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CARMINA GADELICA
ORTHA NAN GAIDHEAL
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i7W Is/an,.
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on Words, Rites, and Customs,
':■ Collected in the Highlands
iJ Translated into English
r Carmtchael
Volume i
Boyd
Lc
iceddale Court noster Row, E.C. 4
•28
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Carmina Gadelica
Hymns and Incantations
With Illustrative Notes on Words, Rites, and Customs, Dying and Obsolete : Orally Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Translated into English
By Alexander Carmichael
Volume I
Oliver and Boyd
Edinburgh : Tweeddale Court London: 33 Paternoster Row, E.C.4
1928
First Edition 1900
Second Edition 1928
ORTHA NAN GAIDHEAL
URNAN AGUS UBAGAN
LE SOLUS AIR FACLA GNATHA AGUS
CLEACHDANA A CHAIDH AIR CHUL
CNUASAICHTE BHO BHIALACHAS
FEADH GAIDHEALTACHD NA H-ALBA
AGUS TIONNDAICHTE
BHO GHAIDHLIG GU BEURLA, LE
ALASTAIR MACGILLEMHICHEIL
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
This work, of which only a limited edition was published in 1900, has long been difficult to get, and at a prohibitive price.
The Collector of the Poems and many of those whom he has mentioned in the Introduction have passed to the other side.
Important changes for the better have taken place in Highland agriculture and land tenure, and enlightened views on the value and use of Gaelic are now more prevalent. But much literature has been lost which can never be recalled or replaced, and the number of Gaelic speakers has greatly decreased.
The present issue contains all the matter in the original volumes. Some misprints have been corrected, and a few unimportant alterations have been made. Deviations from ordinary Gaelic speDing and grammar reflect the language of the reciters.
It is intended to publish further volumes from Dr Carmichael's Collections.
E. C. C. W.
1928.
^3
CONTENTS
ACHAINE
1. Rann ronih Uriiuigh
Ta mi lubadh mo ghlun
2. Dia liom a laighe
Dia liom a laighe
3. Ora nam Buadh
lonnlairae do bhasa
4. Achanaidh choitcheann
Dhe, eisd ri m' urnuigh
5. Dhe bi maille ruinn
Dhe bi maille ruinn
6. los, a Mhic Muire
los, a Mhic Muire
7. Athair Naomha na Gloir
Buidheachas duit, Athair Naomha
8. Uirnigh
A Dhia, ann mo ghniamh
9. Duan na Muthairn
A Righ na gile
10. Beannaich, a Thriath
Beannaich, a Thriath nam flath fial
11. Solus-iuil na Siorruidheachd
Dhe, thug mis a fois na h-oidhch
12. Achanaidh Grais
Ta mi lubadh mo ghlun
PAGE
3
INVOCATIONS
Rune before Prayer I am bending my knee
God with me lying down God with me lying down
The Invocation of the Graces I bathe thy palms
A general Supplication God, listen to my prayer
God be with us God be with us
Jesu, Thou Son of Mary Jesu, Thou Son of Mary
Holy Father of Glory
Thanks be to Thee, Holy Father
A Prayer
O God, in my deeds
Rune of the ' Muthairn '
Thou King of the moon
Bless, O Chief
Bless, O Chief of generous chiefs
The guiding light of Eternity 33
0 God, who broughtst me
A Prayer for Grace 35
1 am bending my knee
13
15
19
23
27
29
31
CONTENTS
13. Achanaidh Comhnadh
Bho is tu is Buachaill
14. Eosai bu choir a mholadh
Bu cho fus a dh' losa
15. Carraig nan Al
Air Carraig nan al
16. Sorchar nan Reul
Feuch Sorchar nan reul
17. Crois nan Naonih
Crois nan naomh
18. An t-Aingheal Diona
Ainghil Dhe a fhuair mo churara
19. Ruin
Labhram gach la a reir do cheartais
20. Ora Ceartais
lonnlaidh raise ra' aodann
21. Ora Ceartais
Dhe, tha mi liuthaU m' aodainn
22. OraBuaidh
lonnlaidh mi m' aodann
23. An Liuthail
Ta mi liuthail m' aodainn
24. Ora Boisilidh
Boisileag air th' aois
25. Dhe stiuir mi
Dhe stiuir mi le d' ghliocas
26. Beannachadh Cadail
Biodh do lamh dheas, a Dhe
27. Thigeam an Diugh
Thigeam an diugh 'an t-Athair
PAGE
Prayer for Protection 37
As Thou art the Shepherd
Jesu who ought to be praised 39
It were as easy for Jesu The Rock of Rocks 43
On the Rock of rocks
The Lightener of the Stars 45 Behold the Lightener of the stars
The Cross of the Saints 47
The cross of the saints
The Guardian Angel 49
Thou angel of God who hast charge
Desires 51
May I speak each day accord- ing to Thy justice
Invocation for Justice 53
I will wash my face
Invocation for Justice 55
God, I am bathing my face
Prayer for Victory 57
I bathe my face
The Lustration 59
I am bathing my face
Bathing Prayer 61
A palmful for thine age God guide me 65
God guide me with Thy wisdom
Sleep Blessing 67
Be Thy right hand, O God
Come I this Day 69
Come I this day to the Father
CONTENTS
AIR.
28.
29.
An Achanaidh Anama O los, a nochd
Urnuigh Chadail Ta mi cur m' anama 's mo
The Soul Plaint
0 Jesu ! to-night
Sleeping Prayer
1 am placing my soul and my
Laighim sios an nochd
38. A Choich Anama
Dhe tabhair aithne
39. Coich-Anama
Ainghil Dhe, a fhuair mo churam
40. Laighim am Leabaidh
Laighim am leabaidh
41. Urnuigh Maduinn
Taing dhut losda Criosda
42. An Tionnsgann
Taing dhuit, a Dhe
FAOB
71 73
|
30. |
chorp Tiubhradh nan Tri Spioraid tiubhair dhomh do phailteas |
body The Gifts of the Three Spirit, give me of Thine abundance |
75 |
|
31. |
Urnuigh Chadail 0 los gun lochd |
Sleep Prayer O Jesu without sin |
77 |
|
32. |
Beannachd Taimh An ainm an Tighearn losa |
Resting Blessing In name of the Lord Jesus |
79 |
|
33. |
Coisrig Cadail Luighim sios an nochd |
Sleep Consecration I lie down to-night |
81 |
|
34. |
Beannachadh Leapa Laighim sios an nochd mar is coir |
Bed Blessing I am lying down to-night as beseems |
83 |
|
35. |
An Urnuigh Chadail Tha mis a nis a dol dh' an chadal |
The Sleep Prayer I am now going into the sleep |
85 |
|
36. |
Coisrig Cadail Ta mise laighe nochd |
Sleep Consecration I am lying down to-night |
87 |
|
37. |
Beannachadh Leapa |
Bed Blessing |
89 |
I am lying down to-night
The Soul Shrine 91
God, give charge
Soul-Shrine 93
Thou angel of God who hast charge
I lie in my Bed 95
I lie in ray bed
Morning Prayer 97
Thanks be to Thee, Jesus Christ
The Dedication 99
Thanks to Thee, God
xii CONTENTS
AIR.
43. Achanaidh Taimh
Dhe, teasruig an tigh
44. Teisreadh Taighe
Dhe,beannakh an ce 's na bheilann
45. Beannachadh Taiglie
Dhe, beannaich an taigh
46. Co dha dhiolas mi Cios
Co dha dhiolas mi cios
47. Earna Mhoire
Failt, a Mlioire ! failt, a Mhoire !
48. Failte a Mhoire
Failte dhuit, a Mhoire Mhathair !
49. An Cath nach tainig
losa Mhic Mhoire
50. Am Beannachadh Baistidh
Thi, tha comhnadh nan ard
51. An Treoraich Anama
An t-anam-s' air do laimh
52. Am Beannachadh Bais
Dhia, na diobair a bhean
53. Fois Anama
O "s tus a Chriosd a cheannaich
54. A Ghealach ur
An ainm Spiorad Naomh nan gras
A resting Prayer
God shield the house
101
103
House Protecting God, bless the world
Blessing of House 105
God bless the house
To whom shall I offer 107
To whom shall I offer oblation
Hail, Mary 109
Hail, Mary ! hail, Mary !
Hail to Thee, Mary 111
Hail to thee, Mary, Mother !
The Battle to come 113
Jesus, Thou Son of Mary
The Baptism Blessing 115
Thou Being who inhabitest
The Soul Leading 117
Be this soul on Thine arm
The Death Blessing 119
God, omit not this woman
Soul Peace 121
Since Thou Christ it was
The new Moon 123
In name of the Holy Spirit of grace
AIMSIRE
55. Nuall Nollaig
Ho Ri, ho Ri
56. Duan Nollaig
Hoire ! hoire ! beannaicht e !
SEASONS
Christmas Hail 127
Hail to the King, hail to the King
Christmas Carol 133
HailKing! haUKing! blessed is He!
CONTENTS
57. Duan Nollaig
Hoire ! hoire ! beannaicht e !
58. Heire Bannag
Heire Bannag, hoire Bannag
59. Heire Bannag, hoire Bannag
Heire Bannag, hoire Bannag
60. Bannag nam Buadh
Is mise Bannag, is mise Bochd
61. An Oigh agus an Leanabh
Chunnacas an Oigh a teachd
62. Rugadh Buachaille
Oidhche sin a dhealraich an reiilt
63. Calluinn a Bhuilg
Calluinn a bhuilg
64. Cairioll Callaig
Nis tha mis air tighinn dh' ur duthaic'h
65. Duan Callaig
Nist o thaine sinn dh' an duthaich
66. Oidhche Challaig
Tliaine sinne chon an doriiis
67. Beannachadh Bliadhna Uir
Dhe, beannaich dhomh an la ur
68. Criosda Cleireach os ar cionn
Criosda Cleireach os ar cionn
69. LaChaluim-Chille
Daorn Chalum-chille chaoirah
70. Sloinntireachd Bhride
Sloinneadh na Ban-naomh
71. Bride Ban-Chobhair
Thainig thugam cobhair
PAGE
Christinas Chant 135
Hail King I hail King !
Hey the Gift 139
Hey the Gift, ho the Gift
Hey the Gift, ho the Gift 141 Hey the Gift, ho the Gift
The Gift of Power 143
I am the Gift, I am the Poor
The Virgin and Child 145
Behold the Virgin approaching
The Shepherd of the Flock 147 That night the star shone
Hogmanay of the Sack
Hogmanay of the sack
Hogmanay Carol
I am now come to your country
149 151
153
The Song of Hogmanay
Now since we came to the country
Hogmanay 157
We are come to the door
Blessing of the New Year 159 God, bless to me the new day
Christ the Priest above us 161 Christ the Priest above us
The Day of St Columba 163
Thursday of Columba benign
Genealogy of Bride 164
The genealogy of the holy maiden
Bride the Aid- Woman 177
There came to me assistance
CONTENTS
72. Manus mo Ruin
A Mhanuis mo ruin
73. Am Beannachadh Bealltain
Beannaich, a Thrianailt
74. Am Beannachd Bealltain
A Mhoire, a mhathair nan naomh
75. Laoidh an Trial!
Mhicheil mhil nan steud geala
76. La Feill Moire
La feiU Moire cubhr
77. Micheal nam Buadh
Mhicheil nam buadh
78. An Beannachadh Struain
Gach min tha fo m' chleibh
79. Duan an Domhnuich
Duan an Domhnuich
80. Duan an Domhnaich
An Domhnach naomha do Dhe
81. Duan na Dilinn
Di-luain thig
PAGE
Magnus of my Love 179
O Magnus of my love
The Beltane Blessing 183
Bless, O Threefold
The Beltane Blessing 187
Mary, thou mother of saints
Hymn of the Procession 190
Valiant Michael of the white steeds
The Feast Day of Mary 195
On the feast day of Mary the fragrant
Michael, the Victorious 198
Thou Michael the victorious
The Blessing of the ' Strilan ' 213 Each meal beneath my roof
Poem of the Lord's Day 217
The Poem of the Lord's Day
Hymn of the Sunday 223
On the Holy Sunday of thy God
Poem of the Flood 225
On Monday ^vill come
OIBRE
LABOUR
82. Beannachadh Beothachaidh Blessing of the Kindling
Togaidh mi mo theine an diugh
83. Togail an Teine
Togaidh mis an tula
84. Smaladh an Teine
An Tri numh
I will kindle my fire this morning
Kindling the Fire
I will raise the hearth-fire
Smooring the Fire The sacred Three
231
233
235
CONTENTS
85. Smaladh an Teine
Cairidh mi an tula
86. Beannachd Smalaidh
Tha mi smaladh an teine
87. Beannachadh Smalaidh
Smalaidii mis an tula
88. An Coisrigeadh Sioil
Theid mi mach a chur an t-sioil
89. Beannachadh Buanu
Dhe beannaich fein mo bhuain
90. Beannachadh Buana
Di-mairt feille ri eirigh greine
91. Beannachadh Fuiriridh
A lasair leith, chaol, chrom
92. Beannachadh Brathain
Oidhch Inid
93. Cronan Bleoghain
Thig, a Bhreannain, o"n a chuan
94. Cronan Bleoghain
Sian a chuir Moire nam buadh
95. Beannachadh Bleoghain
Bheir Calum-cille dhi-se piseach
96. Ho Hoiligean
Eudail thu
97. Ho ni' Aghan !
Oidhche sin bha 'm Buachaill
98. Thoir am Bainne
Thoir am bainne, bho dhonn
99. Cronan Bleoghan
Thig, a Mhuire, 's bhgh a bho
Smooring the Fire 237
I will build the hearth
Blessing of the Smooring 239
I am smooring the fire
Smooring Blessing 241
I will sraoor the hearth
Consecration of the Seed 243 I will go out to sow the seed
Reaping Blessing 247
God, bless Thou Thyself my reaping
Reaping Blessing 249
On Tuesday of the feast Blessing of the Parching 251
Thou flame grey, slender, curved
The Quern Blessing 252
On Ash Eve
Milking Croon 259
Come, Brendan, from the ocean
Milking Croon 261
The charm placed of Mary of Ught
Milking Blessing 263
Columba will give to her progeny
Ho Hoiligean 265
My treasure thou
Ho, my Heifer ! 267
The night the Herdsman
Give thy Milk 269
Give thy milk, brown cow
Milking Song 271
Come, Mary, and milk my cow
CONTENTS
AIR.
100. BeannachadhBuachailleachd
Comraig Dhe is Dhomhnuich
101. Beannachadh Buachailleachd
Cuiridh mi an ni seo romham
102. BeannachadhBuachailleachd
Siubhal beinne, siubhal baile
103. Comraig nam Ba
Blaragan reidh, fada, farsiiinn
104. Gleidheadh Treuid
Gun gleidheadh Moire min an ciob
105. Cronan Cuallaich
An crodh an diugh a dol imirig
106. Beannachadh Guir
Eiridh mi moch maduinn Luan
107. Comharrachadh nan Uan
Bidh mo Egian ur, geur, glan
108. Am Beannachd Lombaidh
Falbh lorn 's thig molach
109. Duan Deilbh
Daorn nam buadh
110. Beannachd Beairte
Fuidheagan no corr do shnath
111. Suidheachadh na h-Iomairt
An dubh mu'n gheal
112. Beannachadh Garmain
Beannaich, a Thriath nam flath fial
113. Coisrigeadh an Aodaich
Is math a ghabhas mi mo rann
114. Beannachadh Seilg
Bho m' leasraidh ghineadh thu
Herding Blessing 273
The keeping of God and the Lord
Herding Blessing 275
I Will place this flock before me
Herding Blessing 277
Travelling moorland
Protection of the Cattle 279
Pastures smooth, long
Guarding the Flocks 281
May Mary the mild keep the sheep
A Herding Croon 283
The cattle are to-day going a-flitting
Hatching Blessing 285
I will rise early on the morning
Marking the Lambs 289
My knife will be new, keen, clean
The Clipping Blessing 293
Go shorn and come woolly
The Chant of the Warping 295 Thursday of beneficence
Loom Blessing 301
Thrums nor odds of thread
Setting the lomairt 303
The black by the white
Loom Blessing 305
Bless, O Chief of generous
chiefs
Consecration of the Cloth 306 WeU can I say my rune
Hunting Blessing 311
From my loins begotten wert thou
CONTENTS
115. 116. 117. 118. 119.
120. 121.
Coisrigeadh na Seilg An ainra na Trianailt
Ora Turais
Bith a bhi na m' bhial
Beannachd lasgaich La na soillse thainig oirnn
Beannachadh Cuain
Thi tha chomhnadh nan ard
Beannachadh Cuain Dhe, Athair uile-chumhachd- aich
Riaghlair nan Sian
Clann Israil
Urnuigh Mliara Beannaicht an long
XVll
PAGE
Consecrating the Chase 315
In name of the Holy Three-fold
Prayer for Travelling 317
Life be in ray speech
Fishing Blessing 319
The day of light has come upon us
The Ocean Blessing 322
O Thou who pervadest the heights
Ocean Blessing 329
God the Father all-power- ful
Ruler of the Elements 331
The Children of Israel
Sea Prayer 333
Blest be the boat
INTRODUCTION
This work consists of old lore collected during- the l;ist forty-four years. It forms a small part of a large mass of oral literature written down from the recital of men and women throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, from Arran to Caithness, from Perth to St Kilda. The greater portion of the collection has been made in the Western Isles, variously called ' Eileana Bride,' Hebrid Isles, Outer Hebrides, Outer Isles, ' Eilean Fada,' ' Innis Fada,' Long Island, and anciently ' Iniscead,' ' Innis Cat,' Isle of tiie Cat, Isle o! the Catey. Probably the Catey were the people who gave the name ' Cataibh,' Cat Country, to Sutherland, and ' Caitnis,' Cat Ness, to Caithness.
The Long Island is composed of a series of islands, separately known as Barra, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, and Harris and Lewis. This chain is one hundred and nineteen miles in length, varying from a few yards to twenty-five miles in width. Viewed from the summit of its highest link, the Long Island chain resembles a huge artificial kite stretched along the green Atlantic Ocean, Lewis forming the body, the disjointed tail trending away in the blue haze and terminating in Bearnarey of Barra.
This long series of islands is evidently the backbone of a large island, perhaps of a great continent, that extended westward beyond the Isle of the Nuns, beyond the Isle of the Monks, beyond tiie Isle of St Flann, beyond the Isle of St Kilda, beyond the Isle of Rockal, probably beyond the storied Isle of Rocabarraidh, and possibly beyond the historic Isle of Atlantis.
This backbone is now disarticulated like the vertebras of some huge fossil fish, each section having a life of its own. These joints I are separated by rills and channels varying from a few feet to eight miles in width.
The Atlantic rushes through these straits and narrows into the i Minch, and the Minch rushes through the straits and narrows into j the Atlantic, fom- times every twenty-four hours. The constant rushing to and fro of these mighty waters is very striking.
XX INTRODUCTION
Many of the countless islands comprising the Outer Hebrides are indented with arms of the sea studded with rocks and islands dividing and ramifying into endless mazes, giving in some cases a coast-line of over four hundred miles within their one-mile entrance. No mind could conceive, no imagination could realise, the disorderly distribu- tion of land and water that is to be seen in those Outer Islands, where mountain and moor, sand and peat, rock and morass, reef and shoal, fresh-water lake and salt-water loch, in wildest confusion strive for mastery. Viewing this bewildering scene from the summit of Ruaival in Benbecula, Professor Blackie exclaimed : —
' O God-forsaken, God-detested land !
Of bogs and blasts, of moors and mists and rain ; Where ducks with men contest the doubtful strand, And shirts when washed are straightway soiled again ! ' '
The formation of the Long Island is Laurentian gneiss, with some outcrops of Cambrian at Aoi, Lewis, and four examples of trap at Lochmaddy, Uist. The rocks everywhere show ice action, being smoothed and polished, grooved and striated from hill to sea — the grooves and strias lying east and west or thereby.
There are no trees in the Long Island except some at Rodail, Harris, and a few at Stornoway, Lewis. The wind and spray of the Atlantic are inimical to trees under present climatic conditions. There are evidences, however, that there were trees in historic and prehistoric times.
It is said that a prince of Lewis forsook a Norse princess and married a native girl. The princess vowed by Odin, Thor, and Frea, and by all the other gods and goddesses of her fatliers, to avenge the insult, and she sent her witch to burn the woods of Lewis. The tradition of the burning of these woods is countenanced by the presence of charred trees in peat-moss in many places. It is on record that a Norse prince married a native Barra girl, but whether or not this was the prince of Lewis is uncertain.
1 On Sunday, the 21st July 1875, Professor Blackie, Mr William Jolly, and I ascended the hill of Ruaival, in Benbecula. From the summit of this hill, 409 feet high, we liad an extensive view of our extraordinary surroundings, striking to the eye and instructive to the mind. On returning home to Creagorry, where we then lived. Professor Blackie wrote tlie lines composed on Ruaival on the flyleaf of Burt's Letters, which he gave to me. Tlie day that Professor Blackie and Mr JoUy were to have left our house some mishap befeU their linens, and these had to be rewashed. Mr Jolly alleged that I had bribed tlie servant in charge of the linens to bring about the accident in order to jirolong the stay of our well-beloved guests !
INTRODUCTION xxi
There are many evidences that the sea has gained upon the land in the Long Island. In the shore and in the sea, peat-moss, tree- roots, sessile reeds, stone dykes, dwellings and temples may be seen, while pieces of moss, trees and masonry have been brought up from time to time by hooks and anchors in from ten to twenty fathoms of water. I do not know anything more touching yet more fascinating than these submerged memorials of bygone times and of bygone men.
Immense stretches of sandy plains run along the Atlantic border of the Outer Hebrides. These long reaches of sessile sand are locally called machairs — plains. They are singularly bleak, barren, and shelterless in winter, giving rise to the saying : —
' Is luath fear na drocli rahnatha Fast goes the man of the thriftless wife Air a mhachair Uibhistich.' Upon the machair of Uist.
The inference is that the man is ill clad. In summer, however, these ' macjiairs ' are green and grassy, comforting to the foot, pleasing to the eye, and delieiously fragrant, being covered with strongly aromatic plants and flowers.
But the charm of these islands lies in their people — goodly to see, brave to endure, and pleasing to know.
The population of the Long Island is about forty-four thousand. Of these, about forly-four families occupy two-thirds of the whole land, the crofters, cottars, and the poor who exist upon the poor, being confined to the remaining third. These are crowded upon one another like sheep in a pen : —
' Na biasta mor ag ithcadh nani The big beasts eating tlie little
biasta beag, beasts,
Na;biasta beag a deananih mar The little beasts doing as best
dh'fhaodas iad.' they may.
There are no intermediate farms, no gradation holdings, to which the industrious crofter might aspire, and become a benefit to himself, an example to his neighbour, and a lever to his country.
The people of the Outer Isles, like the people of the Highlands and Islands generally, are simple and law-abiding, common crime being rare and serious crime unknown among them. They are good to the poor, kind to the stranger, and courteous to all. During all the years that I lived and travelled among them, night and day, I never met with incivilitj', never with rudeness, never with vulgarity, never with aught but courtesy. I never entered a house without the inmates fiff'ering nie food or apologising for their want of it. I never was asked for charity in the West, a striking contrast to my
b
xxii INTRODUCTION
experience in England, where I was frequently asked for food, for drink, for money, and that by persons whose incomes would have been wealth to the poor men and women of the West. After long experience of his tenants, the late Mr John Gordon said : — ' The Uist people are born gentlemen — Nature's noblemen.'
Gaelic oral literature was ^videly diffused, greatly abundant, and excellent in quality — in tlie opinion of scholars, unsurpassed by anything similar in the ancient classics of Greece or Rome.
Many causes contributed towards these attainments — the crofting system, the social customs, and the evening ' ceilidh.' In a crofting community the people work in unison in the field during the day, and discuss together in the house at night. This meeting is called ' ceilidh ' — a word that throbs the heart of the Highlander wherever he be. The 'ceilidh' is a literary entertainment where stories and tales, poems and ballads, are rehearsed and recited, and songs are sung, conundrums are put, proverbs are quoted, and many other literary matters are related and discussed. This institution is admirably adapted to cultivate the heads and to warm the hearts of an intelligent, generous people. Let me briefly describe the 'ceilidh ' as I have seen it.
In a crofting townland there are several story-tellers who recite the oral literature of their predecessors. The story-tellers of the Higlilands are as varied in their subjects as are literary men and women elsewhere. One is a historian narrating events simply and concisely ; another is a historian with a bias, colouring his narrative according to his leanings. One is an inventor, building fiction upon fact, mingling his materials, and investing the whole with the charm of novelty and the halo of romance. Another is a reciter of heroic poems and ballads, bringing the different characters before the mind as clearly as the sculptor brings the figure before the eye. One gives the songs of the chief poets, with interesting accounts of their authors, while another, generally a woman, sings, to weird airs, beautiful old songs, some of them Arthurian. There are various other narrators, singers, and speakers, but I have never heard aught that should not be said nor sung.
The romance school has the largest following, and I go there, joining others on the way. The house of the story-teller is already full, and it is difficult to get inside and away from the cold wind and soft sleet without. But with that politeness native to the people, the stranger is pressed to come forward and occupy the seat vacated for him beside tlie liouseman. The house is roomy and clean, if homely.
INTRODUCTION xxiii
with its brijrlit peat fire in the middle of the floor. There are many present — men and women, boys and girls. All the women are seated, and most of the men. Girls are crouched between the knees of fathers or brothers or friends, while boys are perched wherever — boy-like — they can climb.
The houseman is twisting twigs of heather into ropes to hold down thatch, a neighbour crofter is twining quicken roots into cords to tie cows, while another is plaiting bent grass into baskets to hold meal.
' Ith aran, sniamh muran, Eat bread and twist bent,
Is bi thu am bliadhn mar bha tliu'n And tliou this year shalt be as thou
uraidh.' wert last.
The housewife is spinning, a daughter is carding, another daughter is teazing, while a third daughter, supposed to be working, is away in the background conversing in low whispers with the son of a neigh- bouring crofter. Neighbour wives and neighbour daughters are knitting, sewing, or embroidering. The conversation is general : the local news, the weather, the price of cattle, these leading up to higher themes — the clearing of the glens (a sore subject), the war, the parliament, the effects of the sun upon the earth and the moon upon the tides. The speaker is eagerly listened to, and is urged to tell more. But he pleads that he came to hear and not to speak, saying :—
' A chiad sgial air fear an taighe. The first story from the host,
Sgial gu la air an aoidh. ' Story till day from the guest.
The stranger asks the houseman to tell a story, and after a pause the man complies. The tale is full of incident, action, and pathos. It is told simply yet graphically, and at times dramatically — compel- Hng the undivided attention of the listener. At the pathetic scenes and distressful events the bosoms of the women may be seen to heave and their silent tears to fall. Truth overcomes craft, skill conquers strength, and bravery is rewarded. Occasionally a momentary excitement occurs when heat and sleep overpower a boy and he tumbles down among the people below, to be trounced out and sent home. When the story is ended it is discussed and commented upon, and the difl^erent characters praised or blamed according to their merits and the views of the critics.
If not late, proverbs, riddles, conundrums, and songs follow. Some of the tales, however, are long, occupying a night or even several nights in recital. ' Sgeul Coise Cein,' the story of the foot of Cian, for example, was in twenty-fom* parts, each part occupying a night
xxiv INTRODUCTION
in telling. The story is mentioned by Macnicol in his Remarks on Johnson's Tour.
The hut of Hector Macisaac, Ceannlangavat, South Uist, stood in a peat-moss. The walls were of' riasg,' turf, and the thatch of ' cuilc,' reeds, to the grief of the occupants, who looked upon the reed as banned, because it was used on Calvary to convej' the sponge with the vinegar. The hut was about fifteen feet long, ten feet broad, and five feet high. There was nothing in it that the vilest thief in the lowest slum would condescend to steal. It were strange if the inmates of this turf hut iu the peat-morass had been other than ailing. Hector Macisaac and his wife were the only occupants, their daughter being at service trying to prolong existence in her parents. Both had been highly endowed physically, and were still endowed mentally, though now advanced in years. The wife knew many secular runes, sacred hymns, and fairy songs; while the husband had numerous heroic tales, poems, and ballads.
I had visited these people before, and in September 1871 Iain F. Campbell of Islay and I went to see them. Hector Macisaac, the unlettered cottar who knew no language but his own, who came into contact with no one but those of his own class, his neighbours of the peat-bog, and who had never been out of his native island, was as polite and well-mannered and courteous as Iain Campbell, the learned barrister, the world-wide traveller, and the honoured guest of every court in Europe. Both were at ease and at home with one another, there being neither servility on the one side nor condescension on the other.
The stories and poems which Hector Macisaac went over during our visits to him would have filled several volumes. Mr Campbell now and then put a leading question which brought out the story- teller's marvellous memory and extensive knowledge of folklore.
It was similar with blind old Hector Macleod, cottar, Lianacuithe, South Uist, and with old Roderick Macneill, cottar, Miunghlaidh, Barra. Each of those men repeated stories and poems, tales and ballads, that would have filled many books. Yet neither of them told more than a small part of what he knew. None of the three men knew any letters, nor any language but Gaelic, nor had ever been out of his native island. All expressed regret in well-chosen words that they had not a better place in which to receive their visitors, and all thanked them in polite terms for coming to see them and for taking an interest in their decried and derided old lore. And all were courteous as the courtier.
INTRODUCTION xxv
During his visit to us, Mr Campbell expressed to my wife and to myself his admiration of these and other men with whom we had come in contact. He said that in no other race had he observed so many noble traits and hijrh qualities as in the unlettered, untravelled, unspoiled Higlilander.
In 1860, 1861, and 1862, I took down much folk-lore from Kenneth Morrison, cottar, Trithion, Skye. Kenneth Morrison had been a mason, but was now old, blind, and poor. Though wholly unlettered, he was highly intelligent. He mentioned the names of many old men in the extensive but now desolate parish of Minngnis, who had been famous story-tellers in his boyhood — men who had been born in the first decade of the eighteenth century. Several of these, he said, could recite stories and poems during many nights in succession — some of the tales requiring several nights to relate. He repeated fragments of many of these. Some of them were pieces of poems and stories published by Macpherson, Smith, the Stewarts, the MacCalhinis, the Campbells, and others.
Kenneth Morrison told me that the old men, from whom he heard the poems and stories, said that they had heard them from old men in their boyhood. That would carry these old men back to the first half of the seventeenth century. Certainly they could not have learnt their stories or poems from books, for neither stories nor poems wei-e printed in their time, and even had they been, those men could not have read them.
Gaelic oral literature has been disappearing during the last three centuries. It is now becoming meagre in (piantity, inferior in quality, and greatly isolated.
Several causes have contributed towards this decadence — principally the Reformation, the Risings, the evictions, the Disrup- tion, the schools, and the spirit of the age. Converts in religion, in politics, or in aught else, are apt to be intemperate in speech and rash in action. The Reformation movement ctmdemned the beliefs and cults tolerated and assimilated by the Celtic Church and the Latin Church. Nor did sculpture and architecture escape their intemperate zeal. The risings harried and harassed the people, while the evictions impoverished, dispirited, and scattered them over the world. Ignorant school-teaching and clerical narrowness have been painfully detrimental to the expressive language, wholesome literature, manly sports, and interesting amusements of the Highland people. Innumerable examples occur.
A young lady said: — 'When we came to Islav I was sent to the
' b 2
xxvi INTRODUCTION
parish school to obtain a proper groundiiin- in arithmetic. I was charmed with the schoolgirls and their Gaelic songs. But the schoolmaster — an alien like myself — denounced Gaelic speech and Gaelic songs. On getting out of school one evening the girls resumed a song they had been singing the previous evening. I joined willingly, if timidly, my knowledge of Gaelic being small. The schoolmaster heard us, however, and called us back. He punished us till the blood trickled from our fingers, although we were big girls, with the dawn of womanhood upon us. The thought of that scene thrills me with indignation.'
I was taking down a story from a man, describing how twin giants detached a huge stone from the parent rock, and how the two carried the enormous block of many tons upon their broad shoulders to lay it over a deep gully in order that their white-maned steeds might cross. Their enemy, however, came upon them in the night-time when thus engaged, and threw a magic mist around them, lessening their strength and causing them to fail beneath their burden. In the midst of the graphic description the grandson of the narrator, himself an aspirant teacher, called out in tones of superior authority, ' Grandfather, the teacher says that you ought to be placed upon the stool for your lying Gaelic stories.' The old man stopped and gasped in pained surprise. It required time and sympathy to soothe his feelings and to obtain the rest of the tale, which was wise, beautiful, and poetic, for the big, strong giants were Frost and Ice, and their subtle enemy was Thaw. The enormous stone torn from the parent rock is called 'Clach Mhor Leum nan Caorach,' the big stone of the leap of the sheep. Truly 'a little learning is a dangerous thing'! This myth was afterwards appreciated by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
After many failures, and after going far to reach him, I induced a man to come to the lee of a knoll to tell me a tale. We were well into the spirit of the story when two men from the hill passed us. The story-teller hesitated, then stopped, saying that he would be reproved by his family, bantered by his friends, and censured by his minister. The -story, so inauspiciously interrupted and never resumed, was the famous 'Sgeul Coise Cein,' already mentioned.
Having made many attempts, I at last succeeded in getting a shepherd to come to me, in order to be away from his surroundings. The man travelled fifty-five mile.s, eight of these being across a stormy strait of the Atlantic. We had reached the middle of a tale when the sheriff of the district came to call on me in my rooms.
INTRODUCTION xxvii
The reciter fled, and after going more than a mile on his way home lie met a man who asked him wliy he looked so scared, and why without his bonnet. The shepherd discovered that he had left his bonnet, his plaid, and his staff' behind him in his flight. The remaining half of that fine story, as well as much other valuable Gaelic lore, died with the shepherd in Australia.
Ministers of Lewis used to say that the people of Lewis were little better than pagans till the Reformation, perhaps till the Disruption. If they were not, they have atoned since, being now the most rigid Christians in the British Isles.
When Dr William Forbes Skene was preparing the third volume of Celtic Scotland, he asked me to write him a paper on the native system of holding the land, tilling the soil, and apportioning the stock in the Outer Hebrides. Being less familiar with Lewis than with the other portions of the Long Island, I visited Lewis again. It was with extreme difficulty that I could obtain any information on the subject of my inquiry, because it related to the foolish past rather than to the sedate present, to the secular afl^airs rather than to the religious life of the people. When I asked about old customs and old modes of working, I was answered, ' Good man, old things are passed away, all things are become new ' ; for the jieople of Lewis, like the people of the Highlands and Islands generally, carry the Scriptures in their minds and apply them in their speech as no other people do. It was extremely disconcerting to be met in this manner on a mission so desirable.
During my quest I went into a house near Ness. The house was clean and comfortable if plain and unpretending, most things in it being home-made. There were three girls in the house, young, comely,