Page:EB1911 - Volume 05.djvu/664

MANX LITERATURE] long run of necessity proved adverse to the vitality of the language. The best standard of Gaelic is by common consent the language of the Scriptures. James Stewart of Killin’s version of the New Testament, published by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, was followed by a translation of the Old Testament in four parts (1783–1801), the work of John Stewart of Luss and John Smith of Campbeltown. The whole Gaelic Bible saw the light in 1807. But the revision of 1826 is regarded as standard. The translators and revisers had no norm to follow, and it is difficult to say how far they were influenced by Irish tradition. Much in the Gaelic version seems to savour of Irish idiom, and it is a pity that some competent scholar such as Henderson has not investigated the question. Of original prose works we can mention two. The one is a History of the Forty-five (Eachdraidh a’ Phrionnsa, no Bliadhna Thearlaich), published in 1845 by John Mackenzie, the compiler of the Beauties of Gaelic Poetry (1806–1848). A second edition of this book appeared in 1906. The other is the more famous Caraid nan Gaedheal, by Norman Macleod (new edition, 1899). This volume consists mainly of a number of dialogues dealing with various departments of Highland life, which were originally contributed to various magazines from 1829 to 1848. Macleod’s style is racy and elegant, and his work is deservedly popular.

In conclusion we must take notice of the more important collections of folklore. Gaelic, like Irish, is extraordinarily rich in proverbs. The first collection of Gaelic proverbs was published in 1785 by Donald Macintosh. This work was supplemented and enlarged in 1881 by Alexander Nicolson, whose book contains no fewer than 3900 short sayings. A large collection of Gaelic folk-tales was gleaned and published by J. F. Campbell under the title of Popular Tales of the West Highlands (4 vols., Edinburgh, 1862). Alexander Carmichael published a version of the Táin Bó Calnge, called Toirioc na Táine, which he collected in South Uist (Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, ii. 25-42), also the story of Deirdre and the sons of Uisneach in prose taken down in Barra (ib. xiii. 241-257). Five volumes of popular stories, collected by J. G. Campbell, D. MacInnes, J. Macdougall and Lord Archibald Campbell, have been published (1889–1895) by Nutt under the title Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. These collections contain a good deal of matter pertaining to the old heroic cycles. Seven ballads dealing with the Ulster cycle were collected and printed by Hector Maclean under the title Ultonian Hero-ballads (Glasgow, 1892). Macpherson gave a fillip to collectors of Ossianic lore, and a number of MSS. going back to his time are deposited in the Advocates’ Library at Edinburgh. J. F. Campbell spent twelve years searching for variants, and his results were published in his Leabhar na Feinne (1872). This volume contains 54,000 lines of heroic verse. The Edinburgh MSS. were transcribed by Alexander Cameron, and published after his death by Alexander Macbain and John Kennedy in his Reliquiae Celticae. This work is therefore a complete corpus of Gaelic heroic verse. Finally the charms and incantations of the Highlands have been collected and published by Alexander Carmichael in two sumptuous volumes under the title Carmina Gadelica (1900).

.—The standard work is Magnus Maclean, The Literature of the Highlands (London, 1904); see also various chapters in the same writer’s Literature of the Celts (London, 1902); L. C. Stern, Die Kultur der Gegenwart, i. xi. 1, pp. 98-109; Nigel MacNeill, The Literature of the Highlanders (Inverness, 1892); J. S. Blackie, The Language and Literature of the Scottish Highlands (Edinburgh, 1876); P. T. Pattison, Gaelic Bards (1890); L. Macbean, Songs and Hymns of the Scottish Highlands (Edinburgh, 1888); John Mackenzie, Sàrobair nam Bàrd Gaelach, or The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry (new ed., Edinburgh, 1904); A. Sinclair, An t-Oranaiche (Glasgow, 1879); The Book of Deer, edited for the Spalding Club by Dr Stuart (1869); Alexander Macbain, Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vols. xi. and xii.; The Book of the Dean of Lismore, edited by T. Maclauchlan (1862); Alexander Cameron, Reliquiae Celticae (Inverness, 1892–1894); John Reid, Bibliotheca Scoto-Celtica (Glasgow, 1832); Catalogue of the books in the Celtic department, Aberdeen University Library (1897); George Henderson, Leabhar nan Gleann (Inverness, 1898); D. Mackinnon, “The Fernaig MS.” in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xi. 311-339; J. S. Smart, James Macpherson, An Episode in Literature (London, 1905); L. C. Stern, “Die Ossianischen Heldenlieder” in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Litteraturgeschichte (1895), translated by J. L. Robertson in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xxv. 257-325; G. Dottin, Revue de synthèse historique, viii. 79-91; M. C. Macleod, Modern Gaelic Bards (Stirling, 1908).

.—The literary remains written in the Manx language are much slighter than those of any other Celtic dialect. With one small exception nothing pertaining to the saga literature of Ireland has been preserved. The little we possess naturally falls under two heads—original compositions and translations. With regard to the first category we must give the place of honour to an Ossianic poem contained in a MS. in the British Museum (written in 1789), which relates how Orree, Finn’s enemy, was tormented by the women of Finn’s household when the latter was away hunting, how he in revenge set fire to the house, and how Finn had him torn in pieces by wild horses. Most of the existing literature of native origin, however, consists of ballads and carols, locally called carvels. These used to be sung on Christmas eve in the churches, the members of the congregation each bringing a candle. Any one who pleased could get up and sing one. These carvels deal largely with the end of the world, the judgment-day and the horrors of hell. About eighty of them were published under the title of Carvalyn Gailckagh (Douglas, 1891). An attempt is being made by Yn Cheshaght Gailckagh to revive the Oiel Voirrey (=Irish Oidhche Fhéile Mhuire), “the feast of Mary,” as the festival used to be called, and gatherings in the old style have been held in Peel for the last two or three years. Apart from the carvels there are other ballads in existence, the most important of which were printed in vol. xvi. of the Publications of the Manx Society. The earliest is an 18th-century song of Manannan Mac y Lheir, traditionally supposed to have been written in the 16th century, and which tells of the conversion of the island by St Patrick. Then comes Baase Ittiam Dhône (The Death of Brown William), dealing with the death of William Christian, who was shot as a traitor in 1662. The best-known Manx song is Mylecharaine (= Irish Maolchiarán). It is directed against a man of this name who was the first to give a dowry to his daughter, the custom having previously been for the bridegroom to pay money to the father of the bride. Others are Ny Kirree fo Sniaghtey (The Sheep under the Snow), a song about the loss of the Douglas herring fleet in 1787 (reprinted at Douglas, 1872), and O Vannin Veg Veen (Dear little Mona). A further ballad was taken down by J. Strachan and is published in the Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, i. 79. In 1760 Joseph Bridson wrote a “Short Account of the Isle of Man” in Manx (Coontey Ghiare jeh Ellan Vannin ayns Gailck), which was reprinted in vol. xx. of the Publications of the Manx Society. The translated literature is almost entirely of a religious character. Jenner prints a list of twenty-three volumes in his article referred to below, but we can only here mention the most important. The first is the translation of the English Prayer-Book by Bishop Phillips, 1610 (published by A. W. Moore, Oxford, 1895). The Sermons of Bishop Wilson in 3 vols. (1783) are a very rare work, highly important for our knowledge of Manx prose, and it is to be hoped that Yn Cheshaght Gailckagh will see their way to reprint it. A translation of parts of Milton’s Paradise Lost (Pargys Caillit) by Thomas Christian, 1796, is reprinted in vol. xx. of the Publications of the Manx Society. The later translation of the Church of England Prayer-Book was printed in 1765 and again in 1777 and 1840. But by far the most important of all is the translation of the Bible. The energetic Bishop Wilson managed to get parts of the Scriptures translated and the Gospel of St Matthew was printed in 1748. Wilson’s successor, Bishop Hildesley, completed the work, and in 1775 the whole Bible appeared. The last reprint of the Bible appeared in 1819, that of the New Testament in 1810 (?). As a curiosity it may be mentioned that recently Aesop’s Fables have been translated into the vernacular (Douglas, 1901).

.—H. Jenner, “The Manx Language: its Grammar, Literature and Present State,” Transactions of the London Philological Society (1875), pp. 172 ff.; Publications of the Manx Society, vols. xvi., xx., xxi.; L. C. Stern, Die Kultur d. Gegenwart, i. xi. 1, pp. 110-11.