JOHN CLARK,
a land-surveyor in Badenoch, the county of James Macpherson, published in 1780 a small volume of translations of ancient Gaelic poetry under the title of “Caledonian Bards.” Among other pieces is a poem entitled Mordubh, whose history is even more mysterious than that of the work of “Ossian.” The translations in this volume are the most unreadable stuff that one could imagine. Clark, and even Smith, failed to catch the secret that enabled Macpherson to pour forth his inimitable prose epics. Clark’s prose is frequently turgid nonsense, and it is rendered ridiculous by his coining of proper names out of unnatural collocations of adjectives. The “ingenious Mrs Grant of Laggan” put some of the surveyor’s poetry into verse, and thought she was handling ancient poetic material instead of eighteenth-century stuff, which might be creditable enough were it not presented to the public under a false garb. She knew the “gentleman’s character,” and “the circumstance of his father and grandfather being great Gaelic scholars and collectors, who most probably had an opportunity of obtaining such poems which were not within her reach.” The pious and honest Mrs Grant never fancied that this family of Clarks and others at that time might spin out such stuff as they palmed on the public, with or without ancient lays to help them. It is the volume of this Badenoch surveyor that finally and fully opened the eyes of the writer to the truth respecting the Ossianic productions of the last century. Clark and Kennedy were men of considerable gifts;—if they had used them with greater honesty the cause of Gaelic literature would not have been so involved in suspicion a hundred years ago. Their labours, however, have not been lost. Kennedy’s manuscript collections of poetry, safely deposited in Edinburgh, have great value, and Clark may be said to have produced a Gaelic composition of some ability. Special efforts seem to have been made to get this conglomerate of Mordubh into appreciative circulation. It imposed on Mrs Grant, as we have seen. In a stray number of the “General Chronicle” for February 1811, which the writer found in London a few years ago, [part of Mordubh], with a literal translation, is published; and the clever editor of “The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry” commenced his splendid volume with this poem of The Great-Black, with a foot-note which says: “The author of this poem, whose name is Douthal, was both a chief and a bard of great repute. The accounts which tradition gives of him are various, but the most probable makes him the Poet of Mordubh, King of the Caledonians.” This was a more ancient and illustrious ancestry for the author of the poem than the genuine producer, John Clark of Badenoch, could boast of.
The Gaelic fragment, as given in the “General Chronicle,” begins thus in Gaelic:—
A’ bheil thūs’ air sgiathan do luathas,
A ghaoth, gu triall le d’uile neart?
Thig le cairdeas a dh’ionsuidh m’aois,
Thoir scriòb eatrom thar mo chraig!
Englished in the same as follows:—
Art thou on the wings of thy swiftness,
O wind, travelling with all thy strength?
Come to my age with kindness;
Brush lightly over my rock!
John Clark was a third-rate imitator, whose imitations were almost parodies. He had neither the learning nor the genius of either Smith or Macpherson, who must henceforth be regarded as great Highland bards. These two, no doubt, caused much confusion among our heroic lays. [James Macpherson] and Dr John Smith helped to give fresh currency to many of the false etymologies and Druidical ideas that have afflicted the Gaelic world for the last century. They have mystified our Ossianic poems and ballads, as well as the pre-Christian religion of the Caledonians. They turned upside down our early history, and placed our relations to the Irish on a false basis, [creating unnecessary] antagonism between the Celts of the two countries. But honour to whom honour is due. If no James Macpherson had ever appeared, our Highland Ossian would have been as obscure, perhaps, as the extant Oisins of Ireland. In some respects he was the greatest genius that the Highlands ever produced, and ought not to be regarded with so much contemptuous indifference. He had a most peculiar gift for executing prose translation, notwithstanding the failure of his Homer. In this one respect he was much superior to Dr Smith, who, however, had the advantage of Macpherson in greater power of sweet Gaelic versification. Smith was a born poet; all his works are evidences. The two did their best to show forth the historic, linguistic, and poetic glories of the Gael and his country; so let us drop a tear on their cairns and pass on.
CHAPTER XI.
GENERAL LITERATURE.
“It is easy to disparage the study of these scanty remains of a literary language which, though it be not dead, is more of an unknown tongue to our modern men of letters than almost any other.”—Dr Joseph Anderson.
The intellectual activity created in the sixteenth century led to the formation of a new literature for the diffusion of the new learning. This literature belongs to that period in our national history when religious ferment, political and ecclesiastical change, began to operate effectually on the mind of modern Europe. The first Gaelic effort in this direction was by John Carsuel, superintendent of the diocese of Argyll, who translated and published (1567) John Knox’s Prayer-Book. The English original was printed at Edinburgh in 1565, and the Gaelic version appeared within two years after that date. It is the first Gaelic book that ever was printed either in Scotland or Ireland. Only three copies were known to exist previous to 1872; one perfect copy in possession of the Duke of Argyll, and two imperfect copies, one in the Edinburgh University Library and the other in the British Museum. In 1872 the Rev. Dr Maclauchlan made a complete transcript of the book, and a new edition was published page for page and line for line with the original. Philologists regard it as very valuable. Bishop Carsuel was a native of Kilmartin, well versed in the Gaelic language, and thoroughly acquainted with the people of the wide district of whose spiritual interests he had charge. In an address prefixed to his book he alludes to the manuscript literature then extant, “written in manuscript books in the compositions of poets and ollaves, and in the remains of learned men.” The bishop seems to have imbibed something of the earnest, critical spirit of nineteenth-century Christianity, and deserves our respect for giving us the first printed book in Gaelic.
Still it is unfortunate for Gaelic literature, though perhaps not for the Protestant religion, that he and others determined on the ruthless extinction of the popular ballads among the people. The Ursgeuls, or prose tales, were condemned even with greater emphasis. The following verses from a ballad from which an extract has been taken already will show the character of the popular literature which Carsuel did not consider edifying:—
URNUIGH OISEIN.
Oisein.
’S gann a chreideás mi do sgeul,
A chlérich leir d’ leabhar ban,
Gu’m biodh Fionn, no cho fial,
Aig duine no aig Dia an lăimh.
Pàdruig.
Ann ifrinn tha e’n laimh,
Fear le’n sath bhi bronnadh òir,
Air son a dhìmeas air Dia,
Chuir iad e’n tigh pian fo leòn.
Oisein.
Nan robh Clann-Morni a steach,
Is Clanna-Baoisgne, na fir threun,
Bheireamiad-ne Fionn a mach,
No bhiodh an teach againn féin.
Pàdruig.
Còig còigeanna na h-Eirinn ma seach,
’Sair leat-sa gu mòr am feum,
Gha tugadh sin Fionn a mach,
Ged bhiodh an teach agaibh féin.
Oisein.
Nach math an t-aite ifrin féin,
A chléirich dh’an lĕir an sgoil!
Nach go math is flaitheas Dé
Ma gheibhear innt’ féidh is coin?
Translation.
Ossian’s Prayer.
Ossian.—O clerk of the white book thy tale
From me no faith can win;
That God or man could keep in pain
The brave and generous Finn.
Patrick.—Ay, captive, he is now in hell
Who used to scatter gold;
Because he scorned to worship God
They thrust him in that hold.
O. Clan-Morni and Clan-Baoisgne brave,
If they would there resort,
Soon would we have great Finn released,
And make our own the fort.
P. Though Erin’s Clans should all unite,
A mighty host, believe,
Possessing all that place yourselves,
You could not Finn relieve.
O. But hell is not so bad a place,
Clerk, to whom school is clear?
As good as is the high heaven of God,
If there be dogs and deer?
Earnest Reformers could not regard this sort of literature as a powerful auxiliary in the recasting of a nation’s faith; so Carsuel thought the Gaelic population would benefit spiritually by the substitution of his own Gaelic liturgy for the popular songs and tales.
Ossian’s “Prayer” appears to have been treated with disparagement by the Highlanders of last century as well, especially by the “clerics,” who were such a source of annoyance to poor Ossian himself while he lived. One feels inclined to ask, after reading some of the old ballads, whether the Patrick who described all the ancient Finians as in hell, was a species of the modern Protestant, so well represented by the late valiant Dr Begg and the late Dr Cumming. Whether or not it is evident that he was a persistent Protestant against the heathenism of the Féinne, indeed quite a thorn in the side of the poor old bard. The Irish monks of later days, however, appear to have taken very kindly to the laureate of the Fingalians, and to have lopped off many of the excrescences of the faithful Patrick. Scottish ecclesiastics appropriated the new Irish versions, but pruned off the excrescences with which the Basque, or Spano-Iberian imagination of the south-west of Ireland, had clothed the simple originals. Carsuel, in the sixteenth century, under the pressure of Reformation doctrines, was the first to touch unkindly the hoary locks of the ancient bard. The Féinne and their singer, however, survived in the affections and traditions of the population, until the Gospel according to the English Puritans and our own Scottish Covenanters began to out-root entirely the semi-heathen and Finian ideals of the people. So now in many districts of the Highlands, and throughout the Islands, much to the disgust of students of folk-lore, like Campbell of Islay, the only singing you hear is, not the rehearsal of the old heroic lays or the Ossianic duans, but the Psalms of David or the hymns of Sankey. As already remarked, the “clerics” of last century treated the Ossianic compositions with as little respect as Patrick, Carsuel, or Spurgeon would. At the end of a copy of Ossian’s Prayer there is a stanza by Duncan Rioch Macnicol, who was then styled the “Modern Ossian,” very much in the fashion of our present day Gaelic bards, who dub themselves as of this or that ilk. Duncan, whose feelings towards the old bards must have been rioch enough, describes poor Ossian in the following terms, given already in the original (p. 87), in sending the copy to the Rev. Donald Macnicol, Lismore:—
To Master Donald take this story;
There he dwells beside the billow;
The prayer said by Ossian hoary,
Who was aye a worthless fellow.
The last line is a condensation—though Duncan Rioch was probably in a fit of humour, supposed to be a rare state of soul for a Highland Celt—of the Protestant or Evangelic disposition of Patrick, Carsuel, and Peter Grant. These remarks have been suggested by the specimen of Gaelic which follows. Specimens have already been given of the style of writing ancient Gaelic from the earliest period down to the beginning of the sixteenth century. To those who may have paid a little attention to them it may have been interesting to discern the gradual change which Gaelic has undergone, until we find it about 1600 beginning to take the Scottish form out of which our present standard of the Gaelic Bible has been developed:—
Gaelic Prose, 1567.
Agas is mor an doile agas an dorchadas peacaidh, agas aineolais agas indtleachda do lucht deachtaìdh agas scriobhtha agas chumdaigh na gaoidheilge, gurab mó is mian leo agas gurab mó ghnathuidheas siad eachdradha dimhaoineacha buaidheartha bregacha saoghalta do cumadh ar thuathaibh dédhanond agas air mhacaibh mileadh agas arna curadhaibh agas hind mhac cumhaill gona fhianaibh agas ar mhoran eile noch airbhim.
Translation:
And great is the blindness and sinful darkness, and ignorance, and evil design, of such as teach and write, and cultivate the Gaelic language, that, with the view of obtaining for themselves the vain rewards of this world, they are more desirous, and more accustomed, to compose vain, tempting, lying, worldly histories, concerning the Tuath de dannan, and concerning warriors and champions, and Fingal the son of Cumhal, with his heroes, and concerning many others which I will not at present enumerate.
The Highland love of Paganism was destined to flourish down to our own time, a Stornoway woman having been seen worshipping the moon as recently as the beginning of the present century, the parish minister of Uig at the time being the witness.
In his Hibbert Lectures (1888) Professor Rhys says—“It is worthy of note that this kind of Paganism died hard in the islands on the Armoric coast; in fact it lasted, in spite of Church and State, down to the time of the Norsemen’s ravages.” Fifteen centuries of vigorous Christianity have not yet extirpated the serpent of superstition in the British Islands.
After the publication of Carsuel’s Book of Prayers, which led the way, the only species of literature that the press helped to diffuse for more than a century was of an ecclesiastical or religious character. In the seventeenth century appeared a translation of Calvin’s Catechism, “Faoseid Eoin Stiubhairt,” the Synod of Argyll’s translation of the Psalter, the Confession of Faith in the eighteenth century, followed by catechisms and summaries of Christian doctrine. Endeavours were made to awaken the people out of the spiritual lethargy induced by the age of inaction which preceded the Reformation era. The only successful way to reach the heart of the people was felt to be through the medium of their native tongue. Towards the close of the last century, for this end, translations of all sorts of religious works became numerous, even Roman Catholic Highlanders having a bulky volume of a summary of Christian doctrine translated for their use.
During this time the Highlanders had no version of the Scriptures in [their own tongue], Welshmen and Irishmen being favoured earlier than they in this respect. The first portion translated was the Psalter by the Synod of Argyll in 1659. The Bible was not much known in the north-west at this period. A few individuals possessed the Irish version, but this was never much in practical use. Preachers used the English Bible, of which they gave their own extemporaneous translation as they went along. A good specimen of written Gaelic towards the end of the seventeenth century will be found in the Rev. Robert Kirk’s preface to his metrical version of the Book of Psalms. To the ordinary reader it is hardly distinguishable from the Irish of the same period. The Highlander will be glad to have an opportunity of reading in his own language such an eloquent encomium on the Psalms which he prizes so so dearly.
Gaelic Prose, 1684.
Ataid na Psalma taitneamhach, tarbhach: beag nach mion-fhlaitheas làn dainglibh, Cill fhonn-mhar, le ceol naomhtha. Mur abholghort Eden, lionta do chrannaibh brioghmhoire-na beatha, agus do luibhennibh iocshlainteamhail, amhluidh an leabhar Psalmso Dhaibhioth, a ta na liaghais air uile anshocair na nanma. Ata an saoghail agus gach beò chreatair da bfuil an, na chlarsigh; an duine se is Chlairseoir agus duanaire, chum moladh an mor-Dhia mirbhuileach do chein; agus ata Daibhidh do gná mar fhear don chuideachd bhias marso ag caoin-chaint gu ceolmhar ma nard-Rí.
English:
The Psalms are pleasant and profitable. A church resounding with sacred melody is almost a little Heaven full of angels. As the Garden of Eden, replenished with trees of life of potent efficacy and with medicinal plants, so is this Book of Psalms of David, which contains a remedy of all the diseases of the soul. The world and every living creature it contains are the Harp; Man is the Harper and Poet, who sings the praise of the great wonder-working God; and David is ever one of the company who are thus employed in sweetly and tunefully discoursing about the Almighty King.
The Highland clergy at this time were, as a class, fairly well-educated. This will be seen in the accounts of English travellers who now began to take tours to the Celtic north-west. In earlier times the intercourse between the Highlands and the great world beyond was greater than in the seventeenth century. Before the seats of government were all removed from the districts of the Gael further south, the communication with Ireland and the Continent of Europe in the north and in France was considerable. Till the days of Queen Elizabeth relations were fitfully sustained between the insular court of the Princedom of the Isles and the English Court. It was during the seventeenth century that the Gaelic regions became a very terra incognita to South Britain. Now a learned and sympathetic visitor arrived, from whose pages we get glimpses of the state of learning and culture among the Gaels.
It is a Welshman, Professor Rhys of Oxford, that has given us the best work on Celtic philology and Celtic paganism, in the present day; and it was a Welshman that wrote the best book on the same subjects upwards of 200 years ago. Edward Lhuyd’s great work on Celtic scholarship appeared in 1707. The title runs thus:—“Archæologica Britannica, giving some account, additional to what has been hitherto published, of the Languages, Histories, and Customs of the Original Inhabitants of Great Britain, from collections and observations in travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland, and Scotland. By Edward Lhuyd, M.A. of Jesus College, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Oxford: Printed at the Theater for the author, MDCCVII.” Were the matter within the bounds of the 460 folio pages of this handsome volume printed in the style in which books are now generally published it would make three or four very considerable volumes. At the beginning of an appendix the following note occurs: “Having since the printing this Irish dictionary sent copies to Ireland and Scotland in order to have it improved, the following supplement consists chiefly of some notes returned thence by two gentlemen well known to be able scholars and masters of that language.” It is in connection with these “copies,” I suppose, that the poetical complimentary verses inserted at the beginning of the volume were sent to the author. These verses were written in Latin, Gaelic, and Welsh. Two or three Latin ones and four in Gaelic are sent from the Highlands. The character of this great work may be gathered from the titles of the several departments: Comparative Etymology, 40 pp.; A Comparative Vocabulary [of the Original] Languages of Britain and Ireland, 130 pp.; An Armoric Grammar and Vocabulary, 33 pp.; Some Welsh Words, A Cornish Grammar, British MSS., and a British Etymologican, 86 pp.; A Brief Introduction to the Irish or Ancient Scottish Language, and Foclair Gaoidheilge-Shasonach no Bearladoir Scot-Sagsamhuil; An Irish-English Dictionary, 136 pp.; two pp. describing Gaelic MSS., and An Index. In the preface he proceeds to explain what induced him “to an undertaking so laborious, so little diverting, and so much out of the common road.”
It is interesting to note how this laborious Oxford student met the prejudices of the day. The undertaking “proceeded not from any conceited opinion, as some might be apt to imagine, of the plausibleness of these languages. Most of us commonly hear or read too much to be ignorant that the generality of people are rather disposed to a ridiculing than a favourable reception of anything in that kind. This did not, I own, in the least discourage me, as well knowing that the same prejudice in the like case prevails in all other great governments, and that in any uncommon undertaking the judgment of men of distinction (or at least particular experience in the subject proposed), is to be only regarded. The inducement I had was no other than a seeming probability that such an essay might in this curious age contribute not a little towards a clearer notion of the first planters of the three kingdoms, and a better understanding of our ancient names of persons and places.” No grammar of the Scottish Gaelic appeared up to the time of Lhuyd; but he speaks of “a Scotish gentleman who had some thoughts of publishing” one. It would be interesting to know who this gentleman was; perhaps he was one of those who sent the poetical addresses to Lhuyd.
In connection with this great work Lhuyd experienced the same discouragements which often beset similar works of learning. He was told by some considerate critic that his volume would meet with but a cold reception; for it consisted “only of etymology and Welsh and Irish vocabularies.” The critic exclaims, “Now there are not half a dozen or half a score in the kingdom that are curious in that way. The world expected, according to his promise and undertaking, a natural history, which is a study of established request, and that a great many are curious in.” But Lhuyd has in the published list the names of two hundred lords, knights, and gentlemen of learning and distinction belonging to England alone. This was something to begin with for such a work, and must have been rather a disconcerting refutation of the critic’s remark about “half a dozen” readers. It is quite possible that this complaining critic looked forward to an interesting dissertation on the strange human animals that inhabited in those days Lorn, Mull, and Islay, and other Celtic parts. He and others could scarcely realise to themselves that the Celtic barbarians who dwelt in those distant regions could write and talk good English; and in their leisure hours exercised themselves in the composition of Latin verse or Gaelic poetry.
Lhuyd was accompanied everywhere on his travels by David Parry, A.B. of Jesus College, Oxford, who wrote a small section of the work. It is a very interesting picture that the travels of these learned Oxonians in the Highlands suggest seventy or eighty years before the mighty Johnson visited the Western Isles, which in earlier ages were so well known throughout the ecclesiastical world. Here is a specimen of Latin verse from the pen of a Highland minister two hundred years ago:—
IN EDV. LUIDI GLOSSOGRAPHIAM.
Quid si reversus spiritus afforet
Jam Buchanani, nobile callidi
Tentare plectrum, pristinumque
Officium renovare chordis?
Antiqua tellus, dic, age, Scotia,
Quem destinares Tu, facili Virum
Ornare versu; quem parares
Non humili celebrare cantu?
Luidus priorum qui Britonum decus,
Poscit Camœnas; pulvere sen diu
Fœdata purgator reponat,
In superam referatque lucem.
Sive Ille morsu temporis improbo
Exesa fida restituat manu,
Atque acer Interpus recudat
In veniens renovata sæclum.
Sive Ille vocum exquirere origines
Longo recursu gestiat, et suo
A fonte deducat, redire
Ad veterem faciatque ritum.
Quamvis dolendo pressa silentio
Jam Buchanani conticeat lyra,
Stat fama Luido, vendicantque
Perpetuam sibi scripta laudem.
Andreas Frazier, Eccl. Scot. Presb.
Another poetical address is sent from the romantic district of North Argyll, where many of the deeds recorded in the ancient ballads took place, and where, no doubt, the distinguished Cymric scholar received hearty Highland hospitality from Colin Campbell, pastor of Ardchattan. The conclusion runs as follows:—
Restituit Scotis sublapsa; caduca Britannis;
Celtis et Pictis deperdita. Cornubiensis
Cantaber, et Scotus quam linquam agnoscit uterque,
Comparat: Affinis sensus hacarte resolvens,
Et renovat surdis aures et lumina cæcis.
Linguas prisca loqui, cogit dum vera fateri,
Literulis larvas fucos dum vocibus aufert,
Hispanum Scotum de divisâ stirpe, Britannum
Historiæ ut taceant, statuit; sermonis amussi
Albanii metas Bretonis Cambrique resignans.
Primus enim Cephilos Scotus, Pephilosque Britannos,
Nosque notas Britonum sib’lasse ostendit anhelas.
Mille alia invenit doctis celebranda Camænis:
Cedite Banniades: Non vestra cupressus erica.
Amicitiæ et gratitudinis ergô
Collinus Campbell, Ardchattanus Pastor, Lornensis.
The Gaelic addresses are highly interesting to the philologist, as showing Scottish Gaelic in a transition state. At the period of Lhuyd’s visit to the Highlands and Isles, and down to the middle of last century, the Highland clergyman wrote either in Latin or Gaelic. It was at that time, also, that the Scottish Gael began to depart from the old style of Gaelic writing and orthography. This departure might have been dictated to some extent by a Protestant feeling, but was mainly caused by the desire to make the orthography exactly expressive of the popular speech. The difference between the Irish and Scottish dialects was rendered greater by the change. Highland clergymen of that period being of the better families throughout the country, were generally well-educated gentlemen. Even generations after, we find more literary talent than can be found in many places to-day.
A glimpse of the state of the country after the gory struggle which ended on Culloden Moor shows a far higher state of literary culture than an outsider would readily believe possible in the circumstances. The Ossianic controversy which subsequently arose brought forward the names of many clergymen who during the last half of the eighteenth century were a credit to their country. Such men were the Rev. James Calder and the Rev. Dr Alexander Fraser, in the north-east; the Rev. Thomas Ross of Lochbroom, the Rev. Mr Macqueen of Kilmuir, in Skye, and the Rev. Dr Macpherson of Sleat, in the north-west; the Rev. Dr John Macarthur of Mull, the Rev. Dr Macnicol of Lismore, Johnson’s formidable opponent, the Rev. Mr Woodrow of Islay, and the Rev. Dr John Smith of Campbeltown, with his accomplished brother, Dr Donald Smith, in the south-west; the MacLaurins of Cowal, the distinguished divine and the professor of mathematics, the Stewarts, translators of the Bible, Professor Adam Ferguson of Edinburgh, and Professor Macleod of Glasgow, the Rev. Dr Macintyre of Glenorchay, Dr Grahame of Aberfoyle, and the Rev. Messrs Macdiarmid, Gallie, and Maclagan, in the central Highlands. The atmosphere in which such men breathed—and they were scattered throughout all parts of the Highlands—could not be altogether one of ignorance; and the large mass of the people were, no doubt, largely benefited by the culture of and intercourse with their clerical superiors.
Dr Samuel Johnson, notwithstanding many surly prepossessions, besought, with that good broad honesty of his nature, such educated Highlanders and Irishmen to furnish the world with correct information regarding their language and literature. All English readers know of his tour to the Hebrides, whither he journeyed more than a century ago, in those days of difficult travelling, to judge for himself concerning the people among whom appeared so remarkable a poet as Ossian. He did not visit Ireland, but early in life he corresponded with an accomplished Irish gentleman, Mr Charles O’Connor of Ballinegare, Roscommon, in relation to Irish literature. In his first letter, April 9, 1737, he says:—“Sir William Temple complains that Ireland is less known than any other country as to its ancient state. The natives have had little leisure and little encouragement for inquiry, and strangers, not knowing the language, have had no ability. I have long wished that Irish literature were cultivated. Ireland is known by tradition to have been once the seat of piety and learning, and surely it would be very acceptable to all those who are curious, either in the original of nations, or the affinities of languages, to be further informed of the revolutions of a people so ancient, and once so illustrious.” He hopes O’Connor will continue his Irish studies, and speaks of the great pleasure he has in hearing of the progress of his undertaking. Twenty-two years afterwards Johnson renews the correspondence, and complains of O’Connor disappointing him:—“I expected great discoveries in Irish antiquities, and large publications in the Irish language, but the world still remains as it was—doubtful and ignorant. What the Irish language is in itself, and to what languages it has affinity, are very interesting questions, which every man wishes to see resolved that has any philological or historical curiosity. Dr Leland begins his history too late; the ages that deserve an exact inquiry are those times (for such they were) when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet habitation of sanctity and literature. If you could give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify knowledge with new views and new objects. Set about it, therefore, if you can; do what you can easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity.” This is a very interesting and remarkable letter, and exhibits Johnson as entirely free from the vulgar anti-Celtic prejudices which long obtained in many quarters after his day. It pointed to the lines of study which the Celtic student should follow. But both Irish and Highland scholars failed to comply with the lexicographer’s wishes. Philology did not then exist, and accurate philosophical histories had not then made much progress. Celtic scholars travelled to Spain and Egypt and other places in the East for the cradle in which the first pure Gaelic baby was rocked; linguistic affinities were sought in Hebrew and Arabic; while Gaelic or Celtic was sometimes declared to be the mother of all languages. This race of Gaelic Orientals continued to exist till recently, if indeed it is even now wholly extinct. The Irish, however, at last have abundantly shown the great extent of literature, manuscript and printed, which is enshrined in their language. The recent works of learned Irishmen are evidence that the interest is not abating in Irish literature. While it is admitted that the Irish Gael is in possession of some literature, it is yet denied that the Scottish Gael has any literary remains to show. And indeed, looking at the barrenness of the Highland hills, and the bareness of the Highland glens, the stranger from the sunnier South is apt to think that no literature could flourish on so sterile a soil. The lakes and straths, swept by the fresh breezes, he feels too coldly uncongenial—too frigid a home for the cultivation of letters—too dreary a land for the muses to dwell in. Men of stout arms and lion hearts have issued from these regions. That fact is recognised. But it is not well known that also there, far from what have hitherto been regarded as the great civilising centres, letters and knowledge have had for ages their sacred precincts and earnest votaries. Unpromising though the Highlands look to the literary eye, yet we find that even Dr Samuel Johnson, no lover of either Celts or Scotsmen, touches with pathetic beauty in two or three sentences written upwards of a century ago, on the conditions under which, even in the heart of the Highlands and Isles, in times of old, the production of Gaelic literature was possible: “We are now treading that illustrious island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion. Far from me and from my friends be such a frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is not to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.” Dr Macculloch, again, speaks of our country as owing a “deep debt of civilisation, of letters, and of religion” to the same place. From that little isle, lying grandly with its white brows of sand on the bosom of the mighty Atlantic, learned men went forth twelve and thirteen hundred years ago to Ireland, to England, and to many places on the Continent of Europe, to found colleges and establish churches. Adamnan and Bede testify that at that period Gaelic and Latin learning was cultivated in “the Celtic colleges of Iona, Oransay, Ardchattan, Uist, Rowdill, and Melrose,” and then and subsequently also in a score of other academic centres of Gaelic learning and activity.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century, when translations of Gaelic poetry brought the genius of the Celtic spirit in contact with the intellectual forces of modern Europe, many who hitherto despised our Gaelic literature, began to look into this neglected field. Lord Bute, a Scot, with Gaelic sympathies, was Prime Minister then. The extract to be immediately given from a letter by the distinguished Lord Bannatyne, who, as Sheriff of Bute, and subsequently as Judge on Circuit at Inveraray, became interested in Gaelic manuscripts, will show the attention bestowed on the subject by men of position. Lord Bannatyne used his influence to get the valuable Gaelic manuscripts of Major Maclachlan of Kilbride in Argyllshire transferred to the Highland Society, and in writing on the subject says:—“The result, you know, was, that by means of the Rev. Francis Stuart, minister of Craignish, I obtained confirmation of the fact that his family had once possessed a very large collection, of which he had given two or three to General Sir Adolphus Oughton and the late Sir James Foulis, both of whom were Gaelic scholars, and that there still remained above twenty in his possession.” Elsewhere we come across these and other titled gentlemen acquiring knowledge of Gaelic over a hundred years ago. It was the Earl of Eglintoun, with the approbation of Boswell and Johnson, that inspired the publication of the Gaelic Analysis by Shaw, who describes the acquisition of the language late in life by Sir James Foulis in the following terms:—“who, late in advanced years, has learned to read and write it, and now drinks of the Pierian spring untainted by reading fragments of poetry in Fingal’s own language.” Shaw was delighted with the patronage which his aristocratic friends bestowed on Gaelic. The following verses, translated by Sir James, found a place in his Grammar:—
CLAIDHEAMH GUTH-ULLIN, OR
The SWORD of GUCHULLIN.
Chuir e an claidheamh, fada, fiorchruaidh,
Fulanach, tean, tainic, geur,
’So chean air a chuir ann gu socair,
Mar chuis mholta gan dochair lein,
’Se gu dirach, diasadach, dubh-ghorm,
’Se cultuidh, cumtadh, conolach,
Go leathan, liobhadh, liobharadh,
Go socair, sasdadh, so-bhuailte,
Air laimh-chli a’ ghaisgaich;
Gur aisaiche do naimhdan a sheachnadh,
No tachairt ris ’san am sin;
Cho bu lughe no cnoc sleibh,
Gach ceum a dheanadh an gaisgach.
Translation by Sir James Foulis, Baronet.
He seized his sword, thick, broad, and long,
Well-forged, well-hammered, tempered strong,
Polished, of purest metal made,
Like lightning blazed the shining blade;
Jagged like a saw, it tore and hewed,
Inured to slaughter, blood-embrued;
Dire horror, and destructive fate,
On the full age attentive wait;
’Twas certain death its stroke to feel;
Strength-withering, life-devouring steel,
Even valiant foes, struck at the sight,
Durst hope no safety [but by flight];
Their ranks wide-scattering all abroad
From hill to hill the hero strode.
CHAPTER XII.
SACRED BARDS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
“Land where Religion paves her heavenward road!
Land of the temple of the living God!
Yet, dear to feeling, Scotland, as thou art,
Shouldst thou that temple e’er desert,
I would disclaim thee, seek the distant shore
Of Christian isle, and thence return no more.”
The subject of the ancient hymns and religious poetry of the ancient Gaels was discussed in earlier chapters, as also the religious compositions of mediæval times. After the stormy era of the Reformation and the Jacobite period, the sacred muse of the Highlands began to make her voice heard once more. The sacred bards of the Early and Mediæval times have thus received attention; it now remains to treat of those of Modern days. The light of the Reformation movement failed for some generations to reach the masses of the people in many districts of the Highlands. The hindrances were many: the want of suitable earnest pastors, and the large extent of the districts assigned to each. It ought also to be remembered that the complete translation of the Bible into Gaelic is not yet a century old; and even although there had been a translation earlier there were not many who were able to read it. The Highlanders then were also in the first stages of a transition state. They felt the system of clanship crumbling under their feet. Quarrels were easily fomented. The strong and sagacious took advantage of the times, and took care to adjust themselves to the developing circumstances of the future. Jacobitism found a strong-hold in the Highlands, not because the people were Papists or religiously indifferent or fervent lovers of the Stuarts, but because they had a strong sense of justice and loyalty, sore as they had frequently suffered for their fidelity. Jacobite adventurers regarded the Highlands and Islands as a suitable field for their treasonable operations—isolated from the mighty stirring current of the kindling spirit of the times—a spirit that began to question the right divine of kings to govern wrong. The conflict between the enlightened Protestant mind and the enslaving spirit of Jacobitism came to an end on Culloden Moor. Many of the Highlanders forsook the Stuart cause earlier. Argyllshire in the west, and almost whole counties in the north and north-east, did not either stir for Prince Charles or espoused the opposite side. Evangelical religion had turned the current of the people’s thoughts in those districts. Especially was this the case in the north, where able and godly ministers—some of them Lowland ministers, who found asylum there from persecution—brought back the clans to the knowledge of the true religion.
Yet even in the north there were many inaccessible glens and corners where many—often desperate men—made for themselves a home, and where they lived in a state of heathenism. And in this state they continued almost down to our own time. Uncomplimentary as they were in many respects to the religious character of his countrymen, there is no doubt the following lines were very applicable last century. The author—Dr Macgregor, the Gaelic apostle of Nova Scotia—laments that the Highlanders were ignorant and blind, and that learning was rare among them:—
“Bha na Gaidhil ro aineolach dhall,
Bha ionnsachadh gann nam measg:
Bha ’n eòlas co tana ’s co mall,
’S nach b’aithne dhaibh ’n call a mheas.
’Se b’annsa leo ’n arigiod ’s an òr
A chaitheadh go gòrach truagh,
Ri amaideachd, òranaibh, ’s òl,
Ri bannsaibh, ’s ri ceòl da’n cluais.”
This description of Macgregor was perfectly true, and applicable to the Highlanders at the close of the great Jacobite struggle—so absorbed were Highland energies with the social and political enterprises of that disastrous period that the education and religious training of the people were quite neglected. At the same time there were many quiet corners north and south in which the Gospel muse found an asylum, and one of these we find in Glendaruel, Argyllshire, a spot closely associated with the early Celtic romances and our ancient Gaelic manuscripts.