beginning of the fourteenth century. Every poem had its first letter and its first word most elegantly flourished and gilded, some red, some yellow, some blue and some green: the materials writ on seemed to be a limber, yet coarse and dark, vellum: the volumes were bound in strong parchment; and that Mr. Macpherson had them from Clanranold. Without recurring to more remote periods, as unnecessary for our present purpose, we have incontestible authority that the use of letters was known in Ireland from St. Patrick's time,* and that St. Columba, the founder of Icolmkill, who had his education in the Irish schools, appears, from what remains of his composition, to have written in pure Gaelic. The identity of the Irish and Gaelic language during so many ages, and the constant intercourse between the Irish of Ulster and the Scots of the western Highlands, are circumstances which naturally lead us to draw the just inference, that some one of the disciples of those saints would have committed to writing the compositions of Ossian and other bards: hence various transcripts of scattered fragments might have been handed down from one * Nennius says that the first alphabet was taught in Ireland by St. Patrick: "Sanctus Patricius scripsit Abietoria 365 et es amplius numero." Nen. lix. Sir James Ware, in his Antiquities, says, letters were introduced with Christianity into Ireland; and it appears from Bede's Ecclesiastical History that there were several learned men in Ireland in the seventh century. + Dr. John Smith's History of the Druids, p. 68. See also Dr. John Macpherson's Letter to Dr. Blair, of the 27th Nov. 1763, inserted in the Appendix to the Report of the Highland Society, p. 17. generation to another, not perhaps in the purity of the originals, but subject to the variations and interpolations arising from the fancy of subsequent bards and transcribers. Mr. Macpherson is therefore entitled to great credit, for having with much industry collected, compared, and collated the several editions or copies; and it may be well supposed that he would have availed himself of that fair license granted to every collector and translator, by selecting the best editions, restoring passages omitted in some but preserved in others, and connecting the episodes and detached pieces so as to render his translations more worthy of the public eye. * We have noticed, in a former part, the Life of St. Columba, written by Adamnanus; also the decisive proofs adduced in the Report of the Highland Society of the ancient Gaelic MSS. in their possession, of which some fac simile specimens are exhibited in the Report. In the Bodleian library, Oxford, there is an old manuscript in parchment of 292 pages, in large folio, containing, in Gaelic or Irish, several historical accounts of the ancient Irish Kings, Saints, &c. also an account of the Conquest of Great Britain by the Romans, of the Saxon Conquest and their Heptarchy, and an account of the Conversion of the Irish and English to Christianity, with other subjects. This book has here and there some Latin notes interspersed, which Mr. Lhuyd thinks may possibly contain hints of the doctrines of the druids. There is also an old vellum MS. of 140 pages, in the form of a music book, con * See Notes N and W, to Cesarotti's Dissertation. taining the works of St. Columba, in verse, with an account of his own life, his Exhortations to Princes, and his Prophecies. Mr. Astle, in his examination of several Gaelic and Irish MSS. of remote periods, put into his hands, of which he has given fac similes, acknowledges that the Gaelic or Erse language of Scotland, and the Iberno-Gaelic, are nearly the same, and that their letters, or characters, are similar, which appears indeed on a comparison of the different fac similes exhibited. Mr. Astle has given, among others, the following specimens of different MSS. in the Gaelic tongue, which were procured from the Highlands of Scotland, and transmitted to him by some friends.† * The first and most ancient specimen of the Gaelic writing seen by Mr. Astle, and now in the possession of the Highland Society of Scotland, is taken from a fragment of a work entitled Emanuel, which, from the form of the letters, and from the nature of the vellum, he reasonably concludes may be as old as the ninth or tenth century.‡ This fragment throws much light on the state of • Mr. Astle's Origin and Progress of Writing, second edition, Plate XXII. + It is probable the friends alluded to by Mr. Astle, who furnished him with these MSS. were the Rev. Mr. M' Lagan, minister of Blair in Athol, and the Rev. Mr. Stuart, minister of Killin in Perthshire, as in p. 138, of Origin and Progress of Writing, he acknowledges being indebted to those gentlemen for the translations of his Gaelic specimens. This MS. called Emanuel, is particularly noticed in the Report of the Highland Society, Appendix, p. 305 et seq. where a long extract is given, with a literal translation. classical learning in Scotland in ancient times, as well as proves the care with which the Gaelic language was then cultivated; and, by comparing it with what is now spoken, it further proves, that the language has been transmitted in purity from one generation to another, down to the present day. We have also in these MSS. some interesting notices of ancient history, written on the authority of Greek and Roman authors; and of the arts, armour, manners, dress, superstition and usages of the Scots of the author's own time, who, from circumstances mentioned in his work, may be supposed to have composed it between the fifth and seventh centuries. In this MS. there is a chapter entitled Slogha Chesair an Inis Bhreatan, or Cesar's Expedition to the Island of Britain. But as this, and some of the other MSS. of which Mr. Astle has given fac similes to prove the age of the writing, may be deemed interesting to the Gaelic Scholar, the following specimens of a few lines, with translations, are given. Mr. Astle's first specimen (Plate XXII.) is taken from Emanuel, and the reading of a few lines runs thus: Nirsatimini Curio annso. Iriasin don inntimmairece urgaile ro fas iceriochaibh Na Haffraici muinntiraibh nairigh Ceadna Is amhlaidh iaramh tàrla sin. 1. Airigh duairrighaibh nocuir ceiss' buadha agus leigion, &c. Translation. Observe this, or nota bene, Such dissentions grew up between the nobles of Africa, as had not happened before this time, i. e. certain noble of power and of learning who had often been victorious, &c. The second specimen is taken from a MS. on vellum, in small quarto, containing annals of Ireland, and of some of the northern parts of Scotland, and seems to have been written in the thirteenth century. The following two lines to be read : Ri ro gab astair righi for Eirinn feact naill iodhain Eo chaid feidlech Mac Finn Mac Roigeain ruaigh Translation. There was formerly a king who reigned over Ireland, viz. Eochy Feileach, son of Finn son of Roigh ruagh. The third specimen is taken from a moral or religious tract, which seems to have been written also in the thirteenth century, and is to be read: A Thighearna cred he sud urt. Isi sud do pheanss agus pian i Marbhaidh dom hic asumhla ur in taisgeul, &c. Translation. Lord, what is that from thee. That is the punish |
