On the score of morality and purity the Irish tales can compare favourably with the corresponding literature of other countries; and they are much freer from objectionable matter than the works of many of those early English and Continental authors which are now regarded as classics. Of one large collection of Irish tales, the great Irish scholar Dr. Whitley Stokes, a Dublin man, says:—“The tales are generally told with sobriety and directness: they evince genuine feeling for natural beauty, a passion for music, a moral purity, singular in a mediæval collection of stories, a noble love of manliness and honour.” On the Irish Tales in general Dr. Kuno Meyer, a German, one of the greatest living Celtic scholars, justly remarks:—“The literature of no nation is free from occasional grossness; and considering the great antiquity of Irish literature, and the primitive life which it reflects, what will strike an impartial observer most is not its license or coarseness, but rather the purity, loftiness, and tenderness which pervade it.”
The tales were brought into direct touch with the people, not by reading—for there were few books outside libraries, and few people were able to read them—but by Recitation: and the Irish of all classes, like the Greeks, were excessively fond of hearing tales and poetry recited. There were professional shanachies and poets whose duty it was to know by heart numerous old tales, poems, and historical pieces, and to recite them at festive gatherings for the entertainment of the chiefs and their guests: and every intelligent person was supposed to know a reasonable number of them by heart, so as to be always ready to take a part in amusing and instructing his company.
The tales of those times correspond with the novels and historical romances of our own day, and served a purpose somewhat similar. Indeed they served a much higher purpose than the generality of our novels; for in conjunction with poetry they were the chief agency in education—education in the best sense of the word—a real healthful informing exercise for the intellect. They conveyed a knowledge of history and geography, and they inculcated truthfulness, manliness, help for the weak, and all that was noble and dignified in thought, word, and action. Along with this, the greater part of the history, tradition, biography, and topography of the country, as well as history and geography in general, was thrown into the form of verse and tales, so that the person who knew a large number of them was well educated, according to what was required in those times. Moreover, this education was universal; for, though few could read, the knowledge and recitation of poetry and stories reached the whole body of the people. This ancient institution of story-telling held its ground both in Ireland and Scotland down to a period within living memory.
CHAPTER XI.
HOW THE ANCIENT IRISH EXCELLED IN MUSIC.
From the very earliest ages Irish musicians were celebrated for their skill, not only in their own country but all over Europe. Our native literature, whether referring to pagan or Christian times, is full of references to music and to skilful musicians, who are always spoken of in terms of the utmost respect.
Everywhere through the Records we find evidences that the ancient Irish, both high and low, were passionately fond of music. It was mixed up with their daily home-life, and formed part of their amusements, meetings, and celebrations of every kind. In the religious tales music is always one of the delights of heaven; and a chief function of the angels who attend on God is to chant music of ineffable sweetness to Him, which they generally do in the shape of beautiful white birds. A good example of the people’s intense fondness for music is found in an old Irish religious poem, in which the hard lot of Adam and Eve for a whole year after their expulsion from Paradise is described, when they were—as the poem expresses it—“without proper food, fire, house, music, or raiment.” Here music is put among the necessaries of life, so that it was a misery to be without it.
In the early ages of the Church many of the Irish ecclesiastics took delight in playing on the harp; and in order to indulge in this innocent and refining taste they were wont to bring with them, on their missionary journeys, a small portable harp, with which they beguiled many a weary hour after their hard work.
In very early times Irish professors of music were as eagerly sought after on the Continent as those of literature and general learning, so that they were sometimes placed at the head of great music-schools. At a later time it was quite common among the Welsh bards to come over to Ireland to receive instruction from the Irish harpers. In the eleventh century one of the Welsh kings, Griffith ap Conan, brought over to Wales a number of skilled Irish musicians, who, in conference with the native Welsh bards, carried out some great improvements in Welsh music. Ireland was long the school for Scottish harpers also, who regularly came over, like those of Wales, to finish their musical education—a practice which continued down to about 150 years ago.