Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/441

 Reviews. 42 1

In the lustral fire,

In the seven elements,

In the juice of the rasps.

In the milk of honey,

And I place the nine pure choice graces

In thy fair fond face,

The grace of form,

The grace of voice,

The grace of fortune,

The grace of goodness,

The grace of wisdom.

The grace of charity.

The grace of choice maidenliness,

The grace of whole-souled loveliness.

The grace of goodly speech.

Now when Cuchulainn, the most famous hero of ancient Gael- dom, was urged to wed by his tribesmen, there was but one maiden of the maidens of Erin he deigned to address and to woo — for she had the six gifts : the gift of beauty, the gift of voice, the gift of sweet speech, the gift of needlework, the gift of wisdom, the gift of chastity. The one passage is at least a thousand, pos- sibly fifteen hundred years old ; the other lives to-day on the lips of the western islanders, yet is the one still the best commentary upon the other.^

The outward dress of these volumes is worthy of their contents. No true book lover but will prize Cannina Gadelica among his chief treasures. I sincerely trust that enlightened lovers of Gaelic lore will speedily purchase the small first edition, and thus enable Mr. Carmichael to reprint the most beautiful pieces of his collection in a very cheap form for use in GaeHc elementary classes. In this way the elementary school, so often the worst enemy of traditional lore, may be made subservient to its preser- vation. We cannot prevent the conditions of life from changing, we can however strive that the inevitable change be carried out with as little loss as possible of what is eternally beautiful and of good report.

Alfred Nutt.

' The Wooing of Enter, translated by K. Meyer, Archaeological Review, vol. i. p. 68, &c. Mr. Carmichael's "grace" and Professor Meyer's "gift" both translate the same Gaelic word.