Chapter II: Part 2

MY DEAR PROFESSOR BLACKIE,--In the last number of _The Gael_ I find a translation by you from a German essay, and a quotation from a German writer who calls Macpherson's Ossian "the most magnificent mystification of modern times." The mists which surround this question need the light of knowledge to shine from the sitter on that rising Gaelic chair which you have done so much to uplift. In the meantime let me tell you three facts. On the 9th December 1872, I found out that Jerome Stone's Gaelic collection had been purchased by Mr Laing of the Signet Library, and that he had lent the manuscript to Mr Clerk of Kilmallie. On the 25th November 1872, I found a list of contents and three of the songs in the Advocates' Library, but too late to print them. The learned German relied on Stone's missing manuscript as proof of the antiquity of Macpherson's Ossian, because it was of older date. It contains versions of ten heroic ballads, of which I had printed many versions in "Leabhar na Feinne." There is not one line of the Gaelic printed in 1807 in those songs which I found. I presume that Mr Clerk would have quoted Stone's collection made in 1755 if he had found anything there to support his view, which is that Ossian's poems are authentic. Stone's translation is a florid English composition, founded upon the simple old Gaelic ballad which still survives traditionally. I got the old music from Mrs Mactavish at Knock, in Mull, last month. She learned it from a servant in Lorn, who sung to her when she was a girl.

2d, The essayist relied upon a lost manuscript which was named "A Bolg Solair" (the great treasure.) That designation seems to be a version of a name commonly given by collectors of Scotch and Irish popular lore to their manuscripts. The name seems rather to mean "rubbish bag." The idea was probably taken from the wallet of the wandering minstrel of the last century who sang for his supper. A very great number of paper manuscripts of this kind are in Dublin and in the British Museum. I own two; but not one of these, so far as I have been able to discover, contains a line of the Gaelic Ossian printed in 1807, which one learned German believed to be old and the other a mystification.

3d, The essayist relies upon the "Red Book." In 1873 Admiral Macdonald sent me the book, which he had recovered. Mr Standish O'Grady helped me to read it, and translated a great part of it in June and July 1874 in my house. It is a paper manuscript which does not contain one line of Macpherson's Ossian. It does contain Gaelic poems by known authors, of which copies are in other manuscripts preserved in Ireland. I do not question the merits of Ossian's poems. Readers can judge. They are Scotch compositions, for the English is Macpherson's, and the Gaelic is Scotch vernacular. A glance at old Gaelic, of which many samples are printed in late numbers of the Parisian _Revue Celtique_, ought to convince any reader of Ossian that modern Scotch vernacular Gaelic cannot possibly represent the language of St Patrick's time. I have hunted popular lore for many years, and I have published five volumes. I have gathered twenty-one thick foolscap volumes of manuscript. I have had able collectors at work in Scotland; I had the willing aid of Stokes, Hennessy, Standish O'Grady, Crowe, and other excellent Irish scholars in ransacking piles of Gaelic manuscripts in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, and elsewhere. I could never find an uneducated Highlander who could repeat any notable part of the Gaelic poems which were circulated gratis soon after 1807. Nobody ever has found one line of these poems in any known writing older than James Macpherson. I agree with many speakers of Scotch Gaelic who have studied this question. We hold that the Gaelic Ossian of 1807 is, on the face of it, a manifest translation from English; and that the English was founded upon an imperfect acquaintance with genuine old Scotch Gaelic ballads. These are still commonly sung. They are founded upon the mythical history which still is traditionally known all over Scotland and Ireland. It was old when Keating wrote; it was old when the Book of Leinster was written about 1130. It really is a strange thing that so little should be known in Great Britain about this curious branch of British literature. I suppose that no other country in Europe can produce uneducated peasants, fishers, and paupers, who sing heroic ballads as old as 1130 and 1520, which have been orally preserved. Some fragments about Cuchullin, which I have gathered can be traced in the Book of Leinster. Many ballads which I have heard sung in the Scotch Isles were written by the Dean of Lismore in 1520. By travelling to Tobermory, you may still hear Wm. Robertson, a weaver there, tell the story of Cuchullin, and sing the song of "Diarmaid," the "Burning of the Fenian Women," and many other heroic ballads. I heard him sing them in 1872, when he said that he was eighty-seven.--I am, yours very truly,

J. F. CAMPBELL.

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Kilmallie Manse, September 25, 1875.

SIR,--There is no man living who has done so much for Gaelic literature as Mr Campbell, and, just in proportion to my sense of the greatness of his services, is my reluctance to put myself, even for a moment, in opposition to him. But his opinion on the Ossianic question, expressed in his letter, constrains me to oppose him.

One word as to what he says about Jerome Stone's MS. Dr Laing kindly lent it to me, and it is now in my possession. I referred to it frequently in my edition of Ossian, 1870. Had I known that Mr Campbell wished to see it, I would gladly place it at his service. There is no mystification about this MS.; and I am sorry to say that it will not turn the scale either way in the present controversy.

But to the main point. Mr Campbell holds "that the Gaelic Ossian of 1807 is a manifest translation from English." Dr Johnson expressed the same opinion more than a hundred years ago; but while Mr Campbell can speak with a thousandfold the authority of the great moralist, who knew nothing of Gaelic, yet even Mr Campbell submits no positive proofs to support his decision--no new fact of any kind. As far as external evidence goes, he founds his opinion entirely on what is negative. Now, I submit that the history of the case presents many undoubted facts all going to prove the priority of the Gaelic to the English Ossian, and these facts must be disposed of before Mr Campbell's conclusions can be adopted.

Let me say in one word that I do not for a moment pretend to solve the Ossianic mystery. Any theory which has yet been proposed presents serious difficulties, but I maintain that Mr Campbell's presents the greatest of all, and in the present state of our knowledge cannot be adopted.

For proof, I must submit a brief outline of facts certified in the report of the Highland Society on the subject, and which, though they are undeniable, are often unaccountably overlooked in the controversy.

1. It is the case that Macpherson, before publishing in English, got several Gaelic MSS., which he acknowledged in his letters still extant, and which he showed to his friends; further, that he asked and obtained the assistance of some of these friends--Captain Morison, Rev. Mr Gallie, and, above all, Strathmashie--to translate them into English.

2. It is a most important fact that when challenged to produce his Gaelic MSS., he advertised that they were deposited at his booksellers--Beckett & De Hondt, Strand, London--and offered to publish them if a sufficient number of subscribers came forward. The booksellers certify that his MSS. had lain for twelve months at their place of business.

3. It is a fact that several persons, well able to judge of the matter, and of unimpeachable character, such as the Rev. Dr Macpherson, of Sleat; Rev. Mr Macleod, of Glenelg; Rev. Mr Macneill, &c., &c., did, in 1763--that is, 44 years before the publication of the Gaelic Ossian--compare Macpherson's English with Gaelic recited by various persons in their respective neighbourhoods. They give the names of these persons, and they certify that they found the Gaelic poetry recited by these, who never had any correspondence with Macpherson, to correspond in many instances--to the extent of hundreds of lines--with his English. One very significant fact is brought out in these certifications, that Gaelic was found to agree with Macpherson's English in cases where he never gave Gaelic. The English Ossian contains various poems for which he never gave Gaelic; but here Gaelic, corresponding to his English, is found in the mouths of people with whom he never held any communication.

Now, what are we to say to all these things? Shall we believe that Macpherson advertised his MSS. when he had none? The belief implies that he was insane, which we know was not the case. And are we further to believe that such men as the above deliberately attested what they knew to be false, and what, if false, might easily be proved to be so? It is impossible for a moment to receive such a supposition.

But it is said these, though good men, were prejudiced, spoke loosely, and therefore are not to be relied on in this enlightened and critical age. This, however, is assuming a great deal, and in so doing is _un_critical. Prejudice is at work in the nineteenth century even as it was in the eighteenth. These men had far better opportunities of judging the matter than we have. They give their judgment distinctly and decidedly, and I never yet saw any good reason for setting that judgment aside.

I must add further, on the historic evidence, that several Gaelic pieces, and these among the gems of Ossianic poetry, were published by Gillies in 1786; that some of these are found in the Irvine MS. about 1800; that there is no proof of Macpherson having furnished any of these; and that the genuineness of one of them, "The Sun Hymn," given seem to be beyond the possibility of cavil.

From all this it appears to me undoubted that Macpherson began his work with Gaelic MSS., that he founded his English on them, and that various portions of his work were known in several quarters of the country forty years before he published his Gaelic. The subsequent disappearance of all MSS. containing his Gaelic is very remarkable, and is much founded on by Mr Campbell. But the history of literature affords various instances of the preservation of a book depending on one solitary MS. The case of the great Niebelungen-Lied--unknown for centuries, and brought to light through the accidental discovery of a MS.--is quite in point; and to come nearer home, two years ago, only one perfect copy of the first Gaelic book ever printed, Bishop Carewell's translation of John Knox's liturgy, was in existence. It may be, then, that when Macpherson destroyed his Gaelic MSS. he destroyed all in which his poetry was to be found. Again, it is asked, when Highlanders in the present day recite so many heroic ballads, why do they not recite Macpherson's? I answer that there being now forgotten is no proof that they were never remembered. A hundred years may obliterate many things among a people. The last hundred years have wrought such obliterations in the Highlands of Scotland as to make it no cause of wonder that heroic poetry then remembered should now be forgotten.

I must restrict myself to a very few words on the internal evidence--though it is on this the question must be finally decided, if it ever is to be decided. As to the inference from comparing the Gaelic and English, I am sorry to say that I am entirely at variance with Mr Campbell. The more I examine the subject, the deeper is my conviction that the freeness of the Gaelic, the fulness of its similes, and its general freshness incontestably prove it to be the original. I would refer especially to the sea-pieces (_e.g._, Carhon, ll. 48-52.) In Gaelic they are vivid and graphic--in English tame, and almost meaningless--a fact such as might naturally be expected from the words of a true mariner being translated by a thoroughly "inland bred man" like Macpherson, but absolutely irreconcilable with his having written the Gaelic. Mr Campbell himself in his admirable work of the "West Highland Tales," vol. 4, p. 142, _et seq._, has some striking and conclusive remarks on the internal evidence of the priority of the Gaelic to the English; and I sincerely hope, when he considers them again, they will induce him to return to his first faith.

Much might be said on the structure of the Gaelic--especially the Gaelic of the 7th Book of Temora, published by Macpherson in 1763, which differs widely from any other Gaelic that I have met with; and much of the whole character of Ossian, whether Gaelic or English, being so absolutely unlike all Macpherson's other compositions--many and well known; but I must conclude by repeating that Mr Campbell's theory "makes confusion worse confounded"--in asking us to set at nought the various facts which I have stated, demands a moral impossibility; and that whatever light may be thrown on the subject from the new Celtic Chair, we must in the present state of our knowledge admit Gaelic to be the original, and Macpherson to be the translator of the Ossianic poems.--I am, &c.,

ARCHIBALD CLERK, LL.D.

REMNANTS OF GAELIC POETRY.

THE name of Lachlan Macpherson, Esq. of Strathmashie, is well known to those who are conversant with the dissertations on the poems of Ossian. About the year 1760 he accompanied his neighbour and namesake, James Macpherson, Esq. of Belville, in his journey through the Highlands in search of those poems, he assisted him in collecting them, and in taking them down from oral tradition, and he transcribed by far the greater part of them from ancient manuscripts to prepare them for the press, as stated by himself in a letter to Dr Hugh Blair of Edinburgh. He was beyond all doubt a man of great powers of mind, and a Celtic poet of no mean order. He died at the comparatively early age of forty years, greatly lamented by his contemporaries, leaving behind him no written literary production.

Fragments of Mr Lachlan Macpherson's poetry, hitherto unpublished, will be acceptable to those who have done so much of late to promote the interests of Celtic literature. In some of his poems, composed in the sportive exercise of his poetic genius, he makes the same objects the subjects of his praise and censure alternately. We give the following specimens:--

On the occasion of a marriage contract in his neighbourhood, the poet honoured the company with his presence. The important business of the occasion having been brought to a close, the bridegroom departed, but remembering that he had left on the table a bottle not quite empty, he returned and took it with him. The poet, viewing this as an act of extreme meanness, addressed the bridegroom as follows:--

CAINEADH AN DOMHNULLAICH.

'S toigh leam Domhnullach neo-chosdail
O nach coltach e ri cach.
'N uair bhios iadsan ag iarraidh fortain
Bidh esan 'n a phrop aig fear cais
Ma bha do mhathair 'n a mnaoi choir
Cha do ghleidh i 'n leabaidh phosda glan,
Cha 'n 'eil cuid agad do Chloinn Domhnuill,
'S Rothach no Rosach am fear.
'N uair a bhuail thu aig an uinneig
Cha b' ann a bhuinnigeadh cliu,
Dh' iarraidh na druaip bha 's a' bhotul,
Mallachd fir focail a' d' ghiur.

We give a free translation of the above into English, far inferior, however, to the Gaelic original:--

MACDONALD SATIRISED.

I like to see a niggard man,
One of the great Macdonald clan;
When others are in quest of gain
This man the needy will sustain.
Your mother, if an honest dame,
Has not retained her wedlock fame;
No part is Mac from top to toe,
You're either Rose or else Munro.
When to the house you turned your face,
Let it be told to your disgrace,
'Twas for the dregs you had forgot,
The Poet's curse be in your throat.

The bridegroom, as we may well believe, smarted under the chastisement administered to him. He took an early opportunity of putting himself in the poet's way. Seeing Mr Macpherson riding past his place one day, he went to meet him with a bottle and glass, and importunately begged of him that he would have the goodness to say something now in his favour. Mr Macpherson complied with the request. Sitting on horseback, and taking the glass in his hand, he pronounced the ensuing eulogy on the bridegroom:--

MOLADH AN DOMHNULLAICH.

Bha na baird riamh breugach, bosdail,
Beular sinn, gorach, gun seadh,
Lasgair gasd e Chloinn Domhnuill,
Mac Ailein Mhoir as a Mhagh.
Chuir e botul neo-ghortach a' m' dhorn,
A chur iotadh mo sgornain air chul,
'S bard gun tur a bh' air a' chordadh
Nach do sheinn gu mor a chliu.
Ach tha 'n seors' ud uile cho caillteach,
Cho mi-thaingeil, 's cho beag ciall,
'S ma thig a' chuach idir o 'n ceann,
Nach fiach e taing na fhuair iad riamh.

The above may be thus translated:--

MACDONALD EULOGISED.

The bards, as we have ever seen,
Liars and flatterers have been;
Boasting, with little cause to glory,
So empty is their upper storey.
Of Clan Macdonald this is one,
Of Allan Mor of Moy the son;
He brought to me a sonsy vessel
To satiate my thirsty whistle.
The poet proved himself unwise
When him he did not eulogise.
The bards--I own it with regret--
Are a pernicious sorry set,
Whate'er they get is soon forgot,
Unless you always wet their throat.

Mr Macpherson had a dairymaid of the name of Flora, whom he described in abusive language in a poem beginning,--

Floiri mhugach, bhotach, ghlun-dubh.

He afterwards made amends for the offence he had given her by commending her in very flattering terms. He represents her as a most useful dairymaid, and as a young woman of surpassing beauty, who had many admirers, and, according to his description of her, such were her good qualities, and her personal attractions, that certain persons whom he names, among others the clergyman of the parish, expressed their desire to engage her in their own service. The poet rejects their solicitations, and informs them how unlikely a thing it is that Flora should engage with them, as she was intended for the King:--

EULOGY ON FLORA.

Floiri shugach, bhoidheach, shuil-ghorm,
A pog mar ubhlan as a' gharadh,
'N og bhean, chliuiteach 's comhnaird' giulan,
Dh' olainn dubailt a deoch-slainte,
Ge do shiubhail sibh 'n Roinn Eorpa,
'S na duthchan mor' an taobh thall dith,
Cha 'n fhaiceadh sibh leithid Floiri,
Cul bachlach, glan, or-bhuidhe na ban-righ.

Maighdean bheul-dearg, foill cha leir dh' i,
'S geal a deud o 'n ceutaich' gaire,
Caoimhneil, beusach, trod neo-bheumach,
'S ro mhaith leigeadh spreidh air airidh,
Clach-dhatha na h-Alba 's na h-Eirinn,
Nach saltair air feur a h-aicheadh,
Mar dhealt na maidne 'n a h-eirigh,
'S mar aiteal na grein a dealradh.

A leadan dualach sios m' a cluasaibh
Chuir gu buaireadh fir a' bhraighe,
Fleasgaich uaisl' a' sri mu 'n ghruagaich,
'N ti tha 'gruaim ris 's truagh a charamh,
Ach b' annsa leath' cuman 'us buarach,
'S dol do 'n bhuaile mar chaidh h-arach,
Langanaich cruidh-laoigh m' an cuairt di,
'S binne sud na uaisle chraiteach.

'S gniomhach, cairdeil, b' fhearr dhomh radhainn,
'S glan a h-abhaist, 's tearc a leithid,
Muime shar-mhaith nan laogh aluinn,
Im 'us caise theid sud leatha,
Banarach fhortain ghabhaidh
Nam miosairean lan 's a' cheithe,
Dheanadh i tuilleadh air caraid
'S a phaidheadh dhomh mal Aonghuis Shaw.

An t-ait' am faic sibh 'm bi gibht araidh
Suilean chaich bidh 'n sin 'n an luidhe,
Domhnull Ban o 'm mine Gailig
Bhuin rium laidir as an athar;
Thuirt e, thoir dhomhs' i gu bealltuinn,
Seall an t-earlas tha thu faighinn
Uam-sa, buannachd nan damh Gallda,
No ma 's fearr leat na sin faidhir.

Thuirt Domhnull Mac Bheathain 's e 's an eisdeachd,
Naile, 's fheudar dhomh-sa labhairt,
'S mise 'n t-amadan thar cheud,
A bheireadh cead dh' i 'n deigh a gabhail,
Ach thoir-se nise dhomh fein i,
'S theid ni 'us feudail a' d' lamhaibh,
Gu 'n ruig a 's na tha tilgeadh reigh dhomh
Ann am Banc Dhun-eidinn fathast.

'N uair chual am Ministeir an t-sri
A bha mu 'n riomhainn thall an amhainn,
Chuir e pior-bhuic 'us ad shiod' air,
'S chaidh e direach orm a dh' fheitheamh,
'S thuirt e, thoir dhomh-s' an ath thiom dhith,
'S ni mi tri-fillte cho maith thu,
'S ma shearmonaicheas tu fein do 'n sgireachd
Gheibh thu 'n stipean 's bean-an-tighe.

Ge proiseil sibh le 'r n-or, 's le 'r ni,
Le 'r moran stipein, 's le 'r cuid mhnathaibh,
'S fearr leam Floiri agam fhein
Na ge do chit 'iad leis an amhainn,
Dheanainn an cordadh cho simplidh
'S i dhol cinnteach feadh nan tighean,
Cia mar tha i coltach ribh-se?
'S gur h-e 'n righ tha dol g' a faighinn.

The Mashie, a tributary of the Spey, in the parish of Laggan, runs close by Strathmashie house. It is a small river, but in harvest time, when in flood, it causes considerable damage. The poet takes occasion to censure the Mashie on this account; but he has his pleasant associations in connection with the charming banks of this mountain stream, as expressed in the following stanzas:--

MATHAISITH CENSURED.

Mhathaisith fhrogach dhubh,
Fhrogach dhubh, fhrogach dhubh,
Mhathaisith fhrogach dhubh,
'S mor rinn thu chall domh.

Rinn thu m' eorna a mhilleadh,
'S mo chuid ghorag air sileadh,
'Us cha d' fhag thu sguab tioram
Do na chinnich do bharr dhomh.
Mhathaisith, &c.

Cha robh lochan no caochan,
A bha ruith leis an aonach,
Nach do chruinnich an t-aon lan
A thoirt aon uair do shath dhuit.
Mhathaisith, &c.

Rinn thu ol an tigh Bheathain
Air leann 's uisge-beatha,
'S garbh an tuilm sin a sgeith thu
'S a' ghabhail-rathaid Di-mairt oirnn
Mhathaisith, &c.

EULOGY ON MATHAISITH.

Mhathaisith bhoidheach gheal,
Bhoidheach gheal, bhoidheach gheal,
Mhathaisith bhoidheach gheal,
B' ait leam bhi laimh riut.

'N uair a rachainn a' m' shiubhal
B' e sud mo cheann uidhe
Na bh' air braigh Choire-bhuidhe
Agus ruigh Alt-na-ceardaich.
Mhathaisith, &c.

Gu 'm bu phailt bha mo bhuaile
Do chrodh druim-fhion 'us guaill-fhionn,
Mar sud 's mo chuid chuachag
Dol mu 'n cuairt dhoibh 's an t-samhradh.
Mhathaisith, &c.

SEANCHAIDH.

HIGHLAND NOTES AND COMMENTS.

[IN this Column we shall, from month to month, notice the most
important business coming before our Highland Representative
Institutions--such as the local Parliament of the Highland
Capital, Gaelic and other Celtic Societies, and passing
incidents likely to prove interesting to our Celtic readers. We
make no pretence to give news; simply comments on incidents,
information regarding which will be obtained through the usual
channels.]

WE make no apology for referring to the doings of the Town Council of the Capital of the Highlands. Anything calculated to interest the Highlander is included in our published programme; and surely the composition, conduct, dignity, and patriotism of the local Parliament of the HIGHLAND CAPITAL, and the general ability, eloquence, intelligence, and independence of spirit displayed by its members is of more than mere local interest. We take it that the Scottish Gael, wherever located, is interested in the Capital of his native Highlands, and will naturally concern himself with the history and conduct of those whose duty it is as its leading men to shine forth as an example to places of lesser importance.

Last year a Gas and Water Bill was carried through Parliament, involving an expenditure of something like L80,000, and at least double taxation. We have no doubt whatever very good and satisfactory reasons will be given for this large expenditure, but hitherto not the slightest explanation has been vouchsafed to the public, and we are, in common with five-sixths of the community, at present quite ignorant of the reasons given for this enormous expenditure: that there must be unanswerable reasons we have no doubt whatever, for have not the Council been unanimous to a man throughout. Not a single protest was entered. Not a single speech was publicly made against it. But more wonderful still, not a single speech was made publicly in the Council in its favour. This did not arise from want of debating power on the part of the members. It must have arisen from the unanswerable nature of the arguments delivered in private committees, where, practically, no one heard them, or of them, except the members themselves. The only objection which can be raised to this theory is, that if the matter is so very clear and simple, and the expenditure so imperatively called for, it is most wonderful that some ingenuous simple-minded member had not thought of making himself popular at one bound, by giving a little information to the public as the matter proceeded, and so silence all the grumbling and general dissatisfaction felt outside.

* * * * *

THE Gaelic Society of Inverness entered on its fifth session last month. The Society has of late shown considerable signs of popularity and progress; for close upon fifty members have been added to the roll during the first eight months of the Society's year, while only eighteen were added during the whole of the previous one. In 1873, seventy new members were elected. The following five Clans are the best represented--Mackenzies, 23 members; Frasers, 22; Mackays, 19; Macdonalds, 18; Mackintoshes, 14. This is not as it should be; for while the Mackays only occupy a little over a page of the Inverness Directory, the Mackintoshes two, and the Mackenzies about three and a-half; the Macdonalds occupy over four, and the Frasers seven pages. We would like to see the Clans taking their proper places, by the "levelling-up" process of course.

* * * * *

WE regret to announce the sudden death, on the 19th of August, of Dr Hermann Ebel, Professor of Comparative Philology at the University of Berlin. He superintended the new edition of Zeuss's _Grammatica Celtica_, and was one of the four or five leading Celtic scholars of the age.

* * * * *

IT will be seen that Logan's "Scottish Gael"--a book now getting very scarce, and which was never, in consequence of its high price, within the reach of a wide circle of readers--is to be issued by Mr Hugh Mackenzie, Bank Lane, in 12 monthly parts at 2s each, Edited, with Memoir and Notes, by the Rev. Mr Stewart, "Nether-Lochaber." In this way the work will be much easier to get. It only requires to be known to secure the demand such an authority on the Celt--his language, literature, music, and ancient costume--deserves.

* * * * *

WE take the following from the late Dr Norman Macleod's "Reminiscences of a Highland Parish" on Highlanders ashamed of their country. We believe the number to whom the paragraph is now applicable is more limited than when it first saw the light, but we could yet point to a few of this contemptible tribe, of whom better things might be expected. We wish the reader to emphasize every line and accept it as our own views regarding these treacle-beer would-be-genteel excrescences of our noble race. A wart or tumour sometimes disfigures the finest oak of the forest, and these so-called Highlanders are just the warts and tumours of the Celtic races--they have their uses, no doubt:--"One class sometimes found in society we would especially beseech to depart; we mean Highlanders ashamed of their country. Cockneys are bad enough, but they are sincere and honest in their idolatry of the Great Babylon. Young Oxonians or young barristers, even when they become slashing London critics, are more harmless than they themselves imagine, and after all inspire less awe than Ben-Nevis, or than the celebrated agriculturist who proposed to decompose that mountain with acids, and to scatter the debris as a fertiliser over the Lochaber moss. But a Highlander born, who has been nurtured on oatmeal porridge and oatmeal cakes; who in his youth wore home-spun cloth, and was innocent of shoes and stockings; who blushed in his attempts to speak the English language; who never saw a nobler building for years than the little kirk in the glen, and who owes all that makes him tolerable in society to the Celtic blood which flows in spite of him through his veins;--for this man to be proud of his English accent, to sneer at the everlasting hills, the old kirk and its simple worship, and despise the race which has never disgraced him--faugh! Peat reek is frankincense in comparison with him; let him not be distracted by any of our reminiscences of the old country; leave us, we beseech of thee!"

THE SUNSET OF THE YEAR.

(OCTOBER.)

Sweet Summer's scowling foe impatient stands
On the horizon near of Nature's view.
At the sad sight the sweetly-coloured lands
Filled with the glowing woodlands' dying hue,
For Winter's darkening reign prepare the way.
In the green garden the tall Autumn flowers,
Filling with fragrant breath the beauteous bowers,
With resignation wait their dying day;
Bending their heads submissive to the will
Of Him, at whose command the sun stands still,
Nor dares to send to earth his gladd'ning ray.
Filled with the feeling of the coming doom
Of Nature's beauteous deeds, the heavenly hill
Hides its sad, shuddering face in cloudy gloom.
A whispering silence overhangs the scene,
As if awaiting the dark Winter storm
That fills with fear Hope's slowly-withering form.
Sinking to wintry death--till, pure and green,
Spring shall descend in song from sunny skies,
Smiling her into life. The sad wind sighs
Through flowerless woods, glowing towards their death,
In Winter's cruel, poison-breathing breath.
Fierce grows the murmur of the woodland rill,
Foaming in fury thro' the pensive trees,
Down the steep glen of the mist-mantled hill;
Deeper the roar of death-presageful seas;
While in the changeful woods the rivers seem
Wandering for ever in a Winter dream!

MAIDENKIRK, 1875. DAVID R. WILLIAMSON.

_LITERATURE._

_TRANSACTIONS OF THE GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS. Vols. III. and IV., 1873-74 and 1874-75 (Bound in one)._

THIS is the third publication issued by the Gaelic Society since its establishment in 1871. The previous volumes were very creditable, especially the first, but the one now before us is out of sight superior not only in size, but in the quality of its contents. First we have an Introduction of eight pages giving the history of the movement in favour of establishing a Celtic Chair in one of our Scottish Universities, and the steps taken by the Gaelic Society of London, who appear to have worked single-handed to promote this object since 1835, when they presented their first petition to the House of Commons, down to 1870, when the Council of the Edinburgh University took the matter in hand. In December 1869 the Gaelic Society of London sent out circulars addressed to ministers of all denominations in Scotland asking for information as to the number of churches in which Gaelic was preached. The circulars were returned, the result being "that out of 3395 places of worship of all denominations in Scotland, 461 had Gaelic services once-a-day in the following proportions--Established Church, 235; Free Church, 166; Catholic Chapels, 36; Baptists, 12; Episcopalians, 9; Congregationalists, 3."

The first paper in the volume is a very interesting account, by Dr Charles Mackay, the poet, of "The Scotch in America." We give the following extract:--

I was invited to dine with a wealthy gentleman of my own name.
There were present on that occasion 120 other Scotchmen, and
most of them wore the Highland dress. My host had a piper
behind the chair playing the old familiar strains of the pipes.
The gentleman told me, in the course of the evening, that his
father was a poor cottar in Sutherlandshire. "My mother," said
he, "was turned out upon the moor on a dark cold night, and
upon that moor I was born." My friend's family afterwards went
to America, and my friend became a "dry" merchant, or as you
would say in Scotland, a draper. I said to him, seeing that his
position had so improved, "Well, I suppose you do not bear any
grudge against the people by whose agency your family were
turned upon the moor." "No," he replied, "I cannot say that I
bear them any grudge, but at the same time I cannot say that I
forgive them. If my position has improved, it is by my own
perseverance, and not by their good deeds or through their
agency." In every great city of Canada--Toronto, Kingstown,
Montreal, New Brunswick, St John's, Nova Scotia, and in almost
every town and village, you will find many Scotchmen; in fact,
in the large towns they are almost as numerous as in Edinburgh
and Inverness. You will see a Highland name staring you in the
face in any or every direction. If you ask for the principal
merchant or principal banker, you will be almost sure to find
that he's a Scotchman; and no matter in what part of the world
your fellow countrymen may be cast, they keep up the old
manners and customs of their mother country. They never forget
the good old times of "Auld lang syne;" they never forget the
old songs they sung, the old tunes they played, nor the old
reels and dances of Scotland.

The Scotch, especially in Canada, take the Gaelic with them.
They have Gaelic newspapers, which have a large
circulation--larger, perhaps, than any Gaelic newspaper at
home. They have Gaelic preachers. In fact, there is one part of
Canada which might be called the new Scotland; and it is a
Scotchman who is now at the head of the Canadian
Government--John Macdonald.[A]

The next is a paper by Archibald Farquharson, Tiree, headed "The Scotch at Home and Abroad," but really a thrilling appeal in favour of teaching Gaelic in Highland Schools. It is impossible to give an idea of this excellent paper by quoting extracts. We, however, give the following on the teaching of Gaelic in the schools:--

Reading a language they do not understand has a very bad effect
upon children. It leaves the mind indolent and lazy; they do
not put themselves to any trouble to endeavour to ascertain the
meaning of what they read; whereas, were they taught to
translate as they went along, whenever a word they did not
understand presented itself to their minds, they would have no
rest until they would master it by finding out its meaning. And
I am pretty certain that were the Gaelic-speaking children thus
to be taught, that by the time they would reach the age of
fourteen years, they would be as far advanced, if not farther,
than those who have no Gaelic at all; so that, instead of the
Gaelic being their misfortune, it would be the very reverse. It
would, with the exception of Welshmen (were they aware of it),
place them on an eminence above any in Great Britain, not only
as scholars, but as having the best languages for the soul and
for the understanding. And should they enter college, they
would actually leave others behind them, because, in the first
place, they acquired the habit of translating in their youth,
which would make translating from dead languages comparatively
easy; and in the second place, they would derive great aid from
their knowledge of the Gaelic. If Professor Blackie has found
500 Greek roots in the Gaelic, what aid would they derive from
it in studying that language? and they would find equally as
much aid in studying Latin, and even Hebrew.

Comparing the melody of the English with that of the Gaelic, Mr Farquharson says:--

Certainly, compared with Gaelic and Broad Scotch, it [English]
has no melody. It is true that it may be set off and adorned
with artificial melody. What is the difference between natural
and artificial melody? Natural melody is the appropriate melody
with which a piece is sung which has true melody inherent in
itself, and artificial melody is that with which a piece is
sung that is destitute of real melody. In the former case the
mind is influenced by what is sung, the music giving additional
force and power to it; but in the latter case the mind is more
influenced by the sound of the music than by what is sung. I
may explain this by two young females; the one has, I do not
call it a bonny face, but a very agreeable expression of
countenance; the other has not. Were the former to be neatly
and plainly dressed, her dress would give additional charms to
her, but in looking at her you would not think of the dress at
all, but of the charms of the young woman. But although the
other were adorned in the highest style of fashion, with
flowers and brocades, and chains of gold, and glittering
jewels, in looking at her you would not think of the charms of
the young woman, for charms she had none, your mind would be
altogether occupied with what was artificial about her, with
what did not belong to her, and not with what she was in
herself. Both the natural and artificial melody elevate the
mind, the one by what is sung, and the other by the grand sound
of the music. There is real melody in "Scots wha hae," which is
natural and appropriate, which gives additional power and force
to the sentiment of the piece. In singing it the mind is not
occupied with the sound, but with proud Edward, his chains and
slavery--Scotia's King and law--the horrors of slavery--the
blessing of liberty, and a fixed determination to act.

Dr Masson's description of "Tho Gael in the Far West" is a very readable paper, and gives an interesting account of his tour among the Canadian Gael, where he says, "the very names of places were redolent of the heather--in the land where, alas! the tenderest care has never yet been able to make the heather grow--Fingal, Glencoe, Lochiel, Glengarry, Inverness, Tobermory, St Kilda, Iona, Lochaber, and the rest!" We part with this paper perfectly satisfied that whether or not the Gael and his language are to be extirpated among his own native hills neither the race nor the language will yet become extinct in our British Colonies.

Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie, Bart. of Gairloch, makes the following remarks on "The Church in the Highlands." He said that if they wished to improve the Highlands:--

There was no way in which it could be done better than by
raising the class from which ministers were drawn. He
remembered saying at the opening meeting of this Society, that
one of its objects should be to excite the interest of the
upper classes in the language of their forefathers, inducing
them to retain that language, or acquire it if lost. Because,
when the cultivated classes lost their interest in it, the
leaven which leavens society ceased to influence the mass of
the people; and it was one of the most unfortunate things in
regard to a dying language, when the upper classes lost the use
of it, and the uneducated classes came to be in a worse
condition than in an earlier state of civilisation, when there
was an element of refinement among them. It was an understood
fact, that the clergy at this moment had a great influence in
the Highlands; and although there were persons present of
different persuasions, he thought they would all admit that the
Free Church was the Church that influenced the great mass of
Highlanders. There were Catholics in Mar, Lochaber, the Long
Island, and Strathglass, and Episcopalians in Appin; but the
people generally belonged to the Free Church, and if they
wanted to influence the mass, it was through the clergy of the
Free Church they could do it. Now, it was an unfortunate thing,
and generally admitted, that the clergy of the Free Church--he
believed it was the same in the Established Church--were not
rising in intellect and social rank--that there was rather a
falling off in that--that the clergy were drawn not so much
from the manse as from the cottar's house; and though he knew a
number of clergy, very excellent, godly men, and very superior,
considering the station from which they had risen, he thought
it was not advantageous, as a rule, to draw the clergy from the
lower, uneducated classes. They did not start with that
advantage in life which their sons would start with. There had
been a talk of instituting bursaries for the advancement of
Gaelic-speaking students. He did not see why they should not
start a bursary or have a special subscription--he would
himself contribute to it--a bursary for theological students
sprung from parents of education--whose parents had been
ministers, or who themselves had taken a degree in arts. That
would tend to encourage the introduction of a superior class of
clergymen. He wished to say nothing against the present
ministers. He knew they were excellent men, but he thought
their sons would be, in many cases, superior to themselves if
they took to the ministry. He was sorry they did not take to it
more frequently, and he would be glad if this Society offered
them some encouragement.

Two learned papers appear from the Rev. John Macpherson, Lairg, and Dr M'Lauchlan, Edinburgh--the one on "The Origin of the Indo-European Languages," and the other--"Notices of Brittany." Space will not now allow us to give extracts long enough to give any idea of the value and interest of these papers, or of the one immediately following--a metrical translation into English of "Dan an Deirg"--by Lachlan Macbean, Inverness. We shall return to them in a future number.

The Rev. A. C. Sutherland gives one of the best written and most interesting papers in the volume on the "Poetry of Dugald Buchanan, the Rannach Bard." The following is a specimen of Mr Sutherland's treatment of the poet, and of his own agreeable style:--

At the time when the great English critic was oracularly
declaring that the verities of religion were incapable of
poetic treatment, there was a simple Highlander, quietly
composing poems, which, of themselves, would have upset the
strange view, otherwise sufficiently absurd. But in all
justice, we must say that many, very many, both of Gaelic and
English poets, who have attempted to embody religious
sentiments in poetic forms, have, by their weak efforts,
exposed themselves, unarmed, to the attacks of those who would
exclude religion from the sphere of the imagination. All good
poetry, in the highest sense, deals with, and appeals to, what
is universal and common to all men....

It is frequently charged upon the Celt, that in religion as in
other matters, emotion, inward feeling in the shape of awe,
adoration, undefined reverence, are more eagerly sought, and
consequently more honoured, than the practice of the simple
external virtues, of which feeling should be the ministers and
fountains. Whether this accusation holds good generally, or
whether it applies more particularly to the more recent
manifestations of the religious life among us, this is not the
time to inquire. One thing we are sure of, that a
representative religious teacher like Buchanan never allows
that any fulness of inward life can dispense with the duties of
every-day life, with mercy, truth, industry, generosity,
self-control. The unworthy man who is excluded from the kingdom
is not the man of blunt, homely feeling, incapable of ecstatic
rapture and exalted emotion, but the man who locks up for
himself the gold God gave him for the general good, who shuts
his ear to the cry of the poor, who entrenches his heart behind
a cold inhumanity, who permits the naked to shiver unclothed,
who lessens not his increasing flock by a single kid to satisfy
the orphan's want. Indeed, one who reads carefully Buchanan's
_Day of Judgment_, with his mind full of the prejudices or
truths regarding the place of honour given by the Celt to
inward experience and minute self-analysis, cannot fail to be
astonished how small a place these occupy in that great poem.
There, at least, mental experience is of no value, except in so
far as it blossoms into truth, purity, and love. We cannot,
however, pause to illustrate these statements in detail. We
shall merely refer to the indignation into which the muse of
Buchanan is stirred in the presence of pride and oppression.
The lowest deep is reserved for these. The poet's charity for
men in general becomes the sublime growl of a lion as it
confronts the chief who fleeces but tends not his people.

"An robh thu ro chruaidh,
A' feannadh do thuath,
'S a' tanach an gruaidh le mal;
Le h-agartas geur,
A glacadh an spreidh,
'S am bochdainn ag eigheach dail?

Gun chridhe aig na daoine,
Bha air lomadh le h-aois,
Le 'n claigeannan maola truagh;
Bhi seasamh a' d' choir,
Gun bhoineid 'nan dorn,
Ge d' tholladh gaoth reota an cluas.

Thu nise do thraill,
Gun urram a' d' dhail,
Gun ghearsonn, gun mhal, gun mhod:
Mor mholadh do'n bhas,
A chasgair thu tra,
'S nach d' fhuiling do straic fo'n fhoid."

We part with this paper with an interest in Buchanan's Poems which we never before felt, although we repeatedly read them.

A well written paper, in Gaelic, by John Macdonald, Inland Revenue, Lanark, brings the session of 1873-74 to an end. Mr Macdonald advocates the adoption of one recognised system of orthography in writing Gaelic, and concludes in favour of that of the Gaelic Bible, as being not only the best and purest, but also the best known.

In the second part of the volume 1874-75 are Professor Blackie's famous address, under the auspices of the Society, his first in favour of a Celtic Professor; "The Black Watch Deserters" by Alex. Mackintosh Shaw, London; "History of the Gaelic Church of Inverness", by Alex. Fraser, accountant; "Ancient Unpublished Gaelic Poetry," "The Prophecies of _Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche_, the Brahan Seer," by Alex. Mackenzie, Secretary to the Society; and other interesting matter. We shall notice these in our next number. This valuable volume is given free to all Members of the Society, besides free Admission to all Lectures and Meetings, while the Annual Subscription for Ordinary Membership is only 5s.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote A: Since the paper was written, the Hon. John Macdonald gave place to another Scottish Highlander, the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, as Prime Minister of Canada.]

_SONGS AND POEMS IN THE GAELIC LANGUAGE. By DUNCAN MACKENZIE, "The Kenlochewe Bard." Written _verbatim_ from the Bard's own Recitation, and Edited, with an Introduction in English, by Alexander Mackenzie, Secretary to the Gaelic Society of Inverness._

WE have before us part first of the above Songs and Poems, containing thirteen pieces, and consisting of 36 pp., crown 8vo, with an Introduction. We have not met with anything to equal them in our language for pith, spirit, and poetic genius, since the days of _Rob Donn_; and we trust the bard will receive the encouragement he so well deserves with the first part, so as to enable him to give us the second on an early date. There is a short introduction to each piece, which gives them an additional interest. We notice a few unimportant editorial errors which we know Mr Mackenzie would be the first to admit and correct. The following three verses are from "Moladh na Gailig"--air fonn _Cabar-feidh_,--and is a fair specimen, although by no means the best in the book:--

Si Ghailig cainnt as aosda
Th' aig daoine air an talamh so,
Tha buaidh aic' air an t-saoghal
Nach fhaodar a bhreithneachadh,
Cha teid i chaoidh air dhi-chuimhn',
Cha chaochail 's cha chaidil i,
'S cha teid srian na taod innt'
A dh' aindeon taobh dha 'n tachair i,
Tha miltean feairt, le cliu, 's le tlachd,
Dha cumail ceart neo-mhearachdach,
'S i treun a neart, le briathran pailt,
Cha chrion, 's cha chaith, 's cha theirig i,
Tha cuimhne 'us beachd na lorg, 's na taic,
'S cha n-iarr i facal leasaichidh.
An am sinn na sailm gur binn a toirm
Seach ceol a dhealbh na h-Eidailtich.

Tha fianaisean na Gailig
Cho laidir 's cho maireannach
'S nach urrainn daoine a h-aicheadh,
Tha seann ghnas a leantuinn ri.
Tha ciall 'us tuigse nadur,
Gach la deanamh soilleir dhuinn,
Gur i bu chainnt aig Adhamh
Sa gharadh, 's an deighe sin.
Gur i bh' aig Noah, an duine coir,
A ghleidh, nuair dhoirt an tuil, dhuinn i,
'S mhair i fos troimh iomadh seors',
'S gun deach a seoladh thugainne,
Do thir nam beann, nan stra, 's nan gleann,
Nan loch, 's na'n allt, 's na'n struthanan,
'S ge lionmhor fine fuidh na ghrein,
Se fir an fheilidh thuigeadh i.

Tha 'n t'urram aig an fheileadh
Seach eideadh as aithne dhuinn,
'S na daoine tha toir speis dha
Gur h-eudmhor na ceatharnaich.
A' cumail cuimhn air euchdan,
As treuntas an aithrichean,
A ghleidh troimh iomadh teimheil,
A suainteas fhein, gun dealachadh.
Oh! 's iomadh cruadal, cath, 'us tuasaid,
'S baiteal cruaidh a choinnich iad;
'S bu trice bhuaidh aca na ruaig,
Tha sgeula bhuan ud comharricht.
'S bu chaomh leo fuaim piob-mhor ri 'n cluais
Dha 'n cuir air ghluasad togarrach,
Sa dh-aindeon claidheamh, sleagh, na tuadh,
Cha chuireadh uamhas eagal orr.

THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.

THE Promoters of this Magazine will spare no effort to make it worthy of the support of the Celt throughout the World. It will be devoted to Celtic subjects generally, and not merely to questions affecting the Scottish Highlands. It will afford Biographies of Eminent Highlanders at home and abroad--Reviews of all Books on subjects interesting to the Celtic Races--their Literature, questions affecting the Land--Hypothec, Entail, Tenant-right, Sport, Reclamation--Emigration, and all questions affecting Landlords, Tenants, and Commerce of the Highlands. On all these questions both sides will be allowed to present their case, the only conditions being that the articles be well and temperately written. Care will always be taken that no one side of a question will obtain undue prominence--facts and arguments on both sides being allowed to work conviction.

The Promoters believe that, under the wiser and more enlightened management now developing itself, there is room enough in the Highlands for more Men, more Land under cultivation, and more Sheep, without any diminution of Sport in Grouse or Deer. That there is room enough for all--for more gallant defenders of our country in time of need, more produce, more comfort, and more intelligence; and the Conductors will afford a _medium_ for giving expression to these views. In order the more successfully to interest the general reader in Celtic questions, the Magazine will be written in English, with the exception of contributions concerning Antiquities and Folk-lore, which may require the native language. It is intended, as soon as arrangements can be made, to have a Serial Highland Story appearing from month to month.

The following have among others already forwarded or promised contributions:--The Rev. GEORGE GILFILLAN on "Macaulay's Treatment of Ossian"; The Very Rev. ULICK J. CANON BOURKE, M.R.I.A., President of St Jarlath's College, Tuam, on "The Relationship of the Keltic and Latin Races"; CHARLES FRASER-MACKINTOSH, Esq., M.P., on "Forestry or Tree-planting in the Highlands"; The "NETHER-LOCHABER" CORRESPONDENT of the _Inverness Courier_, on "Highland Folk-lore"; The Rev. JOHN MACPHERSON, Lairg, "Old Unpublished Gaelic Songs, with Notes"; Professor BLACKIE, a Translation of "Mairidh Laghach"; Principal SHAIRP, St Andrews, on "Subjects connected with Highland Poetry, and the Poetic Aspects of the Highlands"; ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, Secretary of the Gaelic Society, "Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche--the Brahan Seer's Prophecies"; "The Traditional History of how the Mackenzies came into possession of Gairloch, and drove out the Macleods"; "Latha na Luinge"; "Freiceadan a Choire Dhuibh"; "Latha Lochan Neatha," and other West Highland Folk-lore and Unpublished Gaelic Poetry; ALEX. FRASER, Accountant, Inverness, "Curiosities from the Old Burgh Records of Inverness"; The Rev. A. SINCLAIR, Kenmore, on "The Authenticity of Ossian"; WM. ALLAN, Sunderland, author of "Heather Bells," "Hame-Spun Lilts," and other Poems; Rev. ALEX. MACGREGOR, M.A., Inverness, "Old Highland Reminiscenses"; The KENLOCHEWE BARD, an Original Gaelic Poem every month. Contributions are also promised from Dr CHARLES MACKAY, the poet; Dr THOMAS M'LAUCHLAN, Sheriff NICOLSON, WM. JOLLY, H.M.'s Inspector of Schools; ARCHIBALD FARQUHARSON, Tiree, on "The Songs and Music of the Highlands"; H. GAIDOZ, editor of the _Revue Celtique_, Paris; The Rev. WALTER M'GILLIVRAY, D.D., Aberdeen; The Rev. A. C. SUTHERLAND, Strathbraan; KENNETH MURRAY, Esq. of Geanies; JOHN CAMERON MACPHEE, President of the Gaelic Society of London; Rev. J. W. WRIGHT, Inverness; and other well-known writers on Celtic subjects, Traditions, and Folk-lore.

Published monthly, at 6d a-month, or 6/ per annum _in advance_; per Post, 6/6. Credit, 8/; per Post, 8/6.

All business communications to be addressed to the undersigned ALEX. MACKENZIE.

ALEX. MACKENZIE.
ALEX. MACGREGOR, M.A.

57 Church Street, Inverness,
September 1875.

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