SOUNDS OF THE LANGUAGE.
1. The initial consonants are not affected to the same extent as in Irish and Welsh; and in pure Scotch Gaelic the eclipsis is unknown, except in the case of the letter S.
The following table will show their relative position in this respect:—
TABLE SHOWING THE CHANGE IN THE INITIAL CONSONANT IN
WELSH, IRISH, AND SCOTCH GAELIC.
| Initial | Welsh. | Irish. | Scotch Gaelic. | ||||
| Consonants. | Eclipsis. | Aspiration. | Nasal. | Eclipsis. | Aspiration. | Eclipsis. | Aspiration. |
| P | B | Ph | Mh | B | Ph | Ph | |
| C | G | Ch | Ngh | G | Ch | W | Ch |
| T | D | Th | Nh | D | Th | a | Th |
| B | M | Bh or F | M | Bh | n | Bh | |
| G | NG | — | NG | Gh | t | Gh | |
| D | N | Dd or Dh | N | Dh | i | Dh | |
| Ll | L | L | n | L | |||
| M | Mh or F | Mh | g | Mh | |||
| Rh | R | R | . | R | |||
| F | Bh | Fh | Fh | ||||
| S | T | Sh | T | Sh | |||
2. In Irish, words beginning with A may take the digamma F, as aill, faill, a rock; ata, fata, a plain; iolair, fiolair, an eagle, etc. The digamma never appears in Scotch Gaelic.
3. The vowel sounds O and U in Irish, pass into A in Scotch Gaelic; as, oir, Ir., air, Sc. G.; og, Ir., ag, Sc. G.; ugadh, Ir., achadh, Sc. G.; chuaidh, Ir., chaidh, Sc. G.
4. The vowel at the end of nouns in Irish, is dropped in Scotch Gaelic; as, tigherna, Ir., tighearn, Sc. G.
5. In the consonants the older form is often retained in Scotch Gaelic; thus, the initial S in Irish, is often D in Scotch Gaelic, which is the older form, as suil, Ir., duil, Sc. G.,—hope. S is sometimes changed to P, as siuthar, Ir., piuthar, Sc. G.,—sister.
6. The accentuation in Scotch Gaelic in dissyllables is on the first syllable; in Irish, on the last.
Grammar.
1. Article.
The genitive plural before a labial is nam.
2. Noun.
The nominative plural frequently ends like Welsh and Manx in an; as, Slatan, rods; Maithean, chiefs.
3. Verbs.
The analytic form is alone used, there being no inflections for persons or numbers.
The Irish present is used as the future, and there is no present tense.[279]
The past-participle is invariably te hard, and is not varied as in Irish.
There are no consuetudinary tenses.
4. Adverb.
The negative is Cha, instead of Ni, in Irish.
Vocabulary.
There is a considerable difference in the vocabulary words being now used in Irish, which are unknown in Scotch Gaelic, and vice versa, and a comparison of the lists of idiomatic phrases in Irish or Scotch Gaelic shows a very great difference in the mode of expressing familiar phrases.[280]
(Introduction, [p. lxxxiv].)
The Welsh poem alluded to is contained in the Welsh Archæology, vol. i. p. 168. The text is, however, very corrupt. It has been translated by Mr. Stephen in the Archæologia Cambrensis, new Series, vol. ii. p. 150, who did not, however, see its real character, and very strangely supposes it to refer to the actions of Cuichelm, one of the West Saxon kings, who died in 636, and whom he identifies with the Chocholyn of the poem, while of Corroi, son of Dairy, he can give no account.
The poem is in reality an Ossianic poem referring to the death of Curoi, son of Daire, by Cuchullin, the celebrated Fenian hero of Ulster.
Keating gives the following account of the death of Curoi:—“The heroes of the red branch united to plunder an island near Alban, called Manann, where there was a great quantity of gold, silver, jewels, and many other valuable articles, and a lovely marriageable young lady, who surpassed all the women of her time in exquisite figure and beauty, the daughter of the governor of the island, and her name was Blanaid. When Curigh was informed that the heroes were setting out on this expedition, he transformed himself by magic into a disguised shape, and joined the party; but when they were on the point of plundering the island, disguised like jugglers, they judged that there would be great difficulty in taking the fortress in the island, in which were secured Blanaid and the valuable treasures of the whole island, on account of its strength and the number of men who defended it. Then Curigh, who was attired in a coarse grey habit, engaged, if he were to get his choice of the treasures, that he would himself take possession of the fort. Cuchullin promises this, and immediately they attacked the castle with the man in the grey habit at their head, who stopped the motion of an enchanted wheel that was placed at the castle gate, and let in all the troops, by whom the fortress was sacked, and Blanaid and all the treasure borne away. They then set out for Ireland, and arrived at Evan; and on dividing the treasure, the man in the grey habit demands his choice of the jewels, as was promised to him. ’You shall have it,’ says Cuchullin. ’Well, then,’ says he, ’Blanaid is the jewel I choose,’ ’Take your choice of all the jewels except Blanaid alone,’ replies Cuchullin. ’I will not exchange her,’ says Curigh, and thereupon he seeks to carry her off by force; and having surprised her unperceived, took her away concealed under an enchanted mask. When Cuchullin perceived that the lady was missing, he suspected that it was Curigh that stole her off, and pursued them directly to Munster, and overtook them at Sulchoid. The champions engage, and a brave and well-fought contest ensues; but at length Cuchullin was overcome by Curigh, who tied him neck and heels, and left him shackled like a captive, after cutting off his hair with his sword, and then carried away Blanaid into the west of Munster. Then, however, came up Laogh mac Riain of Gabhra, and unbound Cuchullin, and they set out for the north of Ulster, where they resided near the peaks of Boirche for the space of a year, without appearing in the Council of Ulster, until Cuchullin’s hair grew again; and at the expiration of the year, happening to be on the peaks of Boirche, he saw a great flight of birds coming on the sea to the north, and on their landing upon the shore, he pursues them, and by a feat called Taveim, killed one of them with his sling in every district he passed through, until the last of them fell at Sruv Bron, in the west of Munster. On his return from the west, he found Blanaid in solitude near the Finglass, in Kerry, where Curigh had a palace at that time. A conversation ensued between them, in which she declared to him that there was not on the face of the earth a man she loved more, and entreated him to come near Allhallow tide with an armed band, and carry her off with him by force; and that he might the more easily accomplish his design, she would take care that Curigh should, at that time, have but few soldiers or attendants. Cuchullin promises to come to her at the appointed time, and then takes his leave, and sets out for Ulster, and relates the adventure to Choncubar.
In the meantime Blanaid told Curigh that he ought to erect a palace for himself that should exceed all the royal palaces in the kingdom, and that he might do so by sending the Clanna Deaguid to gather and collect all the large upright stones in the kingdom to form this palace. Blanaid’s reason for this was, that the Clanna Deaguid might be dispersed in distant parts of Ireland, far from Curigh, at the time that Cuchullin should come to carry her off. Cuchullin, being informed that the Clanna Deaguid were scattered over the kingdom, sets out privately, and soon arrived at a wood near the seat of Curigh, and sends secretly to inform Blanaid of his arrival with a large body of troops along with him. She sends him word that she would steal Curigh’s sword; and then, as a sign of attack, that she would spill a large vessel of new milk that was in the house into the rivulet which flowed from the castle through the wood where Cuchullin was concealed. Having heard this, in a short time he perceived the stream white with the milk, when, sallying out, they forced into the palace, and slew Curigh, who was alone and unarmed, and took Blanaid away with them to Ulster.”
WELSH POEM.
MARWNAD CORROI MAB DAIRY.
Dy ffynhawn lydan dyleinw aches Dyddaw dyhepcyr dybris dybrys Marwnad Corroy am Cyffroes.
Ordyviwr garw ei anwydeu A oedd mwy ei ddrwg nis mawr gigleu Mab Dairy dalei lyw ar for deheu Dathl oedd ei glod cyn noi adneu.
Dy ffynhawn lydan deleinw nonneu Dyddaw dyhepcyr dybrys dybreu Marwnad Corroy genhyf inheu.
Dy ffynhawn lydan dyleinw dyllyr Dy saeth dychyrch draetb diwg dybyr Gwr a werescyn mawr ei faranrhes.
(Line wanting.)
A wedy mynaw myned trefydd A ant wy ffres ffra wynyonydd Tra fu vuddugre vore ddugrawr Chwedleu amgwyddir o wir hyd law Cyfranc Corroy a Chocholyn.
Lliaws eu terfysg am eu terfyn Tarddei pen amwern gwerin goadd fwyn Caer y su gulwydd ni gwydd ni gryn Gwyn ai fyd yr enaid ui harobryn.
TRANSLATION.
THE DEATH-SONG OF CORROY, SON OF DAIRY.
I. Thy large fountain fills the river, Thy coming will make thy value of little worth, The death-song of Corroy agitates me.
II. If the warrior will come, rough his temper. And his evil was greater than its renown was great, To seize the son of Dairy, lord of the Southern Sea. Celebrated was his praise before she was intrusted to him.
III. Thy large fountain fills the stream. Thy coming will cause saddling without haste. The death-song of Corroi is with me now.
IV. Thy large fountain fills the deep; Thy arrows traverse the strand, not frowning or depressed. The warrior conquers, great his rank of soldiers,
(Line wanting.)
And after penetrating, enters the towns, And . . . the pure stream was promptly whitened. Whilst the victorious one in the morning heaps carnage, Tales will be known to me from the sky to earth, Of the encounter of Corroi and Chocholyn. Numerous their tumults about their borders, Springs the chief o’er the surrounding mead of the somewhat gentle wood. A city there was, love—diffusing, not paling, not trembling. Happy is he whose soul is rewarded.
The allusions in this poem are to Cuchullin’s expedition to attack Curroi, to Blanaid’s giving the signal by filling the stream with milk from a large vessel, and to the encounter between Curroi and Cuchullin, in which the former fell.
It may not be out of place to insert here a few stanzas of an old Manx historical poem, written between 1504 and 1522, to show the relation of the Manx orthography to the Welsh and to that of the Dean of the same age.
I. Dy neaishtagh shin aghrish my skeayll As dy ving lhielu ayns my chant Myr share dy voddyms lesh my veeal, Yinnin diu geill da ’n Ellan Sheeant.
II. Quoi yn chied er ec row rieau ee Ny kys eisht myr haghyr da Ny kys hug Parick ayns Creestiaght Ny kys myr haink ee gys Stanlaa.
III. Manannan beg va Mac y Leirr, Shen yn chied er ec row rieau ee, Agh myr share oddyms cur my ner, Cea row eh hene agh an chreestee.
TRANSLATION.
If you would listen to my story, I will pronounce my chant As best I can. I will with my mouth Give you notice of the Holy Island; Who he was that had it first, And then what happened to him; And how Patrick brought in Christianity, And how it came to Stanley. Manannan beg was son of Leirr, He was the first that ever had it; But as I can best conceive, He himself was not a Christian.
Poems, [p. 3].
This poem has a strong resemblance in its character and sentiment to the oldest poems in the Cymmrian dialect.
The oldest known poem in this dialect which has been preserved in its original orthography is a short poem of three stanzas, written in the Irish character in a parchment MS. at Cambridge, containing a paraphrase of the Gospels by Iuvencus, a Latin poet. The writing of this MS. is anterior to the year 700.
The poem is as follows:—
I. Ni guorcosam nemheunaur henoid, Mi telu nit gurmaur. Mi am franc dam an calaur.
II. Ni canu ni guardam ni cusam henoid, Cet iben med nouel Mi am franc dam an patel.
III. Na mereit im nepleguenit henoid Is diszur mi coueidid Donn am riceur im guetid.
It is the song of a warrior mourning his fate and his solitude, and may be thus translated:—
Neither repose nor sleep for me this night, My house is no longer great. For me and my servant no caldron more, No songs, no smiles, no kisses this night, As when I drank the fortifying mead. For me and my servant no goblet more, No longer joy for me this night. My supporter is discouraged; No one aids me in my distress.
The Irish character, in which this poem is written, is of the eighth century, and Villemarqué has remarked upon its resemblance in sentiment and character to a poem of Llywarch Hen, a Cumbrian bard of the sixth or seventh century, whose poems are universally admitted to be genuine, the orthography of which is much more modern. The poem is in triplets, the first line also ending with “heno,” and a single stanza or two will show the resemblance:—
Y stafel Kyndylan nis esmwyth-heno Ar benn karec Hydwyth Heb ner, Heb nifer, Heb ammwyth.
Istafel kyndylan ys tywyll—heno Heb dan, Heb gerddau Dygystudd deurudd dagrau.
The following are a few of the verses:—
The hall of Kyndylan is not joyous this night, On the top of the rock of Hydwyth, Without its lord, without company, without feasts. The hall of Kyndylan is gloomy this night, Without fire, without songs, Tears afflict the cheeks.
The poem, attributed to Ossian in the Dean’s MS., is of the same character:—
Long are the clouds this night above me; The last was a long night to me. This day, although I find it long, Yesterday was longer still.
Poem, [p. 4].
This is a well-known poem, termed Sliabh nam ban Fionn. A copy almost identic with this is published by the Ossianic Society of Dublin in their sixth volume, and a comparison of the first stanza with that of the Dean will show the relation the orthography of it bears to his:—
DEAN. La zay deacha finn mo rayth Di helg er sleyve ny ban finn Tri meillith wathyon ny wayn Ne zeaath skaow vass in ginn.
IRISH. La da n-deachaidh Fionn na bhfiann Do sheilg ar shliabh na m-ban fionn Tri mhile do mhaithibh na bhfiann Sul n-deachaidh grian os ar g-cionn.
It will be observed that the Irish eclipsis is only partially recognised by the Dean.
There is a copy of this poem in Kennedy’s Collection, p. 29.
The number of verses is the same, but some variation occurs in the reading of several of them.
Dr. Smith remarks, in the Highland Society’s Report, that an edition of this poem, under the title of La mor Seilg na Feinne, occurs in the oral recitations communicated by the Rev. Francis Stewart of Craignish, and another was written from memory by Archibald M’Callum.
Poem, [p. 20].
The King of Sorcha is here opposed to the daughter of the King of the Tir fo thuinn, or land beneath the waves; and in this respect it resembles the Welsh poems, where the King of Annwn and his daughter play so great a part.
Sorcha is light, in opposition to Dorcha, dark; and there seems to be a poetic contrast between the kingdom of light and the kingdom under the waves.
Historically the land under the waves was the low-lying coast of Holland and Germany, extending from the Rhine to the Elbe.
Dr. Smith remarks that this poem differs little from Kennedy’s and other oral editions in the possession of the Society.
Poem, [p. 26].
There is an edition of this poem in one of M’Vurich’s MSS. in the collection deposited in the Faculty Library. The language is more Irish than the Dean’s. The first verse may be given for the purpose of comparison:—
DEAN. Sai la guss in dei Oy nach vaga mai finn Chanaka rem rai Sai boo yar lym.
M’VURICH. Se la gus an de Nach faca me fionn Ni fhaca re mo re Se budh faide leam.
It will be observed that the Dean uses the Scotch negative Cha, while M’Vurich has the Irish Ni.
Poem, [p. 30].
Dr. Smith states that this poem corresponds in a great measure with one taken down from oral recitation in Sutherland and another in Isla.
This poem is one of the editions of the Cath Gabhra, and, along with the poem by Feargus Filidh on the same subject, forms part of the long poem called Cath Gabhra, printed by the Ossianic Society of Dublin in their first volume.
In this poem it is said—
Eastward we sent ambassadors, To Fatha of Conn’s great son,
Or more literally—
To Fatha, son of Maccon.
The expression east or eastward always refers to Alba or Scotland, in contradistinction to west, which was Sire, and the allusion here is to one of the mythic colonies from Ireland to Scotland.
In addition to the historic colony of Dalriada in the sixth century, the Irish historians record four colonies in prehistoric times.
These were—
1. Dalriads under Cairbre Riada, in the third century.
2. The Clanna Breogan, under the Fathads, sons of Lugad Mac Con, King of Ireland, in the third century, from whom the Campbells are said to be descended.
3. Eremonians, under Colla Uais, King of Ireland, in the fourth century, from whom the M’Donalds are said to be descended.
4. Eberians, under Cairbre Cruithnechan and Maine Leamhna, sons of Corc mac Lughadh, in the fourth century, from whom the Maormers of Marr and Lennox are said to be descended.
The second of these colonies, under Fatha Canann, is here connected with the legends of the Feinne.
Dr. Smith states that this poem agrees, with some variation in words and arrangement, with one transmitted by Mr. Maclagan from oral recital.
The poem on the battle of Gabhra, attributed to Fergus, is obviously the older piece, and some of the stanzas are the same with those in the Irish poems. It also refers to the Feinne of Britain and of Lochlan.
There is an edition of this poem in Kennedy’s Collection, p. 148; and another, taken down from recitation, was communicated to the Highland Society by Mr. Malcolm M’Donald.
The first stanza of this poem, with the corresponding stanza in the Irish poem, is given for the purpose of comparison:—
DEAN. Innis donn a earris Ille feynni errin Kynis tarle zevin In gath zawrych ni beymin.
IRISH. Innis duinn a Oisin Re h’anam Fhianna Eirionn Cia agaibh ba threise I g-cath Gabhra na m-beimionn.
It will be again observed that the eclipsis is only partially recognised. The Dean seems rarely to employ it in the genitive plural, where it is rigorously demanded by the rules of Irish grammar.
Poem, [p. 50].
Dr. Smith remarks that this poem agrees very much with one got from Isla by recitation, and communicated to the Society by Robert Campbell, Esq., Advocate.
Poem, [p. 54].
Dr. Smith states that this poem, on the death of Fraoch, differs very little from Mr. Jerome Stone’s edition, and still less from Mr. Gillies’ Collection, page 107.
Poem, [p. 58].
Dr. Smith remarks that this poem nearly agrees with one in Kennedy’s Collection, p. 69. Some of the names are different, and the stanzas not all in the same order.
The same poem appears, with a few lines more or less, and a slight variation of words and arrangement, in one of the MSS. deposited in the Faculty Library; and two editions were communicated to the Highland Society taken down from oral recitation, one from an old man in Isla, the other from Donald M’Callum in Kilcalmonell, in Kintyre.
Poem, [p. 72].
The idea which forms the subject of this poem is common to the Gael and the Welsh.
Poem by Gilchrist Taylor, [p. 93].
This poem certainly refers to the taking of the murderers of James I., by Robert Reoch Duncanson of Strowan, and John Gorme Stewart of Garth. Robert Reoch bears on his seal two greyhounds, and on 15th August 1451 received a charter from James II. of the barony of Strowan “pro zelo, favore et amore quos gerimus erga dictum Robertum Duncanson pro captione iniquissimi proditoris quondam Roberti de Graham.”
John Gorme Stewart receives in the Exchequer Rolls a payment “pro arrestatione Roberti Grahame traditoris et suorum complicium.”
Poem by John of Knoydart, [p. 99].
In the Annals of Ulster there is the following notice of the murder of Angus Og, son of John, Lord of the Isles:—
Aois Criost 1490, Mac mic Domnaill na h-Alpan,.i. Aengus, .i. nec da n-gairti an Tigerna Aacc do marbad a fill le ferted Erennac,.i. Diarmidt h-ua Cairpri, 7 a n Inhernis do marbad h-e. That is,—Year of Christ 1490, Angus, son of Macdonald of Scotland, who was called the young Lord, was murdered by his Irish harper, Dermed O’Cairbre, and at Inverness he was slain.
The Annals of Ulster are cotemporary authority for the event.
Poem by Finlay M’Nab, [p. 125].
The Dougall, son of John, who is here reproached as a sluggard, and exhorted to write in the Book of Poems, was no doubt the Dean’s father, Dougall Johnson. It would appear from this that the taste for collecting Gaelic poetry was a family quality.
The genealogical poems relating to the M’Gregors, M’Dougalls, and M’Donalds, are curious, but it would be out of place to enter here upon the family history of these clans.