Thou who hast purchased Adam’s race,
Their blood, their body, and their heart,
The things we cherish thou dost assail
However I may sin pursue[101]
It is not necessary to give farther specimens of Murdoch of Scotland’s poetry here, as those existing are very similar to the above; but several specimens will be found in the Dean of Lismore’s Book, from which the above is taken. The original has been difficult to read, and in consequence to render accurately, but there is little doubt that the real meaning of the poem is given. If the Book of Deer be a specimen of the Gaelic at the close of the 12th century in the east of Scotland, the above is a specimen of the same language from the west, probably from the Hebrides.
Gaelic Charter.
In 1408, Donald, Lord of the Isles, the hero of Harlaw, made a grant of lands in Islay to Brian Vicar Mackay, one of the old Mackays of the island. The charter conveying these lands still exists, and is written in the Gaelic language. As it is now published by the Record Commission, it is not necessary to give it here, but it is a document of much interest, written by Fergus M’Beth or Beaton, one of the famous Beatons who were physicians to the Lord of the Isles, and signed with the holograph of the great island chief himself. The lands conveyed are in the eastern part of the island, north of the Mull of Oa, and embrace such well-known places as Baile-Vicar, Cornabus, Tocamol, Cracobus, &c. The style of the charter is that of the usual feudal charters written in Latin, but the remarkable thing is to find a document of the kind written in Gaelic at a time when such a thing was almost unknown in the Saxon dialects of either Scotland or England.
Manuscripts of the 15th Century.
The Highlands seem to have had a large number of men of letters during the 15th century, and most of our existing manuscript materials seem to be of that age. These materials are of various kinds. They consist of short theological treatises, with traditional anecdotes of saints and others which seem to have been prevalent in the church at the time. One of the theological treatises now in the library of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, has reference to the Sacrament of the Supper, and maintains the purely Protestant doctrine that the sacrament can only profit those who receive it in faith. There are anecdotes of priests, often called by the Gaelic name of maighistir, which would indicate that the priests of the period had wives, and that the doctrine of celibacy had not then entered the Scottish church.
Some of the manuscripts are genealogical, and as such are of much value to the Scottish historian. They show what the ideas of the seanachies of the thirteenth century were regarding the origin of the Highland clans. Some of these genealogical records have been published by the Iona Club, and are in this way accessible to the general reader. They are indicative of the care taken at the period to preserve memorials of family history, and were of value not only as conducing to the gratification of family pride, but to the preservation of family property, inasmuch as these were the only means in accordance with which succession to property could be determined. The consequence is, that they are not always very reliable, favour being apt to bias the recorder on one side, just as enmity and ill-will were apt to bias him on the other. It is remarkable how ready the seanachy of a hostile clan was to proclaim the line of the rival race illegitimate. This affects the value of these records, but they are valuable notwithstanding, and are to a considerable extent reliable, especially within the period where authentic information could be obtained by the writer.