Opening the text

The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present dayMacNeill, Nigel

History

The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present day

Name: The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present day
Author: MacNeill, Nigel

MacNeill, Nigel

Scottish Gaelic literature -- History and criticism

The specimens now given of the ancient ballad poetry of the Gael will
be sufficient to indicate its character and style. It only remains
now to mention in connection with the heroic ballads the names of a
few more of the better known ones.

There is a very fine ballad on the death of _Dearg_ or Dargo.
Others are the Expeditions or _Imeachd_ of Finn, of _Naoinear_,
or Nine, &c., and the Great Distress of the Fingalians—_Teantachd
Mor na Féinne_. A Norwegian _Hag_ is the theme of a good deal of
composition, while the _Invasion of Magnus_ or _Manus_ is a ballad of
considerable length and interest. This was probably the celebrated
Magnus Barefoot, so well-known in the Hebrides, and throughout the
north-west. From the Orkneys to the Isle of Man and Ireland, along
the west coast of Scotland, the Lochlins traversed the seas for
centuries and held rule; and well did they and the Highlanders know
one another.

[Illustration: (decorative end-of-chapter icon)]




CHAPTER VI.

PROSE ROMANCES.

  “Lying, worldly stories concerning the Tuatha de Danann, the sons
  of Milesius, and Finn Mac Cumhail with his Feine.”—CARSUEL (A.D.
  1567.)


It may be thought by some that too much has been said concerning
the ballads and the character of the Féinne. Others may be quite
dissatisfied with the fragmentary notices which have been taken
of those grand Gaelic ancestors. The former ought to bear in mind
that the authors of these Celtic romances were the fathers and for
centuries the cultivators of Gaelic song and story; and that they
were also “the cause” of much rhyme and romance in others. The
student of Gaelic literature can no more give up his devotion to
Ossian and to the bards who were his contemporaries and successors
than the English student can forget his Chaucer and Spenser and
the glorious poetic host of the Elizabethan age. The latter ought
to remember that instead of a few paragraphs it would require many
volumes to bring forward with fair adequacy the literature and
history of the Finian period.

Let us now glance at the popular fictions of Irish romancists. To
the Scottish student these are suggestive as presenting similar but
varying conceptions regarding the same class of heroes.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present dayMacNeill, Nigel

History

The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present day

MacNeill, Nigel

Scottish Gaelic literature -- History and criticism

The specimens now given of the ancient ballad poetry of the Gael will
be sufficient to indicate its character and style. It only remains
now to mention in connection with the heroic ballads the names of a
few more of the better known ones.

There is a very fine ballad on the death of _Dearg_ or Dargo.
Others are the Expeditions or _Imeachd_ of Finn, of _Naoinear_,
or Nine, &c., and the Great Distress of the Fingalians—_Teantachd
Mor na Féinne_. A Norwegian _Hag_ is the theme of a good deal of
composition, while the _Invasion of Magnus_ or _Manus_ is a ballad of
considerable length and interest. This was probably the celebrated
Magnus Barefoot, so well-known in the Hebrides, and throughout the
north-west. From the Orkneys to the Isle of Man and Ireland, along
the west coast of Scotland, the Lochlins traversed the seas for
centuries and held rule; and well did they and the Highlanders know
one another.

[Illustration: (decorative end-of-chapter icon)]




CHAPTER VI.

PROSE ROMANCES.

  “Lying, worldly stories concerning the Tuatha de Danann, the sons
  of Milesius, and Finn Mac Cumhail with his Feine.”—CARSUEL (A.D.
  1567.)


It may be thought by some that too much has been said concerning
the ballads and the character of the Féinne. Others may be quite
dissatisfied with the fragmentary notices which have been taken
of those grand Gaelic ancestors. The former ought to bear in mind
that the authors of these Celtic romances were the fathers and for
centuries the cultivators of Gaelic song and story; and that they
were also “the cause” of much rhyme and romance in others. The
student of Gaelic literature can no more give up his devotion to
Ossian and to the bards who were his contemporaries and successors
than the English student can forget his Chaucer and Spenser and
the glorious poetic host of the Elizabethan age. The latter ought
to remember that instead of a few paragraphs it would require many
volumes to bring forward with fair adequacy the literature and
history of the Finian period.

Let us now glance at the popular fictions of Irish romancists. To
the Scottish student these are suggestive as presenting similar but
varying conceptions regarding the same class of heroes.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present day

The literature of the Highlanders : $b a history of Gaelic literature from the earliest times to the present day

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