Chapter XLV: Gaelic Literature, Language, and Music (5)

“The precise period when the harp was superseded by the bagpipe, it is not easy to ascertain. Roderick Morrison, usually called Ruaraidh Dall, or _Blind Roderick_, was one of the last native harpers; he was harper to the Laird of M’Leod. On the death of his master, Morrison led an itinerant life, and in 1650 he paid a visit to Robertson of Lude, on which occasion he composed a _Port_ or air, called Suipeir Thighearna Leoid or _The Laird of Lude’s Supper_, which, with other pieces, is still preserved. M’Intosh, the compiler of the Gaelic Proverbs, relates the following anecdote of Mr Robertson, who, it appears, was a harp-player himself of some eminence:--‘One night my father, James M’Intosh, said to Lude that he would be happy to hear him play on the harp, which at that time began to give place to the violin. After supper Lude and he retired to another room, in which there was a couple of harps, one of which belonged to Queen Mary. James, says Lude, here are two harps; the largest one is the loudest, but the small one is the sweetest, which do you wish to hear played? James answered the small one, which Lude took up and played upon till daylight.’

“The last harper, as is commonly supposed, was Murdoch M’Donald, harper to M’Lean of Coll. He received instructions in playing from Rory Dall in Skye, and afterwards in Ireland; and from accounts of payments made to him by M’Lean, still extant, Murdoch seems to have continued in his family till the year 1734, when he appears to have gone to Quinish, in Mull, where he died.”

The history of the _bagpipe_ is curious and interesting, but such history does not fall within the scope of this work. Although a very ancient instrument, it does not appear to have been known to the Celtic nations. It was in use among the Trojans, Greeks, and Romans, but how, or in what manner it came to be introduced into the Highlands is a question which cannot be solved. Two suppositions have been started on this point, either that it was brought in by the Romans or by the northern nations. The latter conjecture appears to be the most probable, for we cannot possibly imagine that if the bagpipe had been introduced so early as the Roman epoch, no notice should have been taken of that instrument by the more early annalists and poets. But if the bagpipe was an imported instrument, how does it happen that the great Highland pipe is peculiar to the Highlands, and is perhaps the only national instrument in Europe? If it was introduced by the Romans, or by the people of Scandinavia, how has it happened that no traces of that instrument in its present shape are to be found anywhere except in the Highlands? There is, indeed, some plausibility in these interrogatories, but they are easily answered, by supposing, what is very probable, that the great bagpipe in its present form is the work of modern improvement, and that originally the instrument was much the same as is still seen in Belgium and Italy.

The effects of this national instrument in arousing the feelings of those who have from infancy been accustomed to its wild and warlike tunes are truly astonishing. In halls of joy and in scenes of mourning it has prevailed; it has animated Scotland’s warriors in battle, and welcomed them back after their toils to the homes of their love and the hills of their nativity. Its strains were the first sounded on the ears of infancy, and they are the last to be forgotten in the wanderings of age. Even Highlanders will allow that it is not the quietest of instruments, but when far from their mountain homes, what sounds, however melodious, could thrill round their heart like one burst of their own wild native pipe? The feelings which other instruments awaken are general and undefined, because they talk alike to Frenchmen, Spaniards, Germans, and Highlanders, for they are common to all; but the bagpipe is sacred to Scotland, and speaks a language which Scotsmen only feel. It talks to them of home and all the past, and brings before them, on the burning shores of India, the wild hills and oft-frequented streams of Caledonia, the friends that are thinking of them, and the sweethearts and wives that are weeping for them there; and need it be told here to how many fields of danger and victory its proud strains have led! There is not a battle that is honourable to Britain in which its war-blast has not sounded. When every other instrument has been hushed by the confusion and carnage of the scene, it has been borne into the thick of battle, and, far in the advance, its bleeding but devoted bearer, sinking on the earth, has sounded at once encouragement to his countrymen and his own coronach.

CATALOGUE

OF

GAELIC AND IRISH MANUSCRIPTS.

As connected with the literary history of the Gaelic Celts, the following lists of Gaelic and Irish manuscripts will, it is thought, be considered interesting.

CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GAELIC MSS. IN THE POSSESSION OF THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.

1. A folio MS., beautifully written on parchment or vellum, from the
collection of the late Major Maclauchlan of Kilbride. This is the
oldest MS. in the possession of the Highland Society of Scotland.
It is marked Vo. A. No. I. The following remark is written on
the margin of the fourth leaf of the MS.:--“Oidche bealtne ann a
coimhtech mo Pupu Muirciusa agus as olc lium nach marunn diol in
linesi dem dub Misi Fithil acc furnuidhe na scoile.” Thus Englished
by the late Dr Donald Smith:--“The night of the first of May in
Coenobium of my Pope Murchus, and I regret that there is not left
of my ink enough to fill up this line. I am Fithil, an attendant on
the school.” This MS., which, from its orthography, is supposed to
be as old as the eighth or ninth century, “consists (says Dr Smith)
of a poem, moral and religious, some short historical anecdotes, a
critical exposition of the Tain, an Irish tale, which was composed
in the time of Diarmad, son of Cearval, who reigned over Ireland
from the year 544 to 565; and the Tain itself, which claims respect,
as exceeding in point of antiquity, every production of any other
vernacular tongue in Europe.”[105]

On the first page of the vellum, which was originally left blank,
there are genealogies of the families of Argyll and Mac Leod in the
Gaelic handwriting of the sixteenth century. The genealogy of the
Argyll family ends with Archibald, who succeeded to the earldom
in 1542, and died in 1588.[106] This is supposed to be the oldest
Gaelic MS. extant. Dr Smith conjectures that it may have come into
the possession of the Maclachlans of Kilbride in the sixteenth
century, as a Ferquhard, son of Ferquhard Maclachlan, was bishop of
the Isles, and had Iona or I Colum Kille in commendam from 1530 to
1544.--See _Keith’s Catalogue of Scottish Bishops_.

To the _Tain_ is prefixed the following critical exposition, giving
a brief account of it in the technical terms of the Scots literature
of the remote age in which it was written. “Ceathardha connagur in
cach ealathuin is cuincda don tsairsisi na Tana. Loc di cedumus
lighe Fercusa mhic Roich ait in rou hathnachd four mach Nai. Tempus
umorro Diarmuta mhic Ceruailt in rigno Ibeirnia. Pearsa umorro
Fergusa mhic Roich air is e rou tirchan do na hecsib ar chenu. A
tucaid scriuint dia ndeachai Seanchan Toirpda cona III. ri ecces ...
do saighe Cuaire rig Condacht.” That is--the four things which are
requisite to be known in every regular composition are to be noticed
in this work of the Tain. The _place_ of its origin is the stone of
Fergus, son of Roich, where he was buried on the plain of Nai. The
_time_ of it, besides, is that in which Diarmad, son of Cervail,
reigned over Ireland. The _author_, too, is Fergus, son of Roich;
for he it was that prompted it forthwith to the bards. The _cause_
of writing it was a visit which Shenachan Torbda, with three chief
bards, made to Guaire, king of Connaught.[107]

O’Flaherty thus concisely and accurately describes the subject and
character of the _Tain_:--“Fergusius Rogius solo pariter ac solio
Ultoniæ exterminatus, in Connactiam ad Ollilum et Maudam ibidem
regnantes profugit; quibus patrocinantibus, memorabile exarsit
bellum septannale inter Connacticos et Ultonios multis poeticis
figmentis, ut ea ferebat ætas, adornatum. Hujus belli circiter
medium, octennio ante caput æræ Christianæ Mauda regina Connactiæ,
Fergusio Rogio ductore, immensam bonum prœdam conspicuis agentium et
insectantium virtutibus memorabilem, e Cualgnio in agro Louthiano re
portavit.”[108]

From the expression, “Ut ea ferebat ætas,” Dr Smith thinks that
O’Flaherty considered the tale of the Tain as a composition of the
age to which it relates; and that of course he must not have seen
the Critical Exposition prefixed to the copy here described. From
the silence of the Irish antiquaries respecting this Exposition, it
is supposed that it must have been either unknown to, or overlooked
by them, and consequently that it was written in Scotland.

The Exposition states, that Sheannachan, with the three bards and
those in their retinue, when about to depart from the court of
Guaire, being called upon to relate the history of the _Tain bho_,
or cattle spoil of Cuailgne, acknowledged their ignorance of it, and
that having ineffectually made the round of Ireland and Scotland in
quest of it, Eimin and Muircheartach, two of their number, repaired
to the grave of Fergus, son of Roich, who, being invoked, appeared
at the end of three days in terrific grandeur, and related the whole
of the Tain, as given in the twelve Reimsgeala or Portions of which
it consists. In the historical anecdotes allusion is made to Ossian,
the son of Fingal, who is represented as showing, when young, an
inclination to indulge in solitude his natural propensity for
meditation and song. A _fac simile_ of the characters of this MS. is
given in the Highland Society’s Report upon Ossian, Plate I., fig.
1, 2, and in Plate II.

2. Another parchment MS. in quarto, equally beautiful as the former,
from the same collection. It consists of an Almanack bound up with
a paper list of all the holidays, festivals, and most remarkable
saints’ days in verse throughout the year--A Treatise on Anatomy,
abridged from Galen--Observations on the Secretions, &c.--The Schola
Salernitana, in Leonine verse, drawn up about the year 1100, for the
use of Robert, Duke of Normandy, the son of William the Conqueror,
by the famous medical school of Salerno. The Latin text is
accompanied with a Gaelic explanation, which is considered equally
faithful and elegant, of which the following is a specimen:--

_Caput I._--Anglorum regi scripsit schola tota Salerni.

1. As iat scol Salerni go hulidhe do seriou na fearsadh so do chum
rig sag san do choimhed a shlainnte.

Si vis incolumem, si vis te reddere sanum;
Curas tolle graves, irasci crede prophanum.

Madh ail bhidh fallann, agus madh aill bhidh slan; Cuir na
himsnimha troma dhit, agus creit gurub diomhain duit fearg do
dhenumh.

The words _Leabhar Giollacholaim Meigbeathadh_ are written on the
last page of this MS., which being in the same form and hand, with
the same words on a paper MS. bound up with a number of others
written upon vellum in the Advocates’ Library, and before which is
written _Liber Malcolmi Bethune_, it has been conjectured that both
works originally belonged to Malcolm Bethune, a member of a family
distinguished for learning, which supplied the Western Isles for many
ages with physicians.[109]

3. A small quarto paper MS. from the same collection, written at
Dunstaffnage by Ewen Macphaill, 12th October 1603. It consists of a
tale in prose concerning a King of Lochlin and the Heroes of Fingal:
An Address to Gaul, the son of Morni, beginning--

Goll mear mileant--
Ceap na Crodhachta--

An Elegy on one of the earls of Argyle, beginning--

A Mhic Cailin a chosg lochd;

and a poem in praise of a young lady.

4. A small octavo paper MS. from the same collection, written
by Eamonn or Edmond Mac Lachlan, 1654-5. This consists of a
miscellaneous collection of sonnets, odes, and poetical epistles,
partly Scots, and partly Irish. There is an _Ogham_ or alphabet of
secret writing near the end of it.

5. A quarto paper MS. from same collection. It wants ninety pages at
the beginning, and part of the end. What remains consists of some
ancient and modern tales and poems. The names of the authors are
not given, but an older MS. (that of the Dean of Lismore) ascribes
one of the poems to Conal, son of Edirskeol. This MS. was written
at Aird-Chonail upon Lochowe, in the years 1690 and 1691, by Ewan
Mac Lean for Colin Campbell. “Caillain Caimpbel leis in leis in
leabharan. 1, Caillin mac Dhonchai mhic Dhughil mhic Chaillain oig.”
Colin Campbell is the owner of this book, namely Colin, son of
Duncan, son of Dougal, son of Colin the younger. The above Gaelic
inscription appears on the 79th leaf of the MS.

6. A quarto paper MS., which belonged to the Rev. James MacGregor,
Dean of Lismore, the metropolitan church of the see of Argyle,
dated, page 27, 1512, written by Duncan the son of Dougal, son of
Ewen the Grizzled. This MS. consists of a large collection of Gaelic
poetry, upwards of 11,000 verses. It is said to have been written
“out of the books of the History of the Kings.” Part of the MS.,
however, which closes an obituary, commencing in 1077, of the kings
of Scotland, and other eminent persons of Scotland, particularly
of the shires of Argyle and Perth, was not written till 1527. The
poetical pieces are from the times of the most ancient bards down to
the beginning of the sixteenth century. The more ancient pieces are
poems of Conal, son of Edirskeol, Ossian, son of Fingal, Fearghas
Fili (Fergus the bard), and Caoilt, son of Ronan, the friends and
contemporaries of Ossian. This collection also contains the works of
Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchay, who fell in the battle of Flodden,
and Lady Isabel Campbell, daughter of the Earl of Argyle, and wife
of Gilbert, Earl of Cassilis.[110] “The writer of this MS. (says Dr
Smith) rejected the ancient character for the current handwriting
of the time, and adopted a new mode of spelling conformable to the
Latin and English sounds of his own age and country, but retained
the aspirate mark (’).... The Welsh had long before made a similar
change in their ancient orthography. Mr Edward Lhuyd recommended it,
with some variation, in a letter to the Scots and Irish, prefixed
to his Dictionary of their language in the Archæologia Britannica.
The bishop of Sodor and Man observed it in the devotional exercises,
admonition, and catechism, which he published for the use of his
diocese. It was continued in the Manx translation of the Scriptures,
and it has lately been adopted by Dr Reilly, titular Primate of
Ireland, in his TAGASG KREESTY, or _Christian Doctrine_. But yet
it must be acknowledged to be much inferior to the ancient mode of
orthography, which has not only the advantage of being grounded on a
knowledge of the principles of grammar, and philosophy of language,
but of being also more plain and easy. This volume of the Dean’s
is curious, as distinguishing the genuine poetry of Ossian from
the imitations made of it by later bards, and as ascertaining the
degree of accuracy with which ancient poems have been transmitted by
tradition for the last three hundred years, during a century of which
the order of bards has been extinct, and ancient manners and customs
have suffered a great and rapid change in the Highlands.”[111] A _fac
simile_ of the writing is given in the Report of the Committee of the
Highland Society, plate III. No. 5. Since the above was written, the
whole of this manuscript, with a few unimportant exceptions, has been
transcribed, translated, and annotated by the Rev. Dr M’Lauchlan,
Edinburgh, and an introductory chapter was furnished by W. F.
Skene, Esq., LL.D. The work has been published by Messrs Edmonston
& Douglas, of Edinburgh, and is a valuable addition to our Gaelic
literature.

7. A quarto paper MS. written in a very beautiful regular hand,
without date or the name of the writer. It is supposed to be at least
two hundred years old, and consists of a number of ancient tales and
short poems. These appear to be transcribed from a much older MS., as
there is a vocabulary of ancient words in the middle of the MS. Some
of the poetry is ascribed to Cuchulin.

8. Another quarto paper MS. the beginning and end of which have
been lost. It consists partly of prose, partly of poetry. With the
exception of two loose leaves, which appear much older, the whole
appears to have been written in the 17th century. The poetry, though
ancient, is not Fingalian. The name, Tadg Og CC., before one of the
poems near the end, is the only one to be seen upon it.

9. A quarto parchment MS. consisting of 42 leaves, written by
different hands, with illuminated capitals. It appears at one time to
have consisted of four different MSS. bound to together and covered
with skin, to preserve them. This MS. is very ancient and beautiful,
though much soiled. In this collection is a life of St Columba,
supposed, from the character, (being similar to No. 27,) to be of the
twelfth or thirteenth century.

10. A quarto parchment medical MS. beautifully written. No date or
name, but the MS. appears to be very ancient.

11. A quarto paper MS., partly prose, partly verse, written in a very
coarse and indifferent hand. No date or name.

12. A small quarto MS. coarse. Bears date 1647, without name.

13. A small long octavo paper MS. the beginning and end lost,
and without any date. It is supposed to have been written by the
Macvurichs of the fifteenth century. Two of the poems are ascribed to
Tadg Mac Daire Bruaidheadh, others to Brian O’Donalan.

14. A large folio parchment MS. in two columns, containing a tale
upon Cuchullin and Conal, two of Ossian’s heroes. Without date or
name and very ancient.

15. A large quarto parchment of 7½ leaves, supposed by Mr Astle,
author of the work on the origin and progress of writing, to be of
the ninth or tenth century. Its title is _Emanuel_, a name commonly
given by the old Gaelic writers to many of their miscellaneous
writings. Engraved specimens of this MS. are to be seen in the first
edition of Mr Astle’s work above-mentioned, 18th plate, Nos. 1 and
2, and in his second edition, plate 22. Some of the capitals in the
MS. are painted red. It is written in a strong beautiful hand, in the
same character as the rest. This MS. is only the fragment of a large
work on ancient history, written on the authority of Greek and Roman
writers, and interspersed with notices of the arts, armour, dress,
superstitions, manners, and usages, of the Scots of the author’s own
time. In this MS. there is a chapter titled, “_Slogha Chesair an Inis
Bhreatan_,” or Cæsar’s expedition to the island of Britain, in which
_Lechlin_, a country celebrated in the ancient poems and tales of the
Gäel, is mentioned as separated from Gaul by “the clear current of
the Rhine.” Dr Donald Smith had a complete copy of this work.

16. A small octavo parchment MS. consisting of a tale in prose,
imperfect. Supposed to be nearly as old as the last mentioned MS.

17. A small octavo paper MS. stitched, imperfect; written by the
Macvurichs. It begins with a poem upon Darthula, different from
Macpherson’s, and contains poems written by Cathal and Nial Mor
Macvurich, (whose names appear at the beginning of some of the
poems,) composed in the reign of King James the Fifth, Mary, and
King Charles the First. It also contains some Ossianic poems, such
as Cnoc an àir, &c. i.e. The Hill of Slaughter, supposed to be part
of Macpherson’s Fingal. It is the story of a woman who came walking
alone to the Fingalians for protection from Taile, who was in pursuit
of her. Taile fought them, and was killed by Oscar. There was another
copy of this poem in Clanranald’s little book--not the Red book,
as erroneously supposed by Laing. The Highland Society are also in
possession of several copies taken from oral tradition. The second
Ossianic poem in this MS. begins thus:

Sè la gus an dè
O nach fhaca mi fein Fionn.

It is now six days yesterday
Since I have not seen Fingal.

18. An octavo paper MS. consisting chiefly of poetry, but very much
defaced. Supposed to have been written by the last of the Macvurichs,
but without date. The names of Tadg Og and Lauchlan Mac Taidg occur
upon it. It is supposed to have been copied from a more ancient MS.
as the poetry is good.

19. A very small octavo MS. written by some of the Macvurichs. Part
of it is a copy of Clanranald’s book, and contains the genealogy of
the Lords of the Isles and others of that great clan. The second part
consists of a genealogy of the kings of Ireland (ancestors of the
Macdonalds) from Scota and Gathelic. The last date upon it is 1616.

20. A paper MS. consisting of a genealogy of the kings of Ireland, of
a few leaves only, and without date.

21. A paper MS. consisting of detached leaves of different sizes,
and containing, 1. The conclusion of a Gaelic chronicle of the kings
of Scotland down to King Robert III.; 2. A Fingalian tale, in which
the heroes are Fingal, Goll Mac Morni, Oscar, Ossian, and Conan; 3.
A poem by Macdonald of Benbecula, dated 1722, upon the unwritten
part of a letter sent to Donald Macvurich of Stialgary; 4. A poem
by Donald Mackenzie; 5. Another by Tadg Og CC, copied from some
other MS.; 6. A poem by Donald Macvurich upon Ronald Macdonald of
Clanranald. Besides several hymns by Tadg, and other poems by the
Macvurichs and others.

22. A paper MS. consisting of religious tracts and genealogy, without
name or date.

23. A paper MS. containing instruction for children in Gaelic and
English. Modern, and without date.

24. Fragments of a paper MS., with the name of Cathelus Macvurich
upon some of the leaves, and Niall Macvurich upon some others. _Conn
Mac an Deirg_, a well known ancient poem, is written in the Roman
character by the last Niall Macvurich, the last Highland bard, and is
the only one among all the Gaelic MSS. in that character.

With the exception of the first five numbers, all the before
mentioned MSS. were presented by the Highland Society of London
to the Highland Society of Scotland in January, 1803, on the
application of the committee appointed to inquire into the nature
and authenticity of the poems of Ossian. All these MSS. (with the
single exception of the Dean of Lismore’s volume,) are written in the
very ancient form of character which was common of old to Britain
and Ireland, and supposed to have been adopted by the Saxons at
the time of their conversion to Christianity. This form of writing
has been discontinued for nearly eighty years in Scotland, as the
last specimen which the Highland Society of Scotland received of it
consists of a volume of songs, supposed to have been written between
the years 1752 and 1768, as it contains a song written by Duncan
Macintyre, titled, _An Taileir Mac Neachdain_, which he composed
the former year, the first edition of Macintyre’s songs having been
published during the latter year.[112]

25. Besides these, the Society possesses a collection of MS. Gaelic
poems made by Mr Duncan Kennedy, formerly schoolmaster at Craignish
in Argyleshire, in three thin folio volumes. Two of them are written
out fair from the various poems he had collected about sixty years
ago. This collection consists of the following poems, viz., Luachair
Leothaid, Sgiathan mac Sgairbh, An Gruagach, Rochd, Sithallan, Mùr
Bheura, Tiomban, Sealg na Cluana, Gleanncruadhach, Uirnigh Oisein,
Earragan, (resembling Macpherson’s Battle of Lora,) Manus, Maire
Borb, (Maid of Craca,) Cath Sisear, Sliabh nam Beann Sionn, Bas
Dheirg, Bas Chuinn, Righ Liur, Sealg na Leana, Dun an Oir, An Cu
dubh, Gleann Diamhair, Conal, Bas Chiuinlaich Diarmad, Carril, Bas
Ghuill (different from the Death of Gaul published by Dr Smith,)
Garaibh, Bas Oscair, (part of which is the same narrative with the
opening of Macpherson’s _Temora_,) in three parts; Tuiridh nam
Fian, and Bass Osein. To each of these poems Kennedy has prefixed
a dissertation containing some account of the _Sgealachd_ story,
or argument of the poem which is to follow. It was very common for
the reciter, or _history-man_, as he was termed in the Highlands,
to repeat the Sgealachds to his hearers before reciting the poems
to which they related. Several of the poems in this collection
correspond pretty nearly with the ancient MS. above mentioned, which
belonged to the Dean of Lismore.[113]

26. A paper, medical, MS. in the old Gaelic character, a thick
volume, written by Angus Connacher at Ardconel, Lochow-side,
Argyleshire, 1612, presented to the Highland Society of Scotland by
the late William Macdonald, Esq. of St Martins, W.S.

27. A beautiful parchment MS., greatly mutilated, in the same
character, presented to the Society by the late Lord Bannatyne,
one of the judges of the Court of Session. The supposed date upon
the cover is 1238, is written in black letter, but it is in a
comparatively modern hand. “Gleann Masain an cuige la deag do an ...
Mh : : : do bhlian ar tsaoirse Mile da chead, trichid sa hocht.” That
is, Glen-Masan, the 15th day of the ... of M : : : of the year of our
Redemption 1238. It is supposed that the date has been taken from the
MS. when in a more entire state. Glenmasan, where it was written,
is a valley in the district of Cowal. From a note on the margin of
the 15th leaf, it would appear to have formerly belonged to the
Rev. William Campbell, minister of Kilchrenan and Dalavich, and a
native of Cowal, and to whom Dr D. Smith supposes it may, perhaps,
have descended from his grand-uncle, Mr Robert Campbell, in Cowal, an
accomplished scholar and poet, who wrote the eighth address prefixed
to Lhuyd’s _Archæologia_.

The MS. consists of some mutilated tales in prose, interspersed with
verse, one of which is part of the poem of “Clan Uisneachan,” called
by Macpherson _Darthula_, from the lady who makes the principal
figure in it. The name of this lady in Gaelic is Deirdir, or
Dearduil. A _fac simile_ of the writing is given in the appendix to
the Highland Society’s Report on Ossian. Plate iii. No. 4.

28. A paper MS. in the same character, consisting of an ancient tale
in prose, presented to the Society by Mr Norman Macleod, son of the
Rev. Mr Macleod of Morven.

29. A small paper MS. in the same character, on religion.

30. A paper MS. in the same character, presented to the Highland
Society by James Grant, Esquire of Corymony. It consists of the
history of the wars of Cuchullin, in prose and verse. This MS. is
much worn at the ends and edges. It formerly belonged to Mr
Grant’s mother, said to have been an excellent Gaelic scholar.

CATALOGUE OF ANCIENT GAELIC MSS. WHICH BELONGED TO THE LATE MAJOR MACLAUCHLAN OF KILBRIDE, BESIDES THE FIVE FIRST ENUMERATED IN THE FOREGOING LIST, AND WHICH ARE NOW IN THE ADVOCATES’ LIBRARY, EDINBURGH.

1. A beautiful medical MS. with the other MSS. formerly belonging to
the collection. The titles of the different articles are in Latin,
as are all the medical Gaelic MSS., being translations from Galen
and other ancient physicians. The capital letters are flourished and
painted red.

2. A thick folio paper MS., medical, written by Duncan Conacher, at
Dunollie, Argyleshire, 1511.

3. A folio parchment MS. consisting of ancient Scottish and Irish
history, very old.

4. A folio parchment medical MS. beautifully written. It is older
than the other medical MSS.

5. A folio parchment medical MS. of equal beauty with the last.

6. A folio parchment MS. upon the same subject, and nearly of the
same age with the former.

7. A folio parchment, partly religious, partly medical.

8. A folio parchment MS. consisting of the Histories of Scotland and
Ireland, much damaged.

9. A folio parchment medical MS., very old.

10. A folio parchment MS. Irish history and poetry.

11. A quarto parchment MS., very old.

12. A long duodecimo parchment MS. consisting of hymns and maxims.
It is a very beautiful MS., and may be as old as the time of St
Columba.

13. A duodecimo parchment MS. much damaged and illegible.

14. A duodecimo parchment MS. consisting of poetry, but not
Ossianic. Hardly legible.

15. A duodecimo parchment MS. much injured by vermin. It consists of
a miscellaneous collection of history and poetry.

16. A duodecimo parchment MS. in large beautiful letter, very old
and difficult to be understood.

17. A folio parchment MS. consisting of the genealogies of the
Macdonalds, Macniels, Macdougals, Maclauchlans, &c.

All these MSS. are written in the old Gaelic character, and, with
the exception of No. 2, have neither date nor name attached to them.

Besides those enumerated, there are, it is believed, many ancient
Gaelic MSS. existing in private libraries. The following are known:--

A Deed of Fosterage between Sir Norman Macleod of Bernera, and John
Mackenzie, executed in the year 1640. This circumstance shows that
the Gaelic language was in use in legal obligations at that period
in the Highlands. This MS. was in the possession of the late Lord
Bannatyne.

A variety of parchment MSS. on medicine, in the Gaelic character,
formerly in the possession of the late Dr Donald Smith. He was also
possessed of a complete copy of the Emanuel MS. before mentioned,
and of copies of many other MSS., which he made at different times
from other MSS.

Two paper MS. Gaelic grammars, in the same character, formerly in
the possession of the late Dr Wright of Edinburgh.

Two ancient parchment MSS. in the same character, formerly in the
possession of the late Rev. James Maclagan, at Blair-Athole. Now in
possession of his family. It is chiefly Irish history.

A paper MS. written in the Roman character, in the possession of Mr
Matheson of Fearnaig, Ross-shire. It is dated in 1688, and consists
of songs and hymns by different persons, some by Carswell, Bishop of
the Isles. There is reason to fear that this MS. has been lost.

A paper MS. formerly in the possession of a Mr Simpson in Leith.

The Lilium Medecinæ, a paper folio MS. written and translated by
one of the Bethunes, the physicians of Skye, at the foot of Mount
Peliop. It was given to the Antiquarian Society of London by the
late Dr Macqueen of Kilmore, in Skye.

Two treatises, one on astronomy, the other on medicine, written in
the latter end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth
century, formerly in the possession of Mr Astle.

GAELIC AND IRISH MSS. IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

IN THE ADVOCATES’ LIBRARY.

Three volumes MS. in the old character, chiefly medical, with some
fragments of Scottish and Irish history; and the life of St Columba,
said to have been translated from the Latin into Gaelic, by Father
Calohoran.

IN THE HARLEIAN LIBRARY.

A MS. volume (No. 5280) containing twenty-one Gaelic or Irish
treatises, of which Mr Astle has given some account. One of these
treats of the Irish militia, under Fion Maccumhail, in the reign of
Cormac-MacAirt, king of Ireland, and of the course of probation or
exercise which each soldier was to go through before his admission
therein. Mr Astle has given a _fac simile_ of the writing, being the
thirteenth specimen of Plate xxii.

IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD.

An old Irish MS. on parchment, containing, among other tracts, An
account of the Conquest of Britain by the Romans:--Of the Saxon
Conquest and their Heptarchy:--An account of the Irish Saints,
in verse, written in the tenth century:--The Saints of the Roman
Breviary:--An account of the Conversion of the Irish and English to
Christianity, with some other subjects. Laud. F. 92. This book, as
is common in old Irish manuscripts, has here and there some Latin
notes intermixed with Irish, and may possibly contain some hints of
the doctrines of the Druids.

An old vellum MS. of 140 pages, in the form of a music-book,
containing the works of St Columba, in verse, with some account of
his own life; his exhortations to princes and his prophecies. Laud.
D. 17.

A chronological history of Ireland, by Jeffrey Keating, D.D.

_Among the Clarendon MSS. at Oxford are_--

Annales Ultonienses, sic dicti quod precipué contineant res gestas
Ultoniensium. Codex antiquissimus caractere Hibernico scriptus; sed
sermone, partim Hibernico, partim Latino. Fol. membr. The 16th and
17th specimens in Plate xxii. of Astle’s work are taken from this
MS., which is numbered 31 of Dr Rawlinson’s MSS.

Annales Tigernaci (Erenaci. ut opiniatur Warœus Clonmanaisensis.
Vid. Annal. Ulton. ad an. 1088), mutili in initio et alibi. Liber
charactere et lingua Hibernicis scriptus. Memb.

These annals, which are written in the old Irish character, were
originally collected by Sir James Ware, and came into the possession
successively of the Earl of Clarendon, the Duke of Chandos, and of
Dr Rawlinson.

Miscellanea de Rebus Hibernicis, metricè. Lingua partim Latina,
partim Hibernica; collecta per Œngusium O’Colode (fortè Colidium).
Hic liber vulgò Psalter Na rann appellatur.

Elegiæ Hibernicæ in Obitus quorundam Nobilium fo. 50.

Notæ quædam Philosophicæ, partim Latiné, partim Hibernicé,
Characteribus Hibernicis, fo. 69. Membr.

Anonymi cujusdàm Tractatus de varies apud Hibernos veteres occultis
scribendi Formulis, Hibernicé Ogum dictis.

Finleachi O Catalai Gigantomachia (vel potiùs Acta Finni Mac
Cuil, cum Prœlio de Fintra), Hibernicé. Colloquia quædam de Rebus
Hibernicis in quibus colloquentes introducuntur S. Patricius,
Coillius, et Ossenus Hibernicé f. 12. Leges Ecclesiasticæ Hibernicé
f. 53. Membr.

Vitæ Sanctorum Hibernicorum, per Magnum sive Manum, filium Hugonis
O’Donnel, Hibernigé descriptæ. An. 1532, Fol. Membr.

Calieni Prophetiæ, in Lingua Hibernica. Ejusdem libri exemplar extat
in Bibl. Cotton, f. 22. b.

Extracto ex Libro Killensi, Lingua Hibernica, f. 39.

Historica quædam, Hibernicé, ab An. 130, ad An. 1317, f. 231.

A Book of Irish Poetry, f. 16.

Tractatus de Scriptoribus Hibernicis.

Dr Keating’s History of Ireland.

_Irish MSS. in Trinity College, Dublin_:--

Extracto ex Libro de Kells Hibernicé.

A book in Irish, treating,--1. Of the Building of Babel. 2. Of
Grammar. 3. Of Physic. 4. Of Chirurgery. Fol. D. 10.

A book containing several ancient historical matters, especially of
the coming of Milesius out of Spain. B. 35.

The book of Balimote, containing,--1. The Genealogies of all
the ancient Families in Ireland. 2. The Uracept, or a book for
the education of youth, written by K. Comfoilus Sapiens. 3. The
Ogma, or Art of Writing in Characters. 4. The History of the Wars
of Troy, with other historical matters contained in the book of
Lecane, D. 18. The book of Lecane, _alias_ Sligo, contains the
following treatises:--1. A treatise of Ireland and its divisions
into provinces, with the history of the Irish kings and sovereigns,
answerable to the general history; but nine leaves are wanting. 2.
How the race of Milesius came into Ireland, and of their adventures
since Moses’s passing through the Red Sea. 3. Of the descent and
years of the ancient fathers. 4. A catalogue of the kings of
Ireland in verse. 5. The maternal genealogies and degrees of the
Irish saints. 6. The genealogies of our Lady, Joseph, and several
other saints mentioned in the Scripture. 7. An alphabetic catalogue
of Irish saints. 8. The sacred antiquity of the Irish saints in
verse. 9. Cormac’s life. 10. Several transactions of the monarchs
of Ireland and their provincial kings. 11. The history of Eogain
M’or, Knight; as also of his children and posterity. 12. O’Neil’s
pedigree. 13. Several battles of the Sept of Cinet Ogen, or tribe
of Owen, from Owen Mac Neile Mac Donnoch. 14. Manne, the son of
King Neal, of the nine hostages and his family. 15. Fiacha, the son
of Mac Neil and his Sept. 16. Leogarius, son of Nelus Magnus, and
his tribe. 17. The Connaught book. 18. The book of Fiatrach. 19.
The book of Uriel. 20. The Leinster book. 21. The descent of the
Fochards, or the Nolans. 22. The descent of those of Leix, or the
O’Mores. 23. The descent of Decyes of Munster, or the Ophelans.
24. The coming of Muscrey to Moybreagh. 25. A commentary upon the
antiquity of Albany, now called Scotland. 26. The descent of some
Septs of the Irish, different from those of the most known sort,
that is, of the posterity of Lugadh Frith. 27. The Ulster book. 28.
The British book. 29. The Uracept, or a book for the education of
youth, written by K. Comfoilus Sapiens. 30. The genealogies of St
Patrick and other saints, as also an etymology of the hard words
in the said treatise. 31. A treatise of several prophecies. 32.
The laws, customs, exploits, and tributes of the Irish kings and
provincials. 33. A treatise of Eva, and the famous women of ancient
times. 34. A poem that treats of Adam and his posterity. 35. The
Munster book. 36. A book containing the etymology of all the names
of the chief territories and notable places in Ireland. 37. Of
the several invasions of Clan-Partholan, Clan-nan vies, Firbolhg,
Tu’atha de Danaan, and the Milesians into Ireland. 38. A treatise of
the most considerable men in Ireland, from the time of Leogarius the
son of Nelus Magnus, alias Neale of the nine hostages in the time of
Roderic O’Conner, monarch of Ireland, fol. parchment. D. 19.

De Chirurgia. De Infirmitatibus Corporis humane, Hibernicé, f.
Membr. C. 1.

Excerpta quædam de antiquitatibus Incolarum, Dublin ex libris
Bellemorensi et Sligantino, Hibernicé.

Hymni in laudem B. Patricii, Brigidæ et Columbiæ, Hibern. plerumque.
Invocationes Apostolorum et SS. cum not. Hibern. interlin. et
margin. Orationes quædam excerptæ ex Psalmis; partim Latiné, partim
Hibernicé, fol. Membr. I. 125.

Opera Galeni et Hippocratis de Chirurgia, Hibernicé, fol. Membr. C.
29.

A book of Postils in Irish, fol. Membr. D. 24.

Certain prayers, with the argument of the four Gospels and the Acts,
in Irish (10.), ’Fiechi Slebthiensis. Hymnus in laudem S. Patricii,
Hibernicé (12.), A hymn on St Bridget, in Irish, made by Columkill
in the time of Eda Mac Ainmireck, cum Regibus Hibern. et success. S.
Patricii (14.), Sanctani Hymnus. Hibern.

Reverendissimi D. Bedelli Translatio Hibernica S. Bibliorum.

BRITISH MUSEUM.

In addition to the above, there has been a considerable collection
of Gaelic MSS. made at the British Museum. They were all catalogued
a few years ago by the late Eugene O’Curry, Esq. It is unnecessary
to give the list here, but Mr O’Curry’s catalogue will be found
an admirable directory for any inquirer at the Museum. Foreign
libraries also contain many such MSS.

FOOTNOTES:

[96] _Early Scottish Church_, p. 146.

[97] P. 57.

[98] _Fo_ here and elsewhere in the poem seems to represent _fa_, upon, rather than _ar_, as Mr Skene supposes.

[99] _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, Int. p. xxxvii.

[100] P. 275.

[101] From _Dean of Lismore’s Book_, with a few verbal alterations, p. 157.

[102] _Irish Grammar_, p. 449.

[103] This question has been recently discussed by the Rev. Archibald Clerk of Kilmallie, in his elegant edition of the _Poems of Ossian_, published since the above was written, under the auspices of the Marquis of Bute. We refer our readers to Mr Clerk’s treatise for a great deal of varied and interesting information on this subject.

[104] Logan on the _Scottish Gael_, vol. ii. 252-3.

[105] Report of the Committee of the Highland Society of Scotland on the Poems of Ossian, App. No. xix., p. 290.

[106] It is, therefore, probable that these genealogies were written about the middle of the sixteenth century. A fac simile of the writing is to be found in the Report of the Committee of the Highland Society on the authenticity of Ossian, Plate II.

[107] Report of the Committee of the Highland Society on Ossian, App. No. xix., p. 291.

[108] Ogyg., p. 275.

[109] Appendix, _ut supra_, No. xix.

[110] Report of the Highland Society on Ossian. p. 92.

[111] Appendix to the Highland Society’s Report, p. 300-1.

[112] Report on Ossian, Appendix, p. 312.

[113] Report on Ossian, pp. 108-9.

PART SECOND.

HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLANS.