough ; but it is satisfactory, nevertheless, to find our historical beliefs confirmed in so striking and authentic a manner, more especi- 37o The Oldest Scottish MS. ally as there have been attempts of late to set aside the lessons of history in favour of the Pictish heresy, whose twofold aim is the minimising of the importance of the Scottish conquest of Alba, and the separation of the Picts from the Gaelic branch of the great Celtic family. The Gaelic entries in the Book of Deer consist, for the most part, of brief records of grants of lands on the part of local rulers. In later times, these formal entries would, doubtless, appear in the familiar form of charters. The names and designations of these benefactors and their witnesses, coupled with the character of the grants themselves, and the manner in which they were made, suffice to import us into an atmosphere which will be familiar to every student of early Irish history. For the information of the Irish reader, I append the translation (Stokes's) of a typical entry in the Book of Deer. " Gartnait, son of Cannech and Ete, daughter of Gille-Michel gave Pet-mec-Cobrig for the consecration of a Church of Christ, and Peter (the) Apostle, and to Colum Cille and to Drostan, free from all exactions with the gift of them to Cormac, Bishop of Dunkeld, in the eighth year of David's reign. Testibus istis, Nectan, Bishop of Aberdeen, and Leot, Abbot of Brechin, and Maledonni, son of Mac Bead, and Algune, son of Arcill and Ruadri Mormaer of Mar and Matadin, Judge, and Gille-christ, son of Cormac and Malpeter, son of Domnall, and Domongart, Reader of Turriff, and Gille-colaim, son of Muredach and Dabui, son of Mal-colain." It will be observed by the reader that most, if not all, of these names are to be encountered in Irish history. Gartnait, Cainnech and Ete are frequently met with in early Irish MSS. The same remark applies to Ruadri and Muredach; whilst The Oldest Scottish MS. 371 such names as Malpeter, Mal-colain Mac-Bead, Maledonni, Gille-Michel, Gille-Colain, etc., are too obviously Gaelic (Irish as well as Scotch) to offer the slightest encouragement to the most reckless " Pict". Moreover, the dignities and offices named are either such as were common to the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland, or such as had their equivalents on both sides of the water. The " Righ," mentioned in a previous grant, obviously corresponds to the Irish Ard-Righ or High-king. The Mormaer is the Scottish equivalent of the familiar Irish provincial Righ or sub-King. The office of Toiseach (Chief)—also mentioned in a previous grant—is, doubtless, the same as the Irish Toiseach. The "Brithem" or Judge was an important Gaelic functionary in both countries ; and the ecclesiastical systems of Alba and Erin being the same, it is not surprising to find mention made in the Book of Deer of the office of " Ferleginn" or ecclesiastical " Reader ". Moreover, the grants of land are just such as we should expect to find in a Gaelic community, and serve to complete the picture, so far as it goes, from the purely Gaelic point of view. Dr. MacBain has been ready enough to discover traces of " Pictish influence" in the " somewhat bewildering succession of names " in the ^Gaelic entries in the Book of Deer. He says, " Sons do not often succeed fathers, and brothers are preferred to children," i.e., to heirs of dignitaries. "This points to surviving Pictish influence in the succession, where succession was in the female line." But setting aside, for a moment, consideration of the character of this succession, which I by no means admit was " Pictish," or influenced by Pictish customs, it is surely very remarkable that the landed system 372 The Oldest Scottish MS. outlined in the grants bears no traces of " Pictish " influence. It is certainly true that we know little or nothing touching that system. Indeed, the Pict in Scottish, as in Irish, history is little more than a name. But one would naturally expect to find some traces of that alleged system surviving in the grants of lands, if traces of such a thing were anywhere to be found. That the landed system outlined by the Book of Beer should be distinctively Gaelic—such as was common at that time to the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland—is a circumstance that cannot be regarded otherwise than as exceedingly damaging to the Pictish theory.1 According to MacBain, Pictish influences are plainly observable in the way in which succession occurs in the Book of Beer. " Sons do not often succeed fathers," and uncles rule in the place of heirs. " The mentioning of the daughter along with her husband as granting lands conjointly, shows the husband's right rested on the female alliance "—a " Pictish " custom. Now, what was Pictish succession? According to tradition—for we have nothing better to guide us—Pictish succession consisted in succession through the female. Marriage was uncertain (at least amongst the Picts, apparently), so to secure succession of blood, they adopted the simple device of limiting it to the female. This custom, assuming that it really obtained, shows that the Picts were barbarians; for it discovers plainly that the sanctity of the marriage iMuch has been made of the supposed Pictish word Pet, meaning a portion of land. In Professor Ehys's recently published Celtae and Galli he states that the word occurs in the recently found Coligny calendar. The language of this calendar bears strong affinities to ancient Irish—a fact which should surely prove somewhat discouraging to our Pictish protagonists. The Oldest Scottish MS. 373 tie was not recognised, even supposing that it was understood, by them. What, on the other hand, was Gaelic succession ? Oddly enough, its essential principles could scarcely be better summarised than they are by the very description given by Dr. MacBain of what he believes to be " Pictish succession " ! Sons did not often succeed to fathers, and brothers were preferred to children. I make bold to state that the succession outlined by the Book of Deer is typically Gaelic succession; and that it is as true to affirm that that succession was influenced by the barbarous Pictish custom referred to above, as it would be to maintain that the Koran is a Christian work, because it recognises the existence of the Deity! There are many examples of what is called "alternate succession"—a device much resorted to by the Gaels, whose leading maxim in public affairs was " divided responsibility " —in the Gaelic entries of the Book of Deer, and these examples, taken into consideration with the peculiar Gaelic custom by virtue of which the uncle was frequently, though not necessarily, preferred to the nephew—a custom several instances of which are also recorded in the Book of Deer— renders it certain that the principles of succession therein laid down or rather outlined are not as MacBain and others suppose Pictish principles, or principles emanating from or influenced by Pictish sources, but are indeed what their face-value, as it were, plainly declares them to be, namely, Gaelic principles. From the circumstance that a Mormaer (Righ) of Buchan became so in right of his wife, and gave grants of lands on that footing, Dr. MacBain argues that here, also, we have an instance of Pictish influence. I beg leave to differ, however. In the 374 The Oldest Scottish MS. long list of more or less suppositious "Pictish" kings given by our historians, the name of no woman occurs; and if no woman was allowed to occupy the Pictish throne, their exclusion from that of the provincial Righ follows almost as a matter of course. Again, if the tradition concerning Pictish succession, referred to above, is true, it is obvious that the social and political status of women under the Pictish regime was exceedingly low ; and that such a thing as a woman exercising regal or semi-regal functions amongst these people would not have been tolerated for a moment. On the other hand, we know that the social and political status of women under the Gaelic system was not at all unfavourable to the sex. Our Gaelic laws expressly sanctioned the holding by a woman of landed property, and of the offices associated with landed property, provided that she could command the following necessary to support her authority in the exercise of those offices. In the case of Maebh, Queen of Connacht, we have a remarkable instance of a woman's being invested with and exercising the princely power, apparently without the slightest opposition on the part of her subjects on the ground of her sex. We know nothing, apart from the discreditable tradition above mentioned, of Pictish women, or of the part they played in history; whilst, on the other hand, it would be easy to multiply the names of Gaelic women of noble blood, as of humble parentage, who rose to great eminence under the Gaelic system, and who enjoyed all those prerogatives and privileges which it was the aim of the later feudal system to reserve exclusively for men. I contend, therefore, that so far from supporting the Pictish ¦case, the entries in the Book of Deer, so far as " Education" in the West of Ireland 375 they concern women, do precisely the reverse; and I feel sure that were he not in a manner pledged to the theory that the Picts, though Celts, were not Gaels, Dr. MacBain would be the first to subscribe to this opinion. A few words may be written, in conclusion, touching the later history of the famous monastery of Deer. When the monastic system in Scotland everywhere gave place to the parochial, the Abbey passed, with many others, under that dispensation, being refounded in the year 1209 by William Cumyn, Earl of Buchan (the first of that great Anglo-Norman family to hold the ancient Gaelic honour). It preserved its character of a Cistercian monastery until the so-called Reformation, when it fell upon evil days and subsequently, being totally neglected, became a ruin, which it remains to this day ; and so waits the coming of that true Reformation when the Catholic religion will again be .the religion of the entire Scottish nation, and when the Gaelic language will again be the everyday speech of Buchan and the Gaelic plains of Scotland. F. S. A. "education" in the west of ireland I find myself on a long stretch of mountain road in remotest Iar-Chonnachta. I am in the heart of the lonely silent land in which the Gael maintains his last firm foothold. Anglicisation, as a living energetic fact, is at least a score of miles behind me. I should have to travel the distance, either to Galway or to Oughterard, to find a community whose daily speech is English. In the cabins 376 "Education" in the West of Ireland "Education" in the West of Ireland 377 din grows nearer. I catch lively interchanges in Irish. "Togha fir, a Sheaghàin !" "Do shlàn fùt, a Mhàirtin !" " Ara, a Chuilm, a dhiabhail, ceard tà tu a dhèanamh ?" It sounds wondrously pleasant, this sudden and jocund uproar amongst the silent hills. There is still life and joy in Ireland. Even a spell of five hours a day in a " National" School does not avail to still the song of youth in the heart of a child. " Is breagh an rud an òige, agus is breaghtha 'na sin an tsaoirse!" says a recent Irish writer, recalling school days spent in this very region which I am traversing. So these boys feel now, though the thought may not shape itself into so many words. But there is a special reason for this sudden and vociferous outburst of Irish on the part of these liberated scholars. They have spent five hours in a "National" School. This means, my Scottish Gaelic reader, that for five mortal hours they have been precluded from exchanging as much as a syllable with one another or with any one else in the only language they know. And why? Understand that they are being " educated ". We have unique and wonderful " educational" methods in the west of Ireland. One of them is to ignore the only language spoken by the pupils. Another is to pretend that there is no such place in the world as Ireland. A third is to inculcate that the English Government is Almighty Providence, and that America is an El-Dorado in which gold is to be picked up on the streets. So our children, who enter school with an abundant store of pure and vivacious Irish, leave it " educated" into ignoramuses who speak no language, who own no country, who have but one ambition in life—to shake the dust of Ireland off their feet as soon as they can ; mere atrophied intelligences; which dot these brown hillsides, or which lie along the shores of these sheltered bays, Irish is the only language known. The thought makes my journey pleasant. In the kindly Irish west I feel that I am in Ireland. To feel so in Dublin, where my daily work lies, sometimes requires a more vigorous effort of imagination than I am capable of. But even in Iar-Chonnachta Anglicisation has its busy agents. A car approaches, driving rapidly to catch the Galway train at the roadside station ten miles off. As it passes me the driver, a country Iad in bàinins, salutes me cheerily in Irish. The passenger, an important-looking person enveloped in a huge overcoat, salutes me neither in Irish nor in English. He favours me instead with a supercilious stare. In the west it is not customary for two strangers to pass on the road without exchanging greetings. But allowance must be made for the difference in status between the important-looking gentleman and myself. I am a mere member of the general public. He is an Official Personage. He is the representative of the English State. He stands for Civilisation. He incarnates Education. To be precise, he is an Inspector of "National" Schools. He is evidently returning from "inspecting" the "National" which lies half a mile ahead on the roadside. I marked it when I passed this way twelve months ago. I knew it to be a " National" School by its ugliness. Moreover, as I cycled past, I heard the loud voice of a man talking in English. It is only inside "National" Schools that one hears English in Iar-Chonnachta. Scarcely has the car rattled by when in front of me on the road there arises a cheerful clamour. Plainly, the children let loose from school. The 378 "Education" in the West of Ireland "Education" in the West of Ireland 379 countryless waifs; industrial inefficients carefully and laboriously manufactured under the aegis of the State and at the expense of Irish ratepayers. But I digress. The merry group of school boys approaches me. These are but in process of " education". Intelligence has not yet been " educated " from their countenances, nor laughter from their hearts. That will come all too soon. In school, indeed, they are blocks, stones, clods. But here, with the mountain road beneath their bare feet and the mountain breeze blowing in their faces, they have hearts, they have intelligences, they have--as my ears tell me—voices. Facts which my genial friend the Inspector, who has spent some hours in vain endeavours to induce them to speak English, is doubtless far from suspecting. The clamour is hushed into comparative decorum as the group draws near me. As each passes he salutes me shyly but pleasantly in Irish. Most of them know by sight the "diune uasal" from Baile Atha Cliath who stayed in the village last year, who went boating with some of their fathers and elder brothers, and who so often made one of the fireside group at Conn -'s evening cèilidh. So they have a merry nod and a smile for me, and give me voluble answers to my questions, which range from the state of the parish priest's health to the recent improvements in the handball-court behind Pat-'s shop. The group passes on with renewed outburst of joyous clamour. A race is started, and they soon disappear over the brow of the hill in the road. As I approach the schoolhouse, I descry coming towards me a solitary straggler from the merry band—a small gasùr, in bare feet and bdinius like the rest. He comes along slowly, and as he draws near I perceive that he is crying bitterly. Now I recognise him as the little son of Màire--at the cross-roads. He it was whom I took with me as my companion when I climbed Cnoc —-— last year. Naturally, I stop him to renew acquaintance, and to inquire the cause of his tears. " Ceard tà ort, a Sheaghàinin ?" " Bhu-bhu-bhuail an maighistir mè ì" " 0-6. Agus ceard rinne til as an mbealach ?" " L-labh-labhair mè Gaedhilge leis an ' In-specthor'." The child had been caned- cruelly caned, as I learned afterwards—because, in a moment of confusion, he had spoken Irish to the Inspector! If these things happened in Poland or in Finland or in Alsace-Lorraine these islands would ring with denunciations. The British and the West British and—for aught I know—the North British press would report the facts under scare headings. We should hear of the " Language War in Finland," or of the "Reign of Terror in Polish Schools," or of " German Aggression in Alsace-Lorraine ". But when Connacht is the theatre of tyranny the outside world hears nothing, for England controls the press agencies. I want my Scottish Gaelic friends to realise the sternness of the fight which is being waged in Ireland. We have nearly 700,000 Irish speakers. Over one-third of the area of the country Irish is the language of the majority of the homes. We have wide districts, west, and north-west, and south-west, in which for practical purposes Irish is the only language known. Yet the school system in these districts still, broadly speaking, ignores Irish as an instrument of education. In 380 "Education" in the West of Ireland only thirteen schools in all Ireland has the Bilingual Programme, recently wrested from the Commissioners of "National" Education, been officially sanctioned. Not one-sixth of the schools in the Irish-speaking area make a genuine effort to utilise the vernacular as a medium of instruction. There are still schools in purely Irish-speaking localities in which Irish has absolutely no place whatever on the school programme. There are still schools in which, whilst the pupils speak no English, the teacher speaks no Irish—schools, that is to say, in which the instructor and the instructed have no means of communicating one with the other. There are still schools in which children are punished for speaking Irish—furtively, of course, for if the facts were made known it would, in the present state of public opinion, be rather awkward for the teacher and manager. Finally, the general progress of Irish-speaking children is everywhere tested by Inspectors who know no Irish, and permission to teach Irish as an " extra " subject is conditional on a favourable report as to general progress from these incompetent and often hostile Inspectors! Such is " Education " in the West of Ireland! Padraic Mac Piarais. P. H. Pearse, Editor of An Claidheamh Soluis. òran do Dhon Alfonso Infante na Spàinne 381 oran do dhon alfonso infante na spainne Mile fàilte dhuit, a shil an Righ !1 A thàinig gu Alba o'n Spàinn ; Mòran làithean sona dhuit is sith, Le maitheas Dhè, is thu gun chron. Tha mi 'faireachduinn gu'm bheil e fior, Na thuirt cinn-feadhna a bh'ann o shean, Gur e Spàinn an talamh sunndach Tir mam beann's nan gaisgeach treun ! Ràinig thu nall gu Alba a' cheò, Mar dhearrsa na grèine o'n tir ud thall Mhic na Spàinne! Fhir mo chridhe ! Is coma leam ni, mur bi thu'n so. Togamaid gunna, 's deanamaid spraidh, 'S e Mac na Spàinne 'tha 'siubhal an fhraoich; Mo mhullachd air gach eun nach tuit a sios, D'ur ac fhuinn a's turail' 's a chunna mi riamh. 0 till a ris d'ar dùthaich's d'ar glinn, Do dhùthaich an* fhraoich, 's do bheannaibh an fhèidh; Na leig sinn air falbh ; dean cuimhne oirnn Is leat-sa ar chridhe : biodh leat-sa ar crùn! 1 Mile, Righ na Spàinne. 382 L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique 383 l'art, comme etude religieuse et historique L'Art, au point de vue religieux et historique, a un meilleur droit à notre consideration qu'on ne l'a gènèralement compris. Depuis plus de quatre siècles la connexion et la correlation existant jadis entre TArt et la Religion ont non seulement ètè rompues, mais mème imparfaitement saisies et in-adèquatement reconnues. L'intimitè de leurs relations mutuelles avait ètè intense durant cette vaste et importante pèriode qui prècèda la Rèforme. Tantòt la Religion se reflètait dans TArt; tantòt TArt prèvenait l'enseignement religieux formel de l'Eglise. Quelle majestè dans la mission, et quelle vie dans la predication de TArt, alors qu'il incarnait l'enseignement chrètien de l'èpoque sous des formes que pouvaient saisir les plus humbles et qui ser-vaient de guides à leur pensèe! Le jour n'ètait pas encore venu où l'Art devait ètre supplantè par les Lettres. Aux ages du Puritanisme et plus tard, l'harmonie n'existait plus dans les relations entre les instincts artistiques de l'homme et ses croyances thèologiques. Les problèmes spirituels de la vie et la nature passagère des choses terrestres et humaines, ont souvent ètè reprèsentès sous des formes qui impliquent une condamnation et une repudiation de l'Art. II est done besoin de manifester plus clairement comment le sens peut et doit ètre force à servir plus gènèreusement l'esprit, comment l'Art peut devenir, dans un sens large, une expression vraie de la Foi chrètienne. II faut rèclamer et consacrer le ministère du beau, dans la couleur, la forme et le son, avec le legitime sentiment que cette con- sècrationl de l'Art est d'une haute importance dans l'ordre religieux. Comment la Religion pourrait-elle ètre indiffèrente aux formes de la peinture, de la sculpture, de la musique, de l'architecture, et— ne devrions-nous pas ajouter ?—de la poèsie, quand son Dieu n'est nul autre que 1'Artiste supreme, avec la Nature comme son oeuvre d'art universelle ? Peut-ètre pourrait-on dire que le lien intime qui, d'après le philosophe Schelling, " unit l'Art et la Religion," est maintenant reconnu; que, par consequent, la connaissance scientifique de l'Art, est, sinon plus nècessaire, au moins plus conforme à l'esprit vraiment religieux. Aujourd'hui le beau trouve, à còtè du bien et du vrai, le rang qui lui revient. L'Art, d'après notre rècente manière de voir, est, selon Emerson, " la voie par où le Crèateur atteint son ceuvre ". Les enseignements de Ruskin ont puissamment aide les hommes, à notre èpoque, à sentir combien l'Art est religieux, combien il est apte à inspirer la croyance en Dieu et " l'adoration en esprit". II faut considèrer que l'Art est vraiment spirituel et synthètique, tout comme Test la Thèologie elle-mème. De plus, l'Art est tèlèolo-gique, et tend vers l'idèal spiritualiste, encore une fois, tout comme la Thèologie. C'est l'esprit chrètien qui a sauvè la Nature du matèrialisme qui voudrait ètouffer l'Art; c'est lui qui peut encore nous conserver la beautè de la vie, et les influences purifiantes de l'Art qui aura atteint son apogee et qui sera vraiment grand. C'est alors qu'on verra la vèritè de ce que disait Sydney Lanier, " queia beautè artistique et la beautè morale sont comme, deux lignes convergentes qui remon-tent à un ideal commun, à une mème origine," si bien que, pour l'esprit èthique du jour, la beautè de la saintetè et la saintetè de la beautè ont presque 384 L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique 385 èlevè que nous apporte 1'ètude de l'Art. C'est pourquoi nous entendons dire à Schiller1 que le veritable artiste prendra, il est vrai, ses matèriaux dans le present, mais qu'il empruntera sa forme à une èpoque plus noble, voire, au delà de tout temps, à l'unitè absolue, immuable de son essence. Ici, du pur ether de sa nature divinement concue, dècoule la source de la beautè, libre de la souillure des races et des siècles, qui " s'agitent loin au-des-sous d'elle dans des gouffres tumultueux ". De la facon la plus ènergique, Ruskin declare que le plus grand Art est prècisèment celui qui exprime le plus grand nombre d'idèes, et que rien ici-bas ne peut racheter l'absence de vèritè. Fran-chement, je n'aime pas la norme quantitative de Ruskin relativement au nombre des idèes. L'Art est assurèment une chose qualitative, et la pro-fondeur des idèes compte bien plus qu'aucune enumeration qu'on puisse faire de leur quantitè. Dans l'Art, comme dans la Religion, ce à quoi Ton s'adresse, c'est le sentiment immèdiat, et non les conceptions abstraites. II ne faut done guère s'ètonner si nulle parole ne saurait rendre l'ineffable signification, la beautè, la force suggestive d'une representation telle que, par exemple, La Sainte Famille de Francois Ier, de Raphael. Parmi tous les trèsors du Louvre il n'y a rien de plus beau, les figures de la Mere et de l'Enfant formant un tableau inexprimable. Son Saint Michel triomphant de Satan ne le cede guère au precedent. C'est l'àme souverainement belle de 1'artiste que nous voyons, dans ce cas, luire à travers son art. Je viens de dire que la vie spirituelle ou religieuse est crèatrice de l'Art le plus èlevè, avec sa 1 Lettres philosophiques, lettre neuvième. une mème signification. L'estime croissante de l'Art religieux a produit un surcroit de vigilance, grace à laquelle l'influence matèrialisante provenant d'une exagèration de l'aspect symbolique de la religion ne saurait mettre d'entraves à l'esprit ni l'empècher de s'èlever audessus de la forme pure-ment extèrieure. L'Art, sous toutes ses formes, sans rien sacrifier de ce qui le caractèrise comme Art vrai, s'est efforcè de correspondre, d'une facon harmonieuse et sympathique, à Inspiration spirituelle, qu'il veut respecter, aimer et favoriser. C'est là ce qu'il fait, quand cherchant à rèaliser l'idèal thèologique, il supplie que " la beautè de Dieu le Seigneur y soit marquee ". L'Art est done, à sa manière, une revelation du divin. Cela semble, à l'auteur de cette etude, aussi vrai de l'histoire de l'Art que de l'histoire de la Doctrine. Cependant, mème dans le grand Art, se glissent parfois des incongruitès et des anach-ronismes : c'est le cas, non seulement pour un Paul Veronese, mais mème, par exception, pour un Raphael. L'Art n'atteint pas toujours sa propre perfection, et mème un Albrecht Diirer peut inopinèment nous fournir une conception plus idèale que Raphael. C'est par sa vitalitè que vaut l'oeuvre de 1'artiste, plutòt que par sa conformitè avec une tradition artistique aveuglante. Le grand artiste est tout simplement celui qui Test comme penseur, non moins que comme ouvrier. Ce qui a precede les formes de l'Art aussi varièes que celles de Protèe, ce qui prèdominait aux yeux du grand artiste, ce n'est nulle combinaison de forme et de couleur, mais l'idèe religieuse, la conception ou la construction idèale, et les idèes divines ou conceptions idèales sont le don ultime et le plus 386 L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique \ L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique 387 tim d'un maitre aussi primitif de l'art italien que Giotto, tellement tous ces tableaux s'adressent à tous sans distinction. Mais il n'en est pas moins vrai que l'homme vulgaire ou non-initiè ne voit rien de plus dans les grandes creations de l'Art que dans celles de la plus affreuse mèdiocritè, jusqu'à ce que sa facultè d'apprèciation air ètè cultivèe et ses puissances mises en activitè. II ne voit pas plus que ce qu'il a appris à chercher. Et cela peut ètre Bbien peu de chose; car Ruskin nous dit quelle apathie il a rencontrèe chez certains hommes, mème après que la beautè de l'Art avait ètè signalèe à leur appreciation. La discipline artistique est chose très distincte,, positive et nècessaire, car les beautès de la Nature line sont pas rèvèlèes, à qui ne les cherche pas—non moins nècessaire, en vèritè, que la discipline et d'entrainement religieux. L'Art vise, comme le fait la Religion elle-mème, à instruire et à èlever, et non pas seulement à amuser, à ètonner et à fasciner; mais l'Art ne produit cet effet par aucune sorte de contrainte continuelle, atteignant plutòt sa fin par Ka discipline propre, suivant les voies les plus naturelles et les plus gracieuses. La puissance lènnoblissante de l'Art est le plus efficace prècisèment quand il est plus simple et plus grand. II peut se faire, comme a dit Goethe, que l'Art "soit ainsi nommè simplement parce qu'il n'est pas la Nature; mais cela ne l'empèche pas d'etre une activitè très naturelle. L'Art a toujours en vue, bien qu'inconsciemment, les hauteurs de la morale. vLes divinations du grand Art semblent provenir de ^'empire inconscient de l'esprit èthique le plus èlevè. Mais c'est bien ce mème esprit qui caractèrise les conceptions les plus hautes de la Religion. beautè, sa libertè, son unite et sa puissance idèales.; Ce n'est pas tout de dire, comme on vient de le; faire, que la vie spirituelle est crèatrice de l'Art 4 il faut ajouter que les revelations du monde) spirituel,—le monde de la beautè spirituelle,—nous] sont communiquèes prècisèment par les formes etf la vie du monde naturel. L'art n'est pas une chose arbitraire ; c'est plutòt, comme on l'a dit, la faculty de rendre l'imagination productive, en conformity avec la loi. La parole suivante de Keats exprimè; done une profonde vèritè :— Le beau, c'est le vrai; le vrai, c'est le beau.1 II n'est pas nècessaire de faire en sorte que, l'Art, expression du vrai sous une forme sensible,; soit tellement la servante de la morale qu'il ne; sache rendre justice à la beautè. . II suffit d'affirmer que la beautè est incommensurablement' approfòndie par l'esprit èthique. Nous pouvonsj encore concèder que l'Art a sa valeur propre, la] forme et la matière ètant ici inseparables. On comprend encore trop peu que l'Art impose ses lois à des natures dont le gout a ètè l'objet d'une culture spèciale. II peut ètre tout à fait vrai que de grands artistes -Raphael, Rembrandt, le Titien,-Michel-Ange, Leonard de Vinci, et autres—se sont; adressès aux sentiments ou aux emotions èlè-i mentaires du peuple. Ainsi, mème le spectateur d'occasion ne peut se dèfendre d'etre saisi par des representations telles que La descente de la Croix, L'Assomption de la Vierge, ou La Resurrection dei ce maìtre en coloris, Rubens; ou par La mise aiti Tombeau de cet autre roi du coloris, Titien, au; Louvre; ou mème, peut-ètre, par des tableaux comme la Nativite, le Crucifiement ou la Rèsurrec- 1 Beauty is truth; truth, beauty. 388 L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique 389 La nècessitè de cette culture spèciale en vue de Fapprèciation de l'Art repose sur le fait que nous avons dèjà signalè : que 1'artiste a des pensèe idèales, que sa sensibilitè plus pènètrante et son intuition plus profonde voudraient dècouvrir à d'autres hommes. L'Art vrai, comme la vraie pensèe religieuse, sera toujours suggestif; l'Art le sera à un degrè incalculable. L'Art, comme dit Browning, " peut dire la vèritè de f aeons di verses ". Le veritable Art est aussi, dans un sens, reli-gieux; il a un attachement passionnè, et souvent austere, pour le divin, pour la divine rèalitè, en sorte que, comme l'a dit Carlyle, dans l'Art le divin est rendu visible. II demande ainsi à ses zèlateurs que chacun d'eux realise le vceu du poète latin, integer vitce scelerisque purus, qui n'est qu'une sorte de version antique de l'appel de Goethe à la vie dans le Parfait, le Bon et le Beau. II n'y a, en effet, rien de plus certain que la degradation de l'Art par l'ègoisme sensuel: le culte mystique de la beautè par l'Art peut nous mener loin, dans la voie de la grace, de la saintetè, de la religion et vers les sommets de la vertu, de la moralitè. Quand 1'Amour assume le travail de la vie, il dilate et confond les choses de la Religion et de l'Art, de sorte qu'elles s'unissent en une puissante opposition contre un matèrialisme sans àme. Sans doute, il y aura toujours une difference dans leurs modes d'influ-ence; car, tandis que l'Art s'adressera de preference à la vie èmotionnelle, la Religion, plus spècialement dans ses plus hautes portèes thèologiques, s'adressera de facon prepondèrante aux facultès cognitives de l'homme. Un caractère frappant de l'Art est d'exiger l'ap-parence du mouvement. L'artiste apprend combien il lui faut, dans son art, exprimer le mouvement de la nature. Sa vision de la nature est, si Ton peut s'exprimer de la sorte, non pas momentanèe, mais successive, non pas statique, mais dynamique. Ce fut pour l'artiste une heure importante que ceile où il fit cette dècouverte : vèritè peut-ètre importune de prime abord, mais qui, en definitive, lui apporta puissance et profit. La pensèe religieuse a, sans doute, appris de pareille fai^on, que ses vèritès doivent ètre saisies et presentees dans leur mouvement progressif et leurs phases successives. Cette reflexion nous conduit tout naturellement à la pensèe de l'Art dans ses vastes relations et dèveloppements historiques. L'histoire de l'Art, comme ceile de la Religion, a eu ses grandes èpoques. L'Art ancien nous est parvenu presque entière-ment sous les formes de la sculpture et de l'archi-tecture. C'est à la lumière de l'histoire que l'architecture atteint la dignitè d'une science. L'art grec est redevable de beaucoup à l'art ègyptien primitif; mais l'art grec acquitta noble-ment sa dette par la lègèretè, la grace, la beautè et la gaietè par lesquelles il remplaca la massive et sombre architecture ègyptienne. L'architecture grecque est rèsumèe dans le Parthenon et les edifices qui l'entourent. La fameuse èglise de la Madeleine, à Paris, est bàtie sur ce modèle, et c'est un superbe edifice classique, avec les colonnes de sa facade, ses portes de bronze, et les sculptures qui en surmontent l'entrèe. Dans les temps anciens dont nous venons de parler, nous voyons comment les systèmes religieux de l'Egypte, de la Grèce et de Rome ont alimentè l'Art. Là nous voyons la sculpture grecque don-nant libre carrière à la beautè sensible et à la tendance matèrialiste dans des statues telles que 390 L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique 391 l'influence de Saint-Pierre de Rome, comme edifice unique et magnifique, dans la realisation des vues de ceux qui l'ont fondè, a dèpassè tout calcul. Le seizième siècle brille par sa trinitè de l'Art: Raphael A l'àme si belle, de Vinci à l'intelligence et au gènie lumineux comme le soleil, et Angelo à la puissance et à l'habiletè hors de pair. II n'est pas question ici d'essayer de suivre la peinture à travers les grands dèveloppements de l'idèalisme artistique dans l'art europèen de la pèriode moderne. II suffit d'avoir montrè quelles grandes pèriodes historiques ont marque les dèveloppements de l'Art comme ceux du sentiment religieux. Et, en vèritè, il faut regarder ces phases de l'Art comme portant avec elles leurs propres lacons de la philosophie de l'histoire; c'est-à-dire, qu'elles doivent pouvoir nous apprendre, moyennant chaque pèriode et chaque siècle, à interpreter le caractère et le progrès des nations. En tout ceci, il ne faut pas mèconnaìtre la relation entre l'Art et la personnalitè. La conscience artistique—la conscience de l'artiste lui-mème,— doit compter pour beaucoup plus qu'on ne l'a gènèralement admis dans l'ètude qu'on fait de son oeuvre. La libertè de l'esprit qui crèe est l'àme de l'oeuvre du veritable artiste, inspirèe comme Test cette oeuvre par le sens de la beautè esthètique. L'Art nous èlève à un monde d'idèal et de libertè, produisant en nous quelque chose de sa propre harmonie et uniformitè intèrieures. L'idèal de l'Art n'est jamais realise ni atteint: l'Art est ainsi dèsintèressè quant à la qualitè. Son motif intèrieur est cette recherche du complet, qui, en fin de compte, demande que ses creations soient des expressions sensibles conformes aux exigences de la beautè morale. Car ces idèes de beautè morale celles d'ApolIon, de Venus et de Bacchus. L'in-comparable Laocoon mèrite tous les èloges, du present comme du passè. Rome ne fut pas longue à rèaliser un compose de force ègyptienne, d'èlègance et d'adaptation grec-ques. Sans mentionner l'art ètrusque, on peut signaler des constructions romaines massives comme le Colisèe et le Pantheon, ce dernier contrastant de bien des manières avec le Parthenon de l'art grec. II faut ici mentionner l'influence importante de l'art byzantin, dont l'exemple le plus remarquable se trouve à Venise. Là, nous avons l'èglise de Saint-Marc et le palais des Doges, ce dernier appelè par Ruskin l'èdifice central du monde. II contient "les trois elements en proportions exactement ègales, le romain, le lombard et l'arabe"; mais il faut avouer que la main de la period byzantine sur le monde de l'Art a ètè quelque peu lourde. Advenant la fin de l'art ancien, le règne du système gothique commenca. Le gothique a tenu le sceptre jusqu'à l'ouverture du quinzième siècle. Les nouvelles tentatives de l'Art se firent surtout dans la peinture, bien que l'architecture fùt loin de n'en pas subir l'influence. Depuis le debut du quatorzième siècle jusqu'à la fin du quinzième, l'iconographie eut une belle pèriode de floraison. Cette èpoque fut illustrèe par Giotto, Fra Angelico, Lippi, Verrochio, Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, le Perugin, et maints autres dont les noms sont inscrits au livre de l'histoire de l'Art. C'est maintenant que nous abordons le siècle des grandes cathèdrales et des puissants artistes comme Alberti, Brunelleschi et, comme nous le verrons bientòt, Michel-Ange. Saint-Pierre de Rome, et l'Escurial dans l'art espagnol, sont des monuments de cette èpoque. La puissance et 392 L'Art, comme Etude Religieuse et Historique sont, en elles-mèmes et dans leurs relations, telles qu'en definitive les formes de la beautè ou de la representation sensible doivent y ètre conformes. Mais instinctivement l'esprit tend plus haut, et il n'est pas besoin de contraindre l'Art pour l'amour de la moralitè, ce qui serait toujours fertile en rèsultats malheureux. II y a, pour ainsi dire, un fonds de conscience morale, qui, tout en laissant l'Art libre, assure que le bien ne sera pas sacrifiè au beau. La personnalitè parfaite, comme l'art ideal, n'est pas, mais est toujours à venir, et la jouissance esthètique est ainsi faite qu'elle reflète à la fois et favorise le plein èpanouissement de la personnalitè. On pourrait signaler, comme un bel exemple de la personnalitè de l'artiste et de sa puissance de suggestion religieuse, un tableau tel que Amour et Vie, dans la galerie Tate de l'Art britannique, par Georges-Frèdèric Watts, le dernier des grands artistes de l'èpoque de Victoria. La Vie, personni-fièe par une forme feminine tremblante, est conduite dans un sentier rocailleux par l'Amour, qui nous apparalt comme un gènie au vol puissant, heureux de son immortelle jeunesse, et qui, sous ses larges ailes, abrite la Vie contre les vents du ciel, pendant qu'il verse dans son àme des paroles de joie et d'en-couragement. La morale est èvidemment, que la fragile vie humaine ne peut poursuivre avec succès son chemin vers les hauteurs sans le secours et l'encouragement de l'amour divin. James Lindsay. KlLMABNOCK, BcOSSE. LITIR Sir, Can any of the numerous readers of Guth na Bliadhna give me the other verses of the following song which I have heard attributed to Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair? They would greatly oblige by so doing. Your obedient servant, Alexander MacRae. Newer Casg ill, Winton, New Zealand. " Tha mi 'creidheamh a' Phapa, Cha dean mi aicheadh nach ann, Is gur e 'chreidheamh is fearr e, Dh' fhàg ar Slànuighear ann. 'E gun bhristeadh gun fhiaradh, Bho linn Chriosd tha e ann ; Is na h-uile neach dh'fhalbh bhuaith, Mar chaoraich fhuadain air chall." The pages of Guth na Bliadhna will be open to correspondence dealing with subjects within the scope of this Review. Whilst the greatest care will be taken of any MSS. which may be submitted for publication, the editor declines to be responsible for their accidental loss. MSS. must in all cases be accompanied with stamped and addressed envelopes. Literary communications should be addressed to— The Editor of Guth na Bliadhna, The Aberdeen University Press Ltd., Upperkirkgate, Aberdeen. Business communications should be addressed to the Managers, as above. For GOOD VALUE and PURE WINE TRY JAMES KEITH, Wine Merchant I HAMILTON, LANARKSHIRE. PURE FRENCH " CHATEAU " CLARET. 15/- per dozen. PURE HOCK. 18/- per dozen. PURE MOSELLE. 19/- per dozen? LIGHT PURE CHAMPAGNE. 62/- per dozen. Vintages, 1889 and 1893. PURE BRANDY. 66/- per dozen. PURE (1869) LIQUEUR BRANDY. 120/- per dozen. WHISKY—12 Years Old— ADVERTISES ITSELF. 44/- per dozen. (l)