Chapter 23

(E. C. Q.)

(b)Breton.—Breton (Brezonek) is the name given to the language spoken by those Britons who fled from the south-west of England to Armorica (seeBrittany) in the 5th and 6th centuries of our era to avoid being harassed by the Saxons. The first migration probably took place about 450. The Dumnonii and Cornovii founded small states in Brittany, or Britannia Minor, as it was termed, and were followed in the second half of the 6th and into the 7th century by a long stream of refugees (cf. J. Loth,L’Émigration bretonne, Paris, 1883; A. de la Borderie,Histoire de la Bretagne2, vol. i., 1905).

In the earliest stages it is difficult to distinguish Breton from Welsh. The history of the language may be divided into Old Breton from the 7th to the 11th centuries, Middle Breton from the 11th to the 17th centuries, and Modern Breton. In Old Breton the only material we possess consists of glosses and names occurring in lives of saints, Frankish authors, and charters. However, we find a few characteristics which serve to show that the old glosses are really Breton and not Welsh. Thus, an originalānever becomes a diphthong (au,aw) in Old Breton, but remainsō. In Bret,gnbecomesgr. Further, in O.W. pretonicŭis weakened to an indeterminate sound writteniand latery, a phenomenon which does not occur in Breton,e.g.Lat.culcitaappears in O.W. ascilcet, but in O. Br. ascolcet. A marked characteristic of Breton is the confusion ofĭandĕ,e.g.Ir.lis, “court,” W.llys, Br.les. In Old Breton as in Old Welsh neither the initial nor the medial mutations are expressed in writing, whilst in Middle Breton only the latter are regularly denoted. In this period the language diverges very rapidly from Welsh. As prominent features we may mention the following. Stressedō(= Prim. Celt. and Ir. ā) becomeseu, in unstressed syllablese; thus the suffix-ācobecomes-eucand later-ec, but in Welsh-aucand later-oc,-og. Postvocalic-tr,-tlbecome-dr,-dlas in Welsh, but in Middle Breton they pass into-zr,-zl, which in the modern language appear as-er, -el; e.g.Mid. Br.lazr, Mod. Br.laer, “robber,” W.lleidr, Lat.latro. Further,-ltbecomes-ot,-ut,e.g.Br.aot,aout, “cliff,” W.allt; Br.autrou, “lord,” Ir.altram, W.alltraw,athraw, Corn.altrou; and, more important still,th, ắ (W.dd) becomes,z,e.g.Mid. Br.clezeff, “sword,” Mod. Br.kleze, W.cleddyf. The orthography only followed the pronunciation very slowly, and it is not until 1659 that we find any attempt made to reform the spelling. In this year a Jesuit priest, Julien Maunoir (Br. Maner), published a manual in which a new spelling is employed, and it is usual to date Modern Breton from the appearance of this book, although in reality it marks no new epoch in the history of the language. It is only now that the initial mutations are consistently denoted in writing (medially they are already written in the 11th century), and the differences between the dialects first come into view at this time. As in Welsh the accent is withdrawn during the middle period from the final to the penultimate (except in the Vannes dialect), which causes the modern unstressed vowel to be reduced in many cases. Again, in Old Welsh and Old Breton a short stressed vowel in words of one syllable was lengthened,e.g.tād, “father,” pl.tădau, but in Modern Breton the accent tends to lengthen all stressed vowels. Breton has gone its own way in the matter of initial mutation. The nasal mutation has been entirely given up in the initial position, whilst a new mutation, called medial provection, has arisen in the case ofb,d,g, which becomep,k,tafter a few words which originally ended for the most part inzorch. The vocalic mutation of initialgin Breton isc’h. We may also make mention of one or two other points on which Breton differs widely from Welsh. Breton has given up the combinationng,e.g.Mid. Br.moe, Mod. Br.moue, “mane,” W.mwng, Ir.mong. The language betrays a fondness for nasalized vowels, and in this connexion it may be noted thatvrepresenting an originalm(W.f, Ir.mh), though generally writtenffin Middle Breton, now frequently appears asnv; Mid. Br.claff, Mod. Br.klanv, “sick, ill,” W.claf, M. Ir.clam. Finalgafterrandland sometimes in monosyllables after a vowel is represented in Breton byc’h, whilst in Welsh in the one case we find a vowel and in the other nil,e.g.Br.erc’h, “snow,” W.eiry,eira;Br.lec’h, “place,” W.lle. In Welshmb,ndimmediately preceding the stress appear in the modern language asmm,nnbut in Breton we findmp,nl,e.g.Br.kantol, “candle,” W.cannwyll, Lat.candela; Br.kemper, “confluence” (in place names), W.cymmer, Ir.combor.With regard to the extent of country over which Breton is spoken we shall do well to note the seats of the old Breton bishoprics. These were Quimper, St Pol de Léon, Tréguier, St Brieuc, St Malo, Dol and Vannes. Under Count Nominoe the Bretons succeeded in throwing off the Frankish yoke (841-845) and founded an independent state. At this time of greatest political expansion the language boundary was formed by a line which started roughly a little to the west of Mont St Michel at the mouth of the Couesnon, and stretched to the mouth of the Loire. During the next three centuries, however, in consequence of political events which cannot be enumerated here, we find French encroaching rapidly on Breton, and the old dioceses of Dol, St Malo, St Brieuc, and in part Vannes became Romance-speaking (cp. J. Loth,Revue celtique, xxviii. 374-403). So that since the 13th and 14th centuries the boundary between French and Breton begins in the north about Plouha (west of St Brieuc Bay), and stretches to the mouth of the Vilaine in the south. That is to say, the Breton speakers are confined to the department of Finistère and the west of the departments Côtes-du-Nord and Morbihan. Lower Brittany contains a population of 1,360,000, of whom roughly 1,250,000 speak Breton. The number of monoglot Bretons is stated to have been 768,000 in 1878, 679,000 in 1885, and over 500,000 in 1898. There is an infinity of dialects and subdialects in Brittany, but it is usual to divide them into four groups. These are the dialects of (1) Léon in Finistère; (2) Cornouailles in Finistère, the Côtes-du-Nord and a part of Morbihan; (3) Tréguier in the Côtes-du-Nord and Finistère; (4) Vannes in Morbihan and a portion of the Côtes-du-Nord. The first three resemble one another fairly closely, but the speech of Vannes has gone its own way entirely. The dialect of Léon is regarded as the literary dialect, thanks to Legonidec.The modern language is unfortunately saturated with words borrowed from French which form at least a quarter of the whole vocabulary. The living speech is further characterized by innumerable cases of consonantal metathesis and by parasitic nasalization. Loth gives specimens of the most important varieties of Breton in hisChrestomathie bretonne, pp. 363-380, but here we must confine ourselves to pointing out the two most salient differences between the speech of Vannes and the rest of Brittany. In Vannes the stress has not been shifted from the final syllable. In Haute-Cornouailles and Goelo there is a tendency to withdraw the stress on to the antepenultimate, whilst in Tréguier certain enclitics attract the accent to the final.s,zof the other dialects representing Welshthbecomehin Vannes,e.g.W.caeth, Br.keaz, kez,“poor, miserable,” Vanneskeah, keh. This phenomenon occurs sporadically in other dialects. It may also be mentioned that Prim. Celt, non-initiald, W.dd, is retained aszin Léon but disappears when final or standing between vowels in the other dialects,e.g.O. Br.fid, W.ffydd, “faith,” Léonfeiz, in Cornouailles, Tréguier and Vannes,fé. It is doubtful if the most serious differences between the dialects are older than the 16th century.In the middle ages the language of the Breton aristocracy was French. Upper Brittany was politically more important than the western portion. The consequence was that no patronage was extended to the vernacular, and Breton sank to the level of a patois with no unity for literary purposes. But a new era dawned with the beginning of the 19th century. The national consciousness was awakened at the time of the Revolution, when the Bretons became aware of the difference between themselves and their French neighbours. It may be mentioned by the way that the Breton language was regarded with suspicion by the leaders of the First Republic and attempts were made to suppress it. A Breton named Legonidec had to flee to England for fighting against the Republic. He came under the influence of the movement in Wales, and on his return sought to create a Breton literary language. He published an excellent grammar (Grammaire celto-bretonne, Paris, 1807) and a dictionary (Dictionnaire breton-français, Paris, 1821), from which he omitted the numerous French words which had crept into the language and for which native terms already existed. Legonidec’sexample fired a number of writers with zeal for their native tongue and the clergy became interested. Under their auspices manuals of Breton were published and the language was utilized in a number of schools. A society called theAssociation Bretonnewas founded in the year 1844. But under the Second Empire, for reasons which are not easy to discover, this Breton awakening was declared to be contrary to the interests of the state, and all the means at the disposal of a highly centralized government like that of France were employed to throttle the movement. Down to the present day the use of Breton is strictly forbidden in all the state schools, and the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy has for the most part been hostile to the language. However, the attitude of the government aroused considerable dissatisfaction in the early ’nineties, and in 1896 theAssociation Bretonne(disbanded in 1859 and reconstructed in 1873) appointed a permanent committee with the object of preserving and propagating the national language. At the same time some of the clergy headed by Abbé Buléon began to move, and Breton was introduced into many of the schools not under state control. In 1898 was founded theUnion Régionaliste Bretonne, the most important section of which endeavours to foster the native speech in conjunction with theComité de préservation du breton(founded 1896). In 1899 the annual meeting of the U.R.B. was modelled on the lines of the Irish Oireachtas, the Welsh Eisteddfod and the Scottish Mod, and festivals of this kind have been held ever since. Many Breton newspapers publish columns in Breton, thusAr Bobl(a weekly newspaper founded in 1904 and published at Carhaix) frequently devotes half its columns to the language. But there is also a weekly four-page newspaper which is wholly in Breton. This isKroaz ar Vretoned, edited by F. Vallée and published at St Brieuc. In addition to this there are three monthly magazines wholly in Breton. The first isAr Vro, edited by the poet Jaffrennou, and in 1908 in its fifth year. The second isDihunamb, written in the dialect of Vannes and started in 1905. The third isFeiz ha Breiz, started 1899.Authorities for Breton.—For the external history of Breton see H. Zimmer, “Die keltische Bewegung in der Bretagne,”Preussische Jahrbücherfor 1899, xcix. 454-497. For Old and Middle Breton, J. Loth,Chrestomathie bretonne(Paris, 1890), and the same writer’sVocabulaire vieux-breton(Paris, 1884). Loth and E. Ernault have been indefatigable in investigating the history of the language. Their numerous contributions are mainly to be found scattered through theRevue celtique, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologieand theAnnales de Bretagne. Ernault has also publishedGlossaire moyen-bretonin 2 vols. (Paris, 1895-1896);Dictionnaire étymologique du moyen-breton(Paris, 1888). Another etymological dictionary was published by V. Henry (Paris, 1900). Grammars, &c.:—Dialect of Léon: Legonidec,Grammaire celto-bretonne(Paris, 1807, 1838², also contained in H. de la Villemarqué’s edition of Legonidec’s Dictionary); F. Vallée,Leçons élémentaires de grammaire bretonne(St Brieuc, 1902); E. Ernault,Petite Grammaire bretonne(St Brieuc, 1897, the latter also takes account of the dialects of Tréguier and Cornouailles). Dialect of Tréguier: L. le Clerc,Grammaire bretonne(St Brieuc, 1908); J. Hingant,Éléments de la grammaire bretonne(Tréguier, 1868); P. le Roux, “Mutations et assimilations de consonnes dans le dialecte armoricain de Pleubian,”Annales de Bretagne, xii. 3-31. Dialect of Vannes: A. Guillevic and P. le Goff,Grammaire bretonne du dialecte de Vannes(Vannes, 1902);Exercises sur la grammaire bretonne(Vannes, 1903); H. d’Arbois de Jubainville, “Étude phonétique sur le dialecte breton de Vannes,”Revue celtique, i. 85 ff. 211 ff.; E. Ernault, “Le Dialecte vannetais de Sarzeau,”Rev. celt.iii. 47 ff., 232 ff.; J. Guillome,Grammaire française-bretonne(Vannes, 1836). As a curiosity we mention P. Treasure,An Introduction to Breton Grammar(Carmarthen, 1903). Dictionaries: Legonidec,Dictionnaire français-breton(St Brieuc, 1847),Breton-Français(St Brieuc, 1850), both republished by de la Villemarqué and representing the Léon dialect; A. Troude,Nouveau Dictionnaire pratique français et breton du dialecte de Léon avec les acceptations diverses dans les dialectes de Vannes, de Tréguier, et de Cornouailles(Brest, 1869), andNouveau Dictionnaire pratique breton-français(Brest, 1876); E. Ernault, “Supplément aux dictionnaires bretons-français,”Revue celtique, iv. 145-170. The Breton words in Gallo, the French patois of Upper Brittany, were collected by E. Ernault,Revue celtique, v. 218 ff.

With regard to the extent of country over which Breton is spoken we shall do well to note the seats of the old Breton bishoprics. These were Quimper, St Pol de Léon, Tréguier, St Brieuc, St Malo, Dol and Vannes. Under Count Nominoe the Bretons succeeded in throwing off the Frankish yoke (841-845) and founded an independent state. At this time of greatest political expansion the language boundary was formed by a line which started roughly a little to the west of Mont St Michel at the mouth of the Couesnon, and stretched to the mouth of the Loire. During the next three centuries, however, in consequence of political events which cannot be enumerated here, we find French encroaching rapidly on Breton, and the old dioceses of Dol, St Malo, St Brieuc, and in part Vannes became Romance-speaking (cp. J. Loth,Revue celtique, xxviii. 374-403). So that since the 13th and 14th centuries the boundary between French and Breton begins in the north about Plouha (west of St Brieuc Bay), and stretches to the mouth of the Vilaine in the south. That is to say, the Breton speakers are confined to the department of Finistère and the west of the departments Côtes-du-Nord and Morbihan. Lower Brittany contains a population of 1,360,000, of whom roughly 1,250,000 speak Breton. The number of monoglot Bretons is stated to have been 768,000 in 1878, 679,000 in 1885, and over 500,000 in 1898. There is an infinity of dialects and subdialects in Brittany, but it is usual to divide them into four groups. These are the dialects of (1) Léon in Finistère; (2) Cornouailles in Finistère, the Côtes-du-Nord and a part of Morbihan; (3) Tréguier in the Côtes-du-Nord and Finistère; (4) Vannes in Morbihan and a portion of the Côtes-du-Nord. The first three resemble one another fairly closely, but the speech of Vannes has gone its own way entirely. The dialect of Léon is regarded as the literary dialect, thanks to Legonidec.

The modern language is unfortunately saturated with words borrowed from French which form at least a quarter of the whole vocabulary. The living speech is further characterized by innumerable cases of consonantal metathesis and by parasitic nasalization. Loth gives specimens of the most important varieties of Breton in hisChrestomathie bretonne, pp. 363-380, but here we must confine ourselves to pointing out the two most salient differences between the speech of Vannes and the rest of Brittany. In Vannes the stress has not been shifted from the final syllable. In Haute-Cornouailles and Goelo there is a tendency to withdraw the stress on to the antepenultimate, whilst in Tréguier certain enclitics attract the accent to the final.s,zof the other dialects representing Welshthbecomehin Vannes,e.g.W.caeth, Br.keaz, kez,“poor, miserable,” Vanneskeah, keh. This phenomenon occurs sporadically in other dialects. It may also be mentioned that Prim. Celt, non-initiald, W.dd, is retained aszin Léon but disappears when final or standing between vowels in the other dialects,e.g.O. Br.fid, W.ffydd, “faith,” Léonfeiz, in Cornouailles, Tréguier and Vannes,fé. It is doubtful if the most serious differences between the dialects are older than the 16th century.

In the middle ages the language of the Breton aristocracy was French. Upper Brittany was politically more important than the western portion. The consequence was that no patronage was extended to the vernacular, and Breton sank to the level of a patois with no unity for literary purposes. But a new era dawned with the beginning of the 19th century. The national consciousness was awakened at the time of the Revolution, when the Bretons became aware of the difference between themselves and their French neighbours. It may be mentioned by the way that the Breton language was regarded with suspicion by the leaders of the First Republic and attempts were made to suppress it. A Breton named Legonidec had to flee to England for fighting against the Republic. He came under the influence of the movement in Wales, and on his return sought to create a Breton literary language. He published an excellent grammar (Grammaire celto-bretonne, Paris, 1807) and a dictionary (Dictionnaire breton-français, Paris, 1821), from which he omitted the numerous French words which had crept into the language and for which native terms already existed. Legonidec’sexample fired a number of writers with zeal for their native tongue and the clergy became interested. Under their auspices manuals of Breton were published and the language was utilized in a number of schools. A society called theAssociation Bretonnewas founded in the year 1844. But under the Second Empire, for reasons which are not easy to discover, this Breton awakening was declared to be contrary to the interests of the state, and all the means at the disposal of a highly centralized government like that of France were employed to throttle the movement. Down to the present day the use of Breton is strictly forbidden in all the state schools, and the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy has for the most part been hostile to the language. However, the attitude of the government aroused considerable dissatisfaction in the early ’nineties, and in 1896 theAssociation Bretonne(disbanded in 1859 and reconstructed in 1873) appointed a permanent committee with the object of preserving and propagating the national language. At the same time some of the clergy headed by Abbé Buléon began to move, and Breton was introduced into many of the schools not under state control. In 1898 was founded theUnion Régionaliste Bretonne, the most important section of which endeavours to foster the native speech in conjunction with theComité de préservation du breton(founded 1896). In 1899 the annual meeting of the U.R.B. was modelled on the lines of the Irish Oireachtas, the Welsh Eisteddfod and the Scottish Mod, and festivals of this kind have been held ever since. Many Breton newspapers publish columns in Breton, thusAr Bobl(a weekly newspaper founded in 1904 and published at Carhaix) frequently devotes half its columns to the language. But there is also a weekly four-page newspaper which is wholly in Breton. This isKroaz ar Vretoned, edited by F. Vallée and published at St Brieuc. In addition to this there are three monthly magazines wholly in Breton. The first isAr Vro, edited by the poet Jaffrennou, and in 1908 in its fifth year. The second isDihunamb, written in the dialect of Vannes and started in 1905. The third isFeiz ha Breiz, started 1899.

Authorities for Breton.—For the external history of Breton see H. Zimmer, “Die keltische Bewegung in der Bretagne,”Preussische Jahrbücherfor 1899, xcix. 454-497. For Old and Middle Breton, J. Loth,Chrestomathie bretonne(Paris, 1890), and the same writer’sVocabulaire vieux-breton(Paris, 1884). Loth and E. Ernault have been indefatigable in investigating the history of the language. Their numerous contributions are mainly to be found scattered through theRevue celtique, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologieand theAnnales de Bretagne. Ernault has also publishedGlossaire moyen-bretonin 2 vols. (Paris, 1895-1896);Dictionnaire étymologique du moyen-breton(Paris, 1888). Another etymological dictionary was published by V. Henry (Paris, 1900). Grammars, &c.:—Dialect of Léon: Legonidec,Grammaire celto-bretonne(Paris, 1807, 1838², also contained in H. de la Villemarqué’s edition of Legonidec’s Dictionary); F. Vallée,Leçons élémentaires de grammaire bretonne(St Brieuc, 1902); E. Ernault,Petite Grammaire bretonne(St Brieuc, 1897, the latter also takes account of the dialects of Tréguier and Cornouailles). Dialect of Tréguier: L. le Clerc,Grammaire bretonne(St Brieuc, 1908); J. Hingant,Éléments de la grammaire bretonne(Tréguier, 1868); P. le Roux, “Mutations et assimilations de consonnes dans le dialecte armoricain de Pleubian,”Annales de Bretagne, xii. 3-31. Dialect of Vannes: A. Guillevic and P. le Goff,Grammaire bretonne du dialecte de Vannes(Vannes, 1902);Exercises sur la grammaire bretonne(Vannes, 1903); H. d’Arbois de Jubainville, “Étude phonétique sur le dialecte breton de Vannes,”Revue celtique, i. 85 ff. 211 ff.; E. Ernault, “Le Dialecte vannetais de Sarzeau,”Rev. celt.iii. 47 ff., 232 ff.; J. Guillome,Grammaire française-bretonne(Vannes, 1836). As a curiosity we mention P. Treasure,An Introduction to Breton Grammar(Carmarthen, 1903). Dictionaries: Legonidec,Dictionnaire français-breton(St Brieuc, 1847),Breton-Français(St Brieuc, 1850), both republished by de la Villemarqué and representing the Léon dialect; A. Troude,Nouveau Dictionnaire pratique français et breton du dialecte de Léon avec les acceptations diverses dans les dialectes de Vannes, de Tréguier, et de Cornouailles(Brest, 1869), andNouveau Dictionnaire pratique breton-français(Brest, 1876); E. Ernault, “Supplément aux dictionnaires bretons-français,”Revue celtique, iv. 145-170. The Breton words in Gallo, the French patois of Upper Brittany, were collected by E. Ernault,Revue celtique, v. 218 ff.

(c)Cornish.—The ancient language of Cornwall (Kernûak, Carnoack) stood in a much closer relation to Breton than to Welsh,1though in some respects it sides with the latter against the former.

It agrees with Breton on the following points:—It has given up the nasal mutation of initials but provects the mediae. Prim. Celt.āis not diphthongized, but becomesē,e.g.Corn,ler, “floor,” Br.leur, W.llawr, Ir.lār.Ngis lost as in Breton,e.g.toy, “to swear,” Br.toui, W.tyngu, Ir.tongu;ndbecomesntbefore the stress and notnnas in Welsh,e.g.Corn. Br.hanter, “half,” W.hanner. Cornish like Breton does not prefix a vowel to words beginning with s + consonant,e.g.Corn.spirit, laterspyrys, Br.spered, W.yspryd. On the other hand, O. Cornish does not confuseĭandĕto the same extent as Bret.,e.g.W.helyg, “willow,” O. Cornishheligen, Br.halek. Further, Cornish does not changeth, đtos, zas in Breton,e.g. beth, “grave,” Br.bez, W.bedd, and initialgdisappears in the vocalic mutation as in Welsh. Peculiar to Cornish is the change of non-initialt, dtos, z. This occurs in the oldest Cornish aftern, l,e.g.O. Corn,nans, “valley,” W.nant; Corn.tâs, “father,” W.tad. A feature of later Cornish is the introduction of adbefore post-vocalicm, n,e.g.pedn, “head,” W.pen. In later Cornish the accent seems to have fallen on the penultimate as in Modern Welsh and Breton.In 936 the “Welsh” were driven out of Exeter by Æthelstan, and from that time the Tamar appears to have formed a general boundary between English and Cornish, though there seems to be evidence that even as late as the reign of Elizabeth Cornish was spoken in a few places to the east of that river. The decay of Cornish has been largely attributed to the Reformation. Neither the Prayer-book nor the Scriptures were translated into the vernacular, and we find the same apathy on the part of the Church of England in Cornwall as in Wales and Ireland. Unfortunately the Methodist movement came at a time when it was too late to save the language. By 1600 Cornish had been driven into the western parts of the duchy and in 1662 we are informed by John Ray that few of the children could speak it. Lhuyd gives a list of the parishes in which Cornish was spoken, but goes on to state that every one speaks English. In 1735 there were only a few people along the coast between Penzance and Land’s End who understood Cornish, and Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole, who died in 1777, is commonly stated to have been the last person who spoke it, though Jenner seems to show that there were others who lived until well into the 19th century who were able to converse in the dialect. However, the modern English speech of West Cornwall is full of Celtic words, and nine-tenths of the places and people from the Tamar to Land’s End bear Cornish names. Celtic words still in use are to be found in Jago’sDialect of Cornwall(Truro, 1882); thus the name for the dog-fish ismorgy, “sea-dog.”Authorities for Cornish.—A mass of details about Cornish is collected in H. Jenner’sHandbook of the Cornish Language(London, 1904). (Cf. J. Loth’s review in theRevue celtique, xxvii. 93.) Lhuyd’sArchaeologica Britannica(1707) contains a grammar of the language as spoken in his day, and aSketch of Cornish Grammaris to be found as an appendix to Norris’sAncient Cornish Drama. A dictionary was published by R. Williams entitledLexicon Cornu-Britannicum(Landovery, 1865), to which W. Stokes published a supplement of about 2000 words in theTransactions of the London Philological Societyfor 1868-1869. We may also mention theEnglish-Cornish Dictionary, by F.W.P. Jago (Plymouth, 1887), and aGlossary of Cornish Names, by J. Bannister (Truro, 1871). W. Stokes published a Glossary toBeunans Meriasekin theArchiv für celtische Lexikographie, i. 101, and important articles by J. Loth have appeared in theRevue celtique, vols. xviii. to xxiv. W.S. Lach-Szyrma, “Les Derniers Échos de la langue cornique,”Revue celtique, iii. 239 ff. H. Jenner, “Some Rough Notes on the Present Pronunciation of Cornish Names,”Rev. celt.xxiv. 300-305.

In 936 the “Welsh” were driven out of Exeter by Æthelstan, and from that time the Tamar appears to have formed a general boundary between English and Cornish, though there seems to be evidence that even as late as the reign of Elizabeth Cornish was spoken in a few places to the east of that river. The decay of Cornish has been largely attributed to the Reformation. Neither the Prayer-book nor the Scriptures were translated into the vernacular, and we find the same apathy on the part of the Church of England in Cornwall as in Wales and Ireland. Unfortunately the Methodist movement came at a time when it was too late to save the language. By 1600 Cornish had been driven into the western parts of the duchy and in 1662 we are informed by John Ray that few of the children could speak it. Lhuyd gives a list of the parishes in which Cornish was spoken, but goes on to state that every one speaks English. In 1735 there were only a few people along the coast between Penzance and Land’s End who understood Cornish, and Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole, who died in 1777, is commonly stated to have been the last person who spoke it, though Jenner seems to show that there were others who lived until well into the 19th century who were able to converse in the dialect. However, the modern English speech of West Cornwall is full of Celtic words, and nine-tenths of the places and people from the Tamar to Land’s End bear Cornish names. Celtic words still in use are to be found in Jago’sDialect of Cornwall(Truro, 1882); thus the name for the dog-fish ismorgy, “sea-dog.”

Authorities for Cornish.—A mass of details about Cornish is collected in H. Jenner’sHandbook of the Cornish Language(London, 1904). (Cf. J. Loth’s review in theRevue celtique, xxvii. 93.) Lhuyd’sArchaeologica Britannica(1707) contains a grammar of the language as spoken in his day, and aSketch of Cornish Grammaris to be found as an appendix to Norris’sAncient Cornish Drama. A dictionary was published by R. Williams entitledLexicon Cornu-Britannicum(Landovery, 1865), to which W. Stokes published a supplement of about 2000 words in theTransactions of the London Philological Societyfor 1868-1869. We may also mention theEnglish-Cornish Dictionary, by F.W.P. Jago (Plymouth, 1887), and aGlossary of Cornish Names, by J. Bannister (Truro, 1871). W. Stokes published a Glossary toBeunans Meriasekin theArchiv für celtische Lexikographie, i. 101, and important articles by J. Loth have appeared in theRevue celtique, vols. xviii. to xxiv. W.S. Lach-Szyrma, “Les Derniers Échos de la langue cornique,”Revue celtique, iii. 239 ff. H. Jenner, “Some Rough Notes on the Present Pronunciation of Cornish Names,”Rev. celt.xxiv. 300-305.

III. The Language of the Ancient Picts.—The evidence from which we can draw any conclusions as to the affinities of the language of the Picts is so extremely scanty that the question has been the subject of great controversy. The Picts are first mentioned by Eumenius (a.d.297), who regarded them as having inhabited Britain in the time of Caesar. In the year 368 they are described by Ammianus Marcellinus as invading the Roman province of Britain in conjunction with the Irish Scots. In Columba’s time we find the whole of Scotland east of Drumalban and north of the Forth divided into two kingdoms—north and south Pictland—and it is reasonable to identify the Picts, at any rate in part, with the Caledonians of the classical authors. Galloway and Co. Down were also inhabited by Picts. Bede in enumerating the languages of Britain mentions those of the Britons, Picts, Scots and the English. The names by which the Picts are known in history have aroused considerable discussion. It seems natural to connect Lat.Pictiwith thePictonesandPictaviof Gaul, but in Irish they are known asCruithne, which appears in Welsh asPrydyn, “Pict”; cp.Prydein, “Britain,” forms corresponding to the earliest Greek name for these islands,νῆσοι πρετανικαί.

Three conflicting theories have been held as to the character of the Pictish language. Rhys, relying on the strange character of the Scottish Ogam inscriptions, pronounces it to be non-Celtic and non-Indo-European. In this he has been followed by Zimmer, who bases his argument on the Pictish rule of succession. Skene maintained that the Picts spoke a language nearly allied to Goidelic, whilst Stokes, Loth, Macbain, D’Arbois and Meyer are of opinion that Pictish was more closely relatedto Brythonic. Of personal names mentioned by classical writers we have Calgacus and Argentocoxus, both of which are certainly Celtic. The names occurring in Ptolemy’s description of Scotland have a decidedly Celtic character, and they seem, moreover, to bear a greater resemblance to Brythonic than to Goidelic, witness such tribal designations as Epidii, Cornavii, Damnonii, Decantae, Novantae. In the case of all these names, however, it should be borne in mind that they probably reached the writers of antiquity through Brythonic channels. Bede mentions that the east end of the Antonine Wall terminated at a place called in PictishPean-fahel, and in SaxonPenneltun.Peanresembles Old Welshpenn, “head,” Old Irishcenn, and the second element may possibly be connected with Gaelicfàl, Welshgwawl, “rampart.” The names of the kings in the Pictish chronicles are not an absolutely trustworthy guide, as owing to the Pictish rule of succession the bearers of the names may in many cases have been Brythons. The names of some of them occur in one source in a Goidelic, in another in a Brythonic form. It is of course possible that the southern part of Pictish territory was divided between Goidels and Brythons, the population being very much mixed. On the other hand there are a number of elements in place-names on Pictish ground which do not occur in Wales or Ireland. Such arepet,pit, “farm” (?),for,fother,fetter,foder, “lower” (?).Aber, “confluence,” on the contrary, is pure Brythonic (Gaelicinver). Though the majority of scholars are of opinion that Pictish was nearly akin to the Brythonic dialects, we are entirely in the dark as to the manner in which that language was ousted by the Goidelic speech of the Dalriadic Scots. In view of the comparatively unimportant part played for a considerable period in Scottish affairs by the colony from Ireland, it is well-nigh incredible that Pictish should have been supplanted by Gaelic.

Authorities.—J. Rhys,Celtic Britain(London², 1905),The Welsh People(London3, 1902), “The Language and Inscriptions of the Northern Picts,” inProceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland(1892); H. Zimmer, “Das Mutterrecht der Pikten,” inSavignys Zeitschrift(1895); also trans. by G. Henderson inLeabhar nan Gleann(Inverness, 1898); W.F. Skene,Celtic Scotland(Edinburgh, 1876); A. Macbain in appendix to reprint of Skene’sHighlanders of Scotland(Stirling, 1902); A. Macbain, “Ptolemy’s Geography of Scotland,” inTransactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xviii. 267-288; W. Stokes,Bezzenbergers Beiträge, xviii. 267 ff.; H. d’Arbois de Jubainville,Les Druides et les dieux celtiques à forme d’animaux(Paris, 1906). The various theories have been recently reviewed and criticized by T. Rice Holmes in an appendix to hisCaesar’s Invasion of Britain(London, 1907).

IV. History of Celtic Philology.—For many centuries the affinities of the Celtic languages were the subject of great dispute. The languages were in turn regarded as descended from Hebrew, Teutonic and Scythian. The first attempt to treat the dialects comparatively was made by Edward Lhuyd in hisArchaeologia Britannica(Oxford, 1707), but the work of this scholar seems to have remained unnoticed. A century later Adelung in Germany divided the dialects into true Celtic (= Goidelic) and Celtic influenced by Teutonic (= Brythonic). But it took scholars a long time to recognize that these languages belonged to the Indo-European family. Thus they were excluded by Bopp in his comparative grammar, though he did not fail to notice certain resemblances between Celtic and Sanskrit. James Pritchard was the first to demonstrate the true relationship of the group in hisEastern Origin of the Celtic Nations(London, 1831), but his conclusions were not accepted. As late as 1836 Pott denied the Indo-European connexion. A year later Pictet resumed Pritchard’s arguments, and Bopp himself in 1838 admitted the languages into the charmed circle, showing in an able paper entitledÜber die keltischen Sprachenthat the initial mutations were due to the influence of terminations now lost. But it was reserved to a Bavarian historian, J.C. Zeuss (1806-1856), to demonstrate conclusively the Indo-European origin of the Celtic dialects. Zeuss, who may worthily rank with Grimm and Diez among the greatest German philologists, rediscovered the Old Irish glosses on the continent, and on them he reared the magnificent structure which goes by his name. TheGrammatica Celticawas first published in 1853. The material contained in this monumental work was greatly extended by a series of important publications by Whitley Stokes and Hermann Ebel, so much so that the latter was commissioned to prepare a second edition, which appeared in 1871. Stokes has rendered the greatest service to the cause of Celtic studies by the publication of countless texts in Irish, Cornish and Breton. In 1870 theRevue celtique(vol. xxviii. in 1908) was founded by Henri Gaidoz, whose mantle later fell upon H. d’Arbois de Jubainville. In 1879 E. Windisch facilitated the study of Irish by publishing a grammar of Old Irish, and a year later a volume of important Middle Irish texts with an exhaustive glossary, the first of its kind. Since then Windisch and Stokes have collaborated to bring out some of the greatest monuments of Irish literature in the series ofIrische Texte. The text of the Würzburg glosses was published by Zimmer (1881) and by Stokes (1887), and that of the Milan glosses by Ascoli. An important step forward was the discovery of the laws of the Irish accent made simultaneously by Zimmer and Thurneysen. This discovery led to a thorough investigation of the difficult verb system of Old Irish—a task which has largely occupied the attention of Strachan in England, Thurneysen and Zimmer in Germany, and Pedersen and Sarauw in Denmark. In a sense the publication of theThesaurus Palaeohibernicus(Cambridge, 1901-1903) may be regarded as marking the close of this epoch. The older stages of Irish have hitherto so monopolized the energies of scholars that other departments of Celtic philology save Breton have been left in large measure unworked. J. Strachan had begun to tap the mine of the Old Welsh poems when his career was cut short by death. J. Loth and E. Ernault have concentrated their attention on Breton, and can claim that the development of the speech of Brittany has been more thoroughly investigated than that of any other Celtic language. The number of periodicals devoted entirely to Celtic studies has increased considerably of recent years. In 1896 K. Meyer and L. C. Stern founded theZeitschrift für celtische Philologie(now in its 7th volume), and in 1897 theArchiv für celtische Lexikographiebegan to appear under the direction of K. Meyer and W. Stokes. As a supplement to the latter Meyer has been publishing his invaluable contributions to Middle Irish lexicography. In Ireland a new periodical styledÉriuwas started by the Irish School of Learning in 1904. The ScottishCeltic Review, dealing more particularly with Scottish and Irish Gaelic, began to appear in 1903, and theTransactions of the Gaelic Society of Invernessare in the 26th volume. For Wales we haveY Cymmrodorsince 1877, and theTransactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorionsince 1892, and for Brittany theAnnales de Bretagne, published by the Faculty of Letters at Rennes (founded 1886).

See V. Tourneur,Esquisse d’une histoire des études celtiques(Liége, 1905).

(E. C. Q.)

Celtic Literature

I. Irish Literature.—In the absence of a native coinage it is extremely difficult to say when the use of letters was introduced into Ireland. It is probable that the Latin alphabet first came in with Christianity. With the exceptionOgam inscriptions.of the one bilingual Ogam inscription as yet discovered in Ireland (that at Killeen Cormac) all the inscriptions in Roman letters are certainly later than 500. Indeed, apart from the stone reading“LIE LUGUAEDON MACCI MENUEH,”they are all contemporary with or later than the Old Irish glosses. With regard to the Ogam inscriptions we cannot make any confident assertions. Owing to the lack of criteria for dating certain Irish sound-changes accurately it is impossible to assign chronological limits for the earlier stones. The latter cannot be later than the 5th century, but there is nothing to show whether they are Christian or not, and if pagan they may be a century or two earlier. It is true that the heroes and druids of the older epics are represented in the stories as making constant use of Ogam letters on wood and stone, and as the state of civilization described in the oldest versions of the Ulster sagas seems largely to go back to the beginning of the Christian era, it is not impossible that this peculiar system of writing had beenframed by them. The Ogam system is certainly based on the Latin and not the Greek alphabet, and was probably invented by some person from the south of Ireland who received his knowledge of the Roman letters from traders from the mouth of the Loire. It may, however, be regarded as certain that the Ogam script was never employed in early times for literary purposes. We are told that the Gaulish druids disdained to commit their lore to writing, although they were familiar with the use of Greek letters, and their Irish confrères probably resembled them in this respect. Tradition connects the codification of the Brehon Laws with the name of Patrick, and there is reason for believing, as we shall see later, that the greatest Irish epic was first committed to writing in the 7th century.

The great bulk of Irish literature is contained in MSS. belonging to the Middle Irish period (1100-1550), and in order to be able to treat this literature as a whole it will be convenient for us to deal first with those documents which areOld Irish MSS.termed Old Irish, especially as the contemporary remains of the literature of the earlier period are almost exclusively of a religious nature. Most of the Old Irish documents have been printed by Stokes and Strachan in theThesaurus Palaeohibernicus, and where no reference is given the reader is referred to that monumental work. The extraordinary outburst of intellectual activity in Ireland from the 6th to the 9th centuries and the compositions of Irishmen in the Latin language, belong to the history of medieval European literature and fall outside the scope of this article. For theConfession of St Patrickand his “Letter to the Subjects of Coroticus” seePatrick. The only Irish document ascribed to the saint is the strange so-called “Hymn,” thefáeth fiada, more properlyfóid fiada, “the cry of the deer.” This is a rhythmical incantation which is saidHymns.to have rendered the saint and his companions invisible to King Loigaire and his druids. The Trinity and powers of nature are invoked to help him to resist spells of women and smiths and wizards. The hymn, which contains a number of strange grammatical forms, is undoubtedly referred to in the Book of Armagh, and may very well go back to the 5th century. The Latin hymns contained in two MSS. dating from the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, a Trinity College, Dublin, MS., and a MS. belonging to the Franciscan monastery in Dublin, are of interest to us as exhibiting the influence of the native metrical system. Quantity and elision are ignored, and rhymes, assonances, alliterations and harmonies abound in true Irish fashion. The line consists of two units which commonly contain either seven or eight syllables apiece. The earliest and best-known of these religious poems are the Hymn of Secundinus (Sechnall d. 447) on St Patrick, and the two hymns attributed to St Columba (d. 597) beginning “Noli pater” and “Altus prosator,” the latter of which exhibits some of the peculiarities of the so-called Hibernian Latin of theHisperica Faminaand theLoricaof Gildas. The date of the Irish hymns in theLiber Hymnorumranges, according to Stokes and Strachan, from the 7th to the 11th centuries. Ultán’s hymn on St Brigit beginning “Brigit bé bithmaith,” which is by far the most artistic of the collection, was perhaps composed in the 7th century. Definite metrical laws had evidently been elaborated when this poem was written. The beat is iambic, but the natural accent of the words is rigidly observed. The long line consists of two units of five syllables each. The rhymes are dissyllabic and perfect. Alliteration is always observed in the latter half of each line and assonances are found knitting up the half-lines. The short prayer ascribed to Ninine or to Fiacc is a highly alliterative piece without rhyme, the date of which cannot be fixed. The well-known hymn on St Patrick traditionally ascribed to Fiacc, bishop of Sletty, and the piece beginning “Sén Dé,” traditionally ascribed to Colmán, are assigned on linguistic grounds to the beginning of the 9th century. The lines going by the name of “Sanctán’s Hymn” probably belong to the same century, whilst the metrical catalogue of marvels performed by St Brigit contains such a medley of older and later forms, probably due to interpolation, that it is impossible to determine its age. The few lines entitled “Mael-Ísu’s Hymn” are the most recent of all and probably belong to the 11th century (Mael-Ísu d. 1086). The Patrician documents by Muirchu Maccu Machthéni, who professed to write at the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty (d. 698), and by Tirechán, who is said to have received his information from Bishop Ultán (d. 656), are contained in the Book of Armagh, a MS. compiled by Ferdomnach in 807. These documents, like theLife of St Columbaby Adamnan, the MS. of which was written by Dorbbéne, abbot of Hi (d. 713), contain a number of names and forms of great importance for the study of the language.

The earliest pieces of connected prose in Irish are three:—(1) the Cambray Homily, contained in an 8th-century codex at Cambray copied by a continental hand from a MS. in the Irish character; the language is very archaic andEarliest prose.dates from the second half of the 7th or the beginning of the 8th century; (2) the additions to the notes of Tirechán on the life of St Patrick in the Book of Armagh; these seem to go back to the early 8th century; (3) the tract on the Mass in the Stowe Missal, which is in all probability nearly as old as the Cambray Homily, though contained in a 10th or 11th century MS. Of especial interest are the spells and poems found in the Stowe Missal and two continental MSS. The Stowe MS. (now deposited in the Royal Irish Academy) contains three rather badly preserved spells for a sore eye, a thorn and disease of the urine. A St Gall codex has preserved four Irish incantations of the 8th and 9th centuries. These are respectively against a thorn, urinary disease, headache and various ailments. Another charm, which is partly obscure, occurs in the 9th-century codex preserved at the monastery of St Paul in Carinthia. The same MS. also contains (1) a humorous poem treating of the doings of a bookish writer and his favourite cat Pangur Bán; (2) a riddling poem ascribed to Suibne Geilt, a king who is said to have lost his reason at the battle of Moira (a.d.637); (3) verses extracted from a poem ascribed to St Moling (d. 697), who may very well have been the actual author; (4) a poem in praise of some Leinster princeling called Aed.

For our knowledge of the older language, however, we have to rely mainly on the numerous glosses scattered about in a large number of MSS., which it is impossible to enumerate here. Indeed, such an enumeration is now renderedOld glosses.superfluous owing to the publication of theThesaurus Palaeohibernicus, in which all the various glosses have been collected. For our purpose it will be sufficient to mention the three most important codices containing Old Irish glosses. These are as follows:—(1) The Codex Paulinus at Würzburg, which contains the thirteen epistles of St Paul, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, with a great mass of explanatory glosses, partly in Latin, partly in Irish, partly mixed. The chief source of the commentary is the commentary of Pelagius, who is often cited by name. The date of this highly important MS. is much disputed; part of the Irish glosses seem to date from about 700, whilst the rest may be placed a little before 800. (2) The Codex Ambrosianus, formerly at Bobbio, now at Milan, which contains a commentary on the psalter with a large number of Irish glosses. In their present state these glosses were copied in the first half of the 9th century. (3) Glosses on Priscian contained in four MSS., of which the most important is the Codex Sangallensis, dating from the middle of the 9th century. Apart from the biblical glosses and scholia the other chief texts or authors provided with Irish glosses are Augustine, Bede, the Canons, the Computus, Eutychius, Juvencus, Philargyrius, Prudentius and Servius.

The Milan and the St Gall codices just mentioned both contain several short poems in Irish. In two stanzas in the Swiss MS. we find expressed for the first time that keen sympathy with nature in all her moods which is so marked a feature of Irish and Welsh verse.

Two ponderous religious poems have now to be noticed. To Oengus the Culdee is attributed the lengthyFélireor Calendar of Church Festivals, consisting of 365 quatrains inrinnardmetre, one for each day in the year. The language of this dry compilation, which is heavily glossed and annotated, points to 800 as the date of composition, and Oengus, who is stated to havelived about that time, may well have been the author. This calendar has been twice edited by W. Stokes with an English translation, the first time for the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1880), and again for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1905).

It may perhaps be as well to enumerate here the later Irish martyrologies. (1) TheMartyrology of Tallaght(Tamlacht), founded on an 8th-century calendar, but containing additions down to 900 (ed. D.H. Kelly, Dublin, 1857). (2) The metricalMartyrology of O’Gorman, c. 1166-1174, edited by Stokes for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1895). (3) TheMartyrology of Donegal, an important compilation in prose made by Michael O’Clery in 1630, edited by J.H. Todd (Dublin, 1864). A composition which is wrongly assigned to Oengus the Culdee is theSaltair na Rannor Psalter in Quatrains, contained in an Oxford MS. (Rawlinson B 502) and published without a translation by Stokes (Oxford, 1883). The work proper consists of 150 poems corresponding to the number of Psalms in the psalter, but 12 poems have been added, and in all it contains 2098 quatrains, chiefly indeibidemetre of seven syllables. The poems are mainly based on biblical (Old Testament) history, but they preserve a large measure of medieval sacred lore and cosmogony. The psalter received additions as late as 998, and the Oxford MS. belongs to the 12th century. We should perhaps also mention here the famousAmraor Eulogy of St Columba, commonly attributed to Dallán Forgaill, a contemporary of the saint, but Stokes takes the view that it was written in the 9th century, and is intentionally obscure. The oldest but not the best copy of theAmrais preserved in the Trinity College, Dublin, MS. of theLiber Hymnorum, but it also occurs in LU. and elsewhere. It invariably appears heavily gloss-laden, and the glosses and commentary added thereto are out of all proportion to the text. This piece, which is not extant in its integrity, was probably intended as artificial alliterative prose, but, as we have it, it is a medley of isolated phrases and irrelevant comment.

During the 9th and 10th centuries Ireland was harassed by the Vikings, and a host of scholars seem to have fled to the continent, carrying with them their precious books, many of which are preserved in Italy, Switzerland, GermanyOld collectors.and elsewhere. Hence very few early Irish MSS. are preserved in Ireland itself. When the fury of the storm was past, Irish scholars showed increased interest in the old literary documents, and copied all that they could lay hands on into miscellaneous codices. The earliest of these collections, such as theCin of Druim Snechta, theYellow Book of Slane, theBook of Dubdaleithe, thePsalter of Cashel, exist no longer, though their names have come down and certain of them were known in the 17th century. However, copies of a goodly portion of the contents of these old books are preserved to us in one form or another, but mainly in a series of huge miscellaneous codicesBook of the Dun Cow.ranging in date from the 12th to the 16th century. The oldest isLebor na h-uidre, or Book of the Dun Cow, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy and published in facsimile (Dublin, 1870). This MS. was compiled in part in the monastery of Clonmacnoise by Moelmuire MacCelechair, who was slain in 1106. The Book of the Dun Cow (where necessary we shall abbreviate as LU.) derives its name from a legend that Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (d. 544) took down the story of theTáin Bó Cualngeon a parchment made from the hide of his favourite cow. The name seems to have been wrongly applied to the 12th-century MS. in the 15th century. LU. is almost entirely devoted to romance, the stories whichBook of Leinster.it contains belonging mainly to the Ulster cycle. The next MS. in point of age is the Book of Leinster (abbreviated LL.) now in Trinity College, Dublin. It was transcribed by Finn, son of Gorman, bishop of Kildare (d. 1160). LL. also contains a large number of romances in addition to other important matter, mainly historical andYellow Book of Lecan.genealogical, bearing more particularly on the affairs of Leinster. The Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL.), also in Trinity College, Dublin, was written at different times by the MacFirbis family, but chiefly by Gilla Isa, son of Donnchad Mór MacFirbis about 1391. The MacFirbises were hereditary scribes and genealogists to the O’Dowds, chiefs of the Hy Fiachrach (Co. Sligo). YBL. contains a vast amount of romance, and is indispensable as supplementing and checkingBook of Ballymote.the contents of LU. and LL. The most extensive collection of all is the Book of Ballymote (BB.), now belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, which was compiled about the beginning of the 15th century by various scribes. The book was in the possession of the chiefs of Ballymote for more than a century. In 1522 it was purchased by the O’Donnells for 140 milch cows. BB. only contains little romantic matter, but it has preserved much valuable historical andSpeckled Book.genealogical material. The contents of theLeabhar Breac(LB.), or Speckled Book, now in the Royal Irish Academy, are chiefly ecclesiastical and religious. LB. seems to have been compiled in large measure before 1544. All these five codices have been published in facsimile by the Royal Irish Academy with a description of their contents. Two important Mid. Ir. MSS. in the Bodleian (Rawlinson B 512 and Laud 610), containing a good deal of romantic material, are also published in facsimile by Henry Frowde.

Other MSS. which require special mention are (1) The Great Book of Lecan, compiled in the year 1417 by Gilla Isa Mór MacFirbis, in the Royal Irish Academy; (2) The Book of Lismore, the property of the duke of Devonshire at LismoreOther MSS. material.Castle. This codex was compiled in the latter half of the 15th century from the lost book of Monasterboice and other MSS. Its contents are described in the introduction to Stokes’sLives of Saints from the Book of Lismore(Oxford, 1890). (3) The Book of Fermoy in the Royal Irish Academy. The contents are described in the introduction to O’Beirne Crowe’s edition of theTáin Bó Fraich(Dublin, 1870). (4) The Book of Hy Maine recently acquired by the Royal Irish Academy. The scribe who wrote it died in 1372. O’Curry, O’Longan and O’Beirne Crowe drew up a MS. catalogue of the Irish MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, and O’Donovan performed the same service for the Trinity College, Dublin, collection. A briefer account of the Irish MSS. in TCD. will be found in Abbott’s Catalogue of the MSS. in that library. O’Curry also drew up a list of the Irish MSS. in the British Museum, and S.H. O’Grady has printed part i. of a descriptive catalogue of this collection (London, 1901), part ii. by T. O’Maille. The twenty-six MSS. in the Franciscan monastery in Dublin are described by J.T. Gilbert in theFourth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical MSS.W.F. Skene catalogued the collection of MSS. in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, a printed catalogue of which has been issued by D. Mackinnon (Edinburgh, 1909; see alsoTrans. Gaelic Soc. of Inverness, xvi. 285-309).

In order to give some idea of the enormous extent of Irish MS. material we may quote some calculations made by O’Curry, who states that if the five oldest vellum MSS. were printed the result would be 9400 quarto pages. Other vellum MSS. ranging in date from 1300 to 1600 would fill 9000 pages of the same size, whilst the innumerable paper MSS. belonging chiefly to the early 18th century would cover no less than 30,000 pages. The well-known French scholar, D’Arbois de Jubainville, published in 1883 a tentative catalogue of Irish epic literature. His work is by no means complete, but his figures are instructive. He mentions 953 Irish MSS. containing epic matter preserved in Irish and English libraries. To these have to be added another 56 in continental libraries. Of this mass of material 133 Irish and British MSS. and 35 continental MSS. were written before 1600. It should, however, be stated that the same subject is treated over and over again, and much of the later material is absolutely valueless.

Before we pass on to the consideration of the literature itself, it will be well to make a few preliminary observations on the nature of the language in which the pieces are written and on the status of the poet in medieval Ireland.Character of Middle Irish.The language in which the huge miscellaneous codices enumerated above are contained is called by the general name of Middle Irish, which is a very wide term. Irish scribes often copied their original somewhat mechanically, withoutbeing tempted to change the language to that of their own time. Thus in many parts of LU. we find a thin Middle Irish veneer on what is largely Old Irish of the 8th or 9th century. Hence such a MS. often preserves forms which had been current several centuries before, and it may even happen that a 14th or 15th century MS. such as YBL. contains much older forms than a corresponding passage in LL. Of recent years several scholars—notably Strachan—have devoted much attention to the Old Irish verb-forms, so that we have now safe criteria for establishing with some degree of certainty the age of recensions of stories and poems preserved in late MSS. In this way a number of compositions have been assigned to the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, though actual written documents belonging to this period are comparatively rare.

It remains for us to say a few words about thefili, the professional literary man in Ireland. Thefili(from the stemvel-, “to see,” Welsh, Breton,gwelet, “to see”) appears to have been originally a diviner and magician, and correspondsThe “fili.”to thevates,οὐάτεις, of the ancient Gauls mentioned by classical writers. In Ireland he is represented as sole possessor of three methods of divination: theimbas forosnai,teinm lóidaanddíchetal di chennaib cnáime. The first two of these were forbidden by Patrick, but they seem to have survived as late as the 10th century. Part of the tremendous influence exercised by thefiliwas due to the belief in his powers of satire. By reciting a satirical poem or incantation he was able to raise blotches on the face of and so disfigure any person who aroused his displeasure. Numerous cases of this occur in Irish literature. The origin of the science of thefiliis sometimes traced back to theDagda, one of the figures of the Irish pantheon, and they were held in such esteem that the annalists give the obituaries of the head-ollams as if they were so many princes. With the introduction of Christianity they seem to have gradually superseded the druid, and their functions are therefore very wide. We are told that they acted in three capacities: (i) as story-tellers (fer comgneorscélaige); (2) as judges (brithem), including the professions of arbiters, legislators and lawyers; (3) as poets proper (fercerte). We are here only concerned with thefiliin his capacity of story-teller and poet. In accordance with the minute classification of the various ranks of society in early Ireland, the social status of the literary man was very carefully defined. The degrees vary slightly in different documents, but the following list of ten from theSenchus Móris very instructive: (1) The highest degree is theollam(ollave), who knows 350 stories; (2) theánruth, 175 stories; (3) theclíí, 80 stories; (4) thecana, 60 stories; (5) thedoss, 50 stories; (6) themacfuirmid, 40 stories; (7) thefochlocon, 30 stories; (8) thedrisac, 20 stories; (9) thetaman, 10 stories; (10) theoblaire, 7 stories. In LL. we are told that the stories (scél) are divided into primary and secondary, and that the latter are only obligatory on the first four of the grades enumerated. Again, certain styles of composition seem to have been the monopoly of certain grades. Thus the poem which was most highly rewarded and demanded the highest technical skill was called theanomain, and was the exclusive right of theollam. A notable instance of this kind of composition is theAmraof Columba, attributed to Dallán Forgaill. The higher grades were allowed a number of attendants, whom the kings had to support along with the poet himself. Thus thefochloconhad two and thedossfour attendants. In the 6th century Dallán Forgaill, the chieffiliof Ireland, claimed the right to be attended by thirtyfilid, which was the number of the train allowed to the supreme king. The reigning monarch, Aed MacAinmirech, weary of the pretensions of the poets, attempted to banish them, which led to the famous assembly of Druim Ceta, where Columba intervened and reduced the number to twenty-four (the train of a provincial king). In the plan of the hall of Tara, preserved in LL. and YBL., thesui littreor doctor in theology has the seat of honour opposite the king. Theollam brithemor supreme judge or lawyer ranks with the highest rank of nobility, whilst theollam filiis on a footing with the nobleman of the second degree.

We have already stated that the stories which formed the stock-in-trade of the poets were divided into primary and secondary stories. Of the latter there were 100, but little is known of them. However, several more or less complete lists of the primary stories have come down to us. The oldest catalogue (contained in LL.) gives the titles of 187 of these tales arranged under the following heads—destructions, cow-spoils, courtships, battles, caves, navigations, violent deaths, expeditions, elopements and conflagrations; together with the following, which also reckon as prime-stories—irruptions, visions, loves, hostings and migrations. Of these stories sixty-eight have been preserved in a more or less complete form. The tales enumerated in these catalogues, which in their substance doubtless go back to the 8th or even to the 7th century, fall into four main categories: (1) the mythological cycle, (2) the Cúchulinn cycle, (3) the Finn cycle, (4) pieces relating to events of the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries. Meyer has estimated that of the 550 titles of epic tales in D’Arbois’sCatalogueabout 400 are known to us, though many of them only occur in a very fragmentary state; and about 100 others have since been discovered which were not known in 1883.

The course of training undergone by thefiliwas a very lengthy one. It is commonly stated to have extended over twelve years, at the end of which time the student was thoroughly versed in all the legendary, legal, historical and topographical lore of his native country, in the use of the innumerable and excessively complicated Irish metres, in Ogam writing and Irish grammar. The instruction in the schools of poetry seems to have been entirely oral, and the course consisted largely in learning by heart the verses in which the native lore was enshrined. These schools of learning existed in one form or another down to the 17th century. In the early days thefiliis represented as employing a mysterious archaic form of speech—doubtless full of obscure kennings—which was only intelligible to the initiated. An instance of thisbérla féine, as it was termed, is the piece entitledAcallam an Dá Shuad(Colloquy of the Two Sages,Rev. celt.xxvi. 4 ff.). In this piece twofilidof the 1st centurya.d.are represented as contending in this dialect for the office of chiefollamof Ireland, much to the chagrin of King Conchobar, to whom their speeches were unintelligible. It was in consequence of this that Conchobar ruled that the office offilishould no longer carry with it of necessity the office of judge (brithem). It ought to be observed that the church never showed itself hostile to thefilid, as it did to the druids. Dubthach, chieffiliof Ireland in the time of St Patrick, is represented as the saint’s constant companion, and the famous Flann Mainistrech (d. 1056), though a layman andfili, was head of the monastery school at Monasterboice.

Before leaving the subject of the literary classes, we must notice an inferior grade of poet—the bard. Like the officialfilid, the bards were divided into grades. There were both patrician and plebeian bards, each subdivided intoThe bard.eight degrees, having their own peculiar metres. Like thefilithe bard had to go through a long course of study, and he was generally attached to the house of some chieftain whose praises he had to sing. In course of time the office offilibecame extinct, owing to a variety of causes, and from the 13th to the 16th century we find the hitherto despised family bard stepping into the place of the most influential literary man in Ireland. His importance was fully realized by the English government, which did its best to suppress the order.

The medieval romances form by far the most attractive part of Irish literature, and it is to them that we shall first turn our attention. Two main groups of stories have to be distinguished. The one is the Ulster cycle, withMedieval romances.Conchobar and Cúchulinn as central figures. The other is the Southern or Leinster-Munster cycle, revolving round Finn and Ossian. Further stories dealing with mythological and historical personages will be mentioned in their turn.

The Ulster cycle may be regarded as Ireland’s most important contribution to the world’s literature. The chief and at the same time the lengthiest romance in which the heroes of this group figure is the great epic, theTáin Bó Cualngeor theUlster cycle.Cattle-raid of Cooley (Co. Louth). Here we find ourselves in a world of barbaric splendour, and we are constantly reminded of the Iliad, though the Irish epic from a purely literary point of view cannot bear comparison with the work of Homer. The main actors in the drama are Conchobar, king of Ulster, the great warrior Cúchulinn (seeCúchulinn), Ailill and Medb, king and queen of Connaught,The “Táin.”and Fergus, Conchobar’s predecessor as king of Ulster, now in exile in Connaught. These persons may or may not have actually lived, but the Irish annalists and synchronists agree in placing them about the beginning of the Christian era. And there cannot be any doubt as to the antiquity of the state of civilization disclosed in this great saga. It has been repeatedly pointed out that the Irish heroes are equipped and conduct themselves in the same manner as the Gauls described by the Greek traveller Posidonius, and Prof. W. Ridgeway has shown recently that several articles of dress and armour correspond exactly to the La Tène types of the continent. To mention a few primitive traits among many—the Irish champions of theTáinstill fight in chariots, war-dogs are employed, whilst the heads of the slain are carried off in triumph and slung round the necks of the horses. It may also be mentioned that Emain Macha, Conchobar’s residence, is reported by the annalists to have been destroyed ina.d.323, and that portions of Meath, which is stated to have been made into a separate province in the 2nd centurya.d., are in theTáinregarded as forming part of Ulster. Noteworthy is the exalted position occupied by the druid in the Ulster sagas, showing how little the romances were influenced by Christianity. No Roman soldier ever set foot in Ireland, and this early epic literature is of supreme value as a monument of primitive Celtic civilization. Ireland has always been a pastoral country. In early times no native coins were in circulation: the land belonged to the tribe. Consequently a man’s property consisted mainly of cattle. Cattle-raids were an event of daily occurrence, and Sir Walter Scott has made us familiar with similar expeditions on the part of the Scottish Highlanders in the 18th century. Hence it is not a matter for surprise that the theme of the greatest Irish epic is a cattle-raid. At the time there were two wonderful bulls in Ireland, the Bond or Brown Bull of Cualnge, and the Findbennach or White-horn, belonging to Medb. These two animals are of no ordinary nature. Other stories represent them as having existed under many different forms before they were reborn as bulls. First they appear as swineherds belonging to the supernatural people of thesídof fairy mounds; then they are metamorphosed successively as ravens, warriors, sea-monsters and insects. It was Queen Medb’s ambition to gain possession of the Brown Bull of Cualnge, and for this purpose she collected the united hosts of Ireland to raid the province of Ulster and carry him off. Medb chooses the season when she knows the Ulstermen are all incapacitated as the result of a curse laid upon them by a fairy woman. Cúchulinn alone is exempt from this debility.

The story is divided into a number of sections, and has been summarized by Miss Hull as follows:—(1) the prologue, relating, in the form of a night dialogue between Ailill and Medb, the dispute between them which brought about the raid; (2) the collecting of Medb’s hosts and the preliminary movements of the army, during which period she first became aware of the presence and powers of Cúchulinn. Her inquiry of Fergus as to who this formidable foe is leads to a long section called (3) Cúchulinn’s boy-deeds, in which Fergus relates the remarkable prodigies of Cúchulinn’s youth, and warns Medb that, though the hero is but a beardless youth of seventeen, he will be more than a match for all her forces. (4) A long series of single combats, of which the first part of the tale is made up; they are at first gay and bombastic in character, but become more grave as they proceed, and culminate in the combat of Cúchulinn with his old companion, Fer Diad. This section contains the account of Cúchulinn’s “distortion” or frenzy, which always occurred before any great output of the hero’s energy, and of the rout of the hosts of Medb which followed it. (5) The general awakening of the warriors of Ulster from their lethargy, and their gathering by septs upon the Hill of Slane, clan by clan being described as it comes up in order. (6) The final Battle of Gairech and Ilgairech, followed (7) by the rout of Medb’s army and (8) the tragic death of the bulls.

The text of theTáinhas come down to us as a whole or in part in nearly a score of MSS., most of which, however, are modern. The most important MSS. containing the story are LU., LL. and YBL. Of these LU. and YBL. are substantially the same, whilst LL. contains a longer and fuller text later in both style and language. LL. attempts to give a complete and consistent narrative in more polished form. In ancient times there were doubtless other versions now lost, but from the middle of the 12th century the scribes seem to have taken few liberties with the text, whilst previously thefilidwere constantly transforming the material and adding fresh matter. The YBL. version preserves a number of forms as old as the O. Ir. glosses (i.e.8th century or earlier), and a curious story contained in LL. seems to point to the fact that theTáinwas first committed to writing in the 7th century. Senchán Torpeist, who lived in the first half of the 7th century and succeeded Dallán Forgaill as chiefollamof Ireland, summoned thefilidto inquire which of them knew theTáinin its entirety. As they were only familiar with fragments he despatched them to discover it. One of them seated himself at the grave of Fergus MacRoig, who appeared to him in a mist and dictated the whole story to him in three days and three nights.

At this point it will be well to say a few words about the form of theTáin. The old Irish epic is invariably in prose with poems of varying length interspersed. The narrative and descriptive portions are in prose and are frequently followed by a brief epitome in verse. Dialogues, eulogies and laments also appear in metrical form. The oldest poems, termed rhetoric, which are best represented in LU., seem to be declamatory passages in rhythmical prose, not unlike the poetical passages in the Old Testament, and the originalTáinmay have consisted of such rhetorics bound together with short connecting pieces of prose. At a later date poems were inserted in the metres of thefilid(particularly the quatrain of four heptasyllabic lines) which Thurneysen and Windisch consider to have been developed out of medieval Latin verse. When in course of time the old rhetorics became unintelligible they were often omitted altogether or new poems substituted. Thus the LL. version contains a larger number of poems than the LU.-YBL. copy, whilst LU. preserves a number of rhetorics which do not appear in the later MS. The prose portions in LU. are very poor from a literary point of view. These passages are abrupt, condensed and frequently obscure, with no striving after literary effect such as we find in LL. The form in which many episodes are cast is not unlike a mnemonic, leaving the story-teller to fill in the details himself. In the 11th century certain portions of the theme possessing great human interest were vastly extended, new poems were added, and in this manner such episodes come to form sagas complete in themselves. The most notable instance of this is the “Fight with Fer Diad,” which is not contained in LU. The genesis of theTáinmay thus be briefly summarized as follows. The story was first committed to writing in the 7th or 8th century, after which it was worked up by thefilid. Extended versions existing in the 10th or 11th century form the basis of the copies we now possess.

Though the sagas of the Ulster cycle are eminently Irish and pagan in character and origin, it cannot be denied that traces of foreign influence are to be observed. A number of Latin and Norse loan-words occur in them, and there can be little doubt that the monkish scribes consciously thrust the supernatural element into the background. However, although figures of Vikings are unmistakable in a few cases, and in one story Cúchulinn is made to fight with Hercules, such foreign elements can easily be detected in the older tales. They only affect minor details, and do not influence the body of the romances.

From what we have already said it will be plain that the Irish epic is in a fluid state. TheTáinis of interest in the history of literature as representing the preliminary stage through which the great verse epics of other nations have had to pass, but itsvalue as a work of art is limited by its form. We must now say a few words about the character and style of these romances. As already stated, the atmosphere is frankly pagan and barbaric, with none of that courtly element which we find in the Arthurian epics. The two features which strike one most forcibly in the medieval Irish romances are dramatic force and humour. The unexpected and weird is always happening, the effect of which is considerably heightened by the grim nature of the actors. In particular the dialogues are remarkably brilliant and clever, and it is a matter for surprise that this gifted race never developed a drama of its own. This is doubtless partly due to the political conditions of the island. And, moreover, we are constantly struck by the lack of sustained effort which prevented thefilidfrom producing great epics in verse. Dramatic material is abundantly present in the old epics, but it has never been utilized. As one might expect from the vernacular literature of Ireland, these romances are pervaded by a keen sense of humour. We feel that the story-teller is continually expecting a laugh and he exaggerates in true Irish fashion, so that the stories are full of extravagantly grotesque passages. In the later LL. version we notice a tendency to linger over pathetic situations, but this is unknown in the earlier stage. Perhaps the most serious defect of all Irish literary products is the lack of any sense of proportion, which naturally goes hand in hand with the love of the grotesque. Far too much attention is paid to trivial incidents and minute descriptions, however valuable the latter may be to the antiquarian, to the detriment of the artistic effect. Further, the story-teller does not know when to stop. He goes meandering on long after the main portion of the story is finished, with the result that Irish romances are apt to end in a most uninteresting anticlimax. Finally we are wearied with a constant repetition of the same epithets and similes, and with turgid descriptions; even the grotesque exaggerations pall when we find them to be stereotyped. But the early epics do not offend our sense of propriety in expression to the same extent as the later Finn cycle.

TheTáin Bó Cualngeformed a kind of nucleus round which a number of other tales clustered. A number of these are calledremscélaor introductory stories to theTáin. Such are the “Revealing of the Táin” (already mentioned), the “Debility of the Ultonians” (giving the story of the curse), “The Cattle-Driving of Regamon, Dartaid and Flidais,” “Táin bó Regamna,” “The Cattle-Driving of Fraech,” “The Dispute of the Swineherds,” telling the previous history of the Bulls, “The Capture of the Fairy Mound,” “The Dream of Mac ỏc,” the “Adventures of Nera,” the “Wooing of Ferb.” Other stories form a kind of continuation of theTáin. Thus the “Battle of Rosnaree” (“Cath Ruis na Ríg”) relates how Conchobar, as a result of the loss of the Bull, sends an army against the kings of Leinster and Tara, and would have been routed but for the prowess of Cúchulinn. The “Great Rout of the Plain of Murthemne” and “Cúchulinn’s Death” tell how the hero’s downfall is compassed by a monstrous brood of ill-shapen beings whose father and brothers had been slain by him during theTáin. He finally meets with his end at the hands of Lugaid, son of Curói mac Daire (the central hero of a Munster cycle which has not come down to us), and Erc, king of Tara. We are also told of the terrible vengeance taken on the murderers by Conall Cernach. Other stories deal with the “Conception of Conchobar,” the “Conception of Cúchulinn,” “The Glories of Conchobar’s Reign,” with an account of how he acquired the Throne from Fergus, “The Wooing of Emer and the Hero’s Education in Scotland under Scathach,” “The Siege of Howth,” “Bricriu’s Feast and the Exile of the Sons of Doel Dermait,” “The Battle of the Boyne” (Ériu, vol. ii.), “The Deaths of Ailill, Medb and Conall Cernach,” “Destruction of Bruden Dá Choca,” “The Tragical Death of Conlaech at the hands of Cúchulinn his father,” “The Deaths of Goll and Garbh,” “The Sickbed of Cúchulinn,” in which the hero is lured away for a time into the invisible land by a fairy, Fand, wife of Manandán, “The Intoxication of the Ultonians,” telling of a wild raid by night across the entire extent of the island from Dún-da-Benn near Coleraine to the fort of Curói MacDaire at Temair-Luachra in Kerry, “The Death of Conchobar,” “The Phantom Chariot of Cúchulinn,” in which the hero is brought up from the grave to witness before St Patrick and King Loigaire to the truth of the Christian doctrine.

Four other stories in connexion with the Ulster cycle remain to be mentioned. The first is “Scél mucci Maic Datho” (“The Story of MacDatho’s Pig”). Various writers of antiquity inform us that at the feasts of the Gauls the champion received the best portion of meat, which frequently led to brawls. In this savage but picturesque Irish story we find the Ulstermen vaunting their achievements against the Connaughtmen, until at last the contest lies between Conall Cernach and Cet MacMagach. Nowhere, perhaps, is the dramatic element better brought out.

Apart from theTáinthe greatest and at the same time the longest saga in which Cúchulinn figures isFled Bricrend(Bricriu’s Feast). Bricriu is the mischief-maker among the Ulstermen, and he conceives the idea of building a banqueting hall in order to invite Conchobar and his nobles to a feast. After much hesitation they consent. Bricriu in turn incites the three chief heroes, Cúchulinn, Conall Cernach and Loigaire Buadach, to claim the champion’s portion. He does the same thing with the spouses of the three warriors, who declaim in obscure verse the achievements and excellences of their several husbands in a passage entitled the “Women’s War of Words.” Loosely attached to this story follows a wild series of adventures in which the powers of the three champions are tested, Cúchulinn always proving his superiority. In order to decide the dispute, visits are paid to Medb at Rath Cruachan and to Curói in Kerry, and the story ends with the “beheading incident,” which occurs in the romance of “Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight.”Fled Bricrendpresents a number of textual difficulties. The text of the oldest MS. (LU.) shows signs of contamination, and several versions of the story seem to have been current.

But the story of the Ulster cycle which is better known than any other, is the story of the “Tragical Death of the Sons of Usnech, or the Life and Death of Deirdre,” one of the “Three Sorrows of Story-telling.” This is the only tale of the group which has survived in the minds of the common people down to the present day. It is foretold of Deirdre, a girl-child of great beauty, that she will be the cause of great misfortunes, but Conchobar, having lost his wife, determines to have her brought up in solitude and marry her himself. However, the maiden chances to see a noble youth named Naisi, one of the three sons of Usnech, and persuades him to carry her off to Scotland, where they live for many years. At length they are induced to return after several of the most prominent Ulster warriors have gone bail for their safety. But Conchobar resorts to treachery, and the three sons of Usnech are slain, whilst the account of Deirdre’s end varies. The oldest version of the story is found in LL., and the characters are as rugged and unsophisticated as those of theTáin. But in the later versions the savage features are toned down.

Before passing on, we must mention several old stories which are independent of the Ulster cycle, but which deal with events which are represented as having taken place before the Christian era. Few of the old romances deal directly with what we may call Irish mythology. The “Battle of Moytura” tells of the tremendous struggle between the Tuatha Dé Danann and their enemies, the Fomorian pirates. Connected with the events of this saga is the story of the “Tragic Deaths of the Sons of Tuirenn,” which, though mentioned in Cormac’s glossary, is not found in any MS. older than the 18th century. The three sons of Tuirenn have slain Cian, father of Lug Lamfhada, who lays upon them a huge eric-fine. They go through terrific ordeals and accomplish their task, but return home to die. This is the second of the “Three Sorrows of Story-telling.” An old story dealing with Tuatha Dé Danann personages, but having a certain bearing on the Cúchulinn cycle, is the “Courtship of Étáin,” who, though of supernatural (síd) birth, is wedded to Eochaid Airem, a mortal king. In her previous existence she was the wife of the supernatural personage Midir of Brí-leith, who wins back Étáin from her mortal husband in a game of chess and carries her off to his fairy mound.

For sake of completeness we may add the titles of two otherwell-known stories here. The one is the “Story of Baile the Sweet-spoken,” which tells of the deaths of two lovers for grief at the false tidings of each other’s death. The other is the “Fate of the Children of Lir,” the third of the “Three Sorrows of Story-telling,” which is only known in a modern dress. It relates how the four daughters of Lir (father of the sea-god Manandán and the original of Shakespeare’s Lear) were changed into swans by a cruel stepmother, and how, after 900 years of wandering on the ocean, they at length regain their human form through the instrumentality of St Mochaomhog.

A large number of sagas, which claim to be founded on historical events, present a great similarity to the tales of the Ulster cycle. Most of them are mentioned in the old catalogues. We can only name the more important here. The “Destruction of Dind-Rig and Exile of Labraid Loingsech” relates how the kingdom of Leinster was snatched by one brother from another in the 6th centuryb.c., and how the son of the murdered prince with the aid of a British force sacked Dind-Rig, the fortress of the usurper. The story of the visit of the pigmies to the court of Fergus MacLeite, king of Ulster in the 2nd centuryb.c., is only contained in a 15th-century MS. This tale is commonly stated to have given Swift the idea of hisGulliver’s Travels to Lilliput. “Caithréim Chonghail Claringnigh,” which only occurs in a modernized 17th-century version, deals with a revolution in the province of Ulster, supposed to have taken place before the Christian era.

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