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
This was the spirit and manner in which the great poet Alex.
Macdonald went about rousing his countrymen to lofty deeds of valour
in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. He lavished all his
poetic enthusiasm on the “praises” of the national lion, and the
inspiration of his muse and of that of a hundred-others bore fruit a
century afterwards. Such poems as Macdonald’s have had a profoundly
formative influence on the minds of the young Highlanders of our own
times,—especially the more susceptible and less sordid spirits, who
would not deny their country, race, or language for all the golden
success that self-effacement as Gaels could secure. These enduring
sons of the Highlands and Islands succeeded at last, although in the
midst of much obloquy and secular loss, in accomplishing a Gaelic
revolution;—in creating a Gaelic revival, and ultimately a powerful
agitation that bore a fruit that has justified the more sanguine
expectations and claims of bards and patriots. This has been the
fruit of a century of Gaelic effort devoted to the study of the
language, history, and interests of the people. While the foes of
such an endeavour have been numerous and supercilious, even in
selfish Highland quarters, let it not be forgotten that a great deal
of sympathy and practical help came from many kindly hearts and hands
among our Lowland fellow-countrymen.
It is interesting to trace the influences that have brought about
this bloodless revolution in the Highlands, some of whose people
a little over a century ago were engaged in rebellion against the
present dynasty. A healthy form of Christianity and common sense
have done it all. The meaning of the one came to them through the
translation of good religious writings and the Gaelic Bible: and the
exercise of the other became possible through the instructed good
qualities of the Highlanders themselves. I therefore in this last
chapter devote some paragraphs to the results that the chief forms of
Gaelic endeavour have produced.
THE GAELIC BIBLE.
The first portion of the Bible translated was the New Testament,
in 1767, by the Rev. James Stewart of Killin. Dugald Buchanan, the
poet, accompanied Mr Stewart to Edinburgh to superintend the work
through the press. The title-page bears that the translation was
undertaken at the request and at the expense of the Society in
Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. The translator adopted
an orthographical system, which has been perfected into a standard of
Gaelic by succeeding scholars. The first edition of the translation
of the Old Testament was published in the following order:—
Part I., 1783, translated by John Stuart, D.D., of Luss.
Part IV., 1786, translated by John Smith, D.D., of Campbelton.
Part II., 1787, translated by Dr Stuart.
Part III., 1801, translated by Dr Stuart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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