This little volume of the minister of Balquhidder is a most interesting contribution to our Gaelic literature. The language is what many writers call Irish, although there is no reason to believe that Mr Kirk ever was in Ireland, or conversed with speakers of Irish Gaelic. He knew and used the dialect which writers of the Gaelic language had used for centuries, and used at the time. No Irish writer could use a dialect more purely Irish than that found in Kirk’s Gaelic preface. Kirk concludes his preface with the following lines:—
Imthigh a Dhuilleachain gu dàn,
Le Dan glan diagha duisg iad thall.
Cuir failte air Fonn fial na bFionn,
Ar garbh-chriocha, ’s Indseadh gall.
English Translation.
Go, little leaflet, boldly,
With pure holy songs wake them yonder,
Salute the hospitable land of the Fingalians,
The rugged borders, and the Isles of the strangers.