Part 3

Where the outward distractions of life are few, the grave monotony of sea and moor and bog-land, the swirl of cloud and mist, and the loneliness of waste places sink more deeply into the mind. The visible is less felt than the invisible, and life is surrounded by a network of fears and dreams to which the town-dweller is a stranger. To-day, in the Western Isles of Ireland and Scotland, the huntsman going out to hunt, the fisherman to fish or lay his nets, the agriculturist to sow or reap his harvest, and the weaver or spinner to wind his yarn, go forth to their work with some familiar charm-prayer or charm-hymn, often beautifully called "the Blessings," on their lips. The milkmaid calling her cows or churning her butter, the young girl fearful of the evil-eye, and the cottager sweeping up her hearth in the evening, laying herself down to sleep at night, or rising up in the morning, soothe their fears or smooth their way by some whispered _paider_ or _ortha_, a prayer or a verse or a blessing. The deep religious feeling of the Celtic mind, with its far-stretching hands groping towards the mysterious and the infinite, comes out in these spontaneous and simple ejaculations; I have therefore endeavoured to bring together a few others to add to the groups gathered by Dr. Hyde in the west of Ireland and by Dr. Carmichael in the Western Hebrides; but in their original Gaelic they are the fruit of others' collections, not of my own.[8] They are the thoughts of such humble people as the poor farm-servant who "had so many things to do from dark to dark" that she had no time for long prayers, and knew only a little prayer taught her by her mother, which laid "our caring and our keeping and our saving on the Sacred Trinity."

I desire to inscribe here my sincere gratitude to the living authors and authoresses who have kindly given me permission to use their work, and my gratitude to those authors who have gone, that they have left us so much good work to use. Especially I desire to thank my friends, Mr. Alfred Perceval Graves and Mr. Ernest Rhys, for permitting the use of unpublished poems.

Many friends have given a ready helping hand in elucidating difficult words and phrases, and it is a pleasant task to thank them here. Dr. D. Hyde, Rev. Michael Sheehan, Rev. P. S. Dinneen, Mr. Tadhg O'Donoghue, Mr. R. Flower, Miss Hayes, especially, have always readily come to my assistance; to Miss Eleanor Knott I am indebted for valuable help in the translation of the "Saltair na Rann," and to Dr. R. Thurneysen for suggesting some readings in this difficult poem.

I gratefully acknowledge permission accorded to me by the following publishing houses to include poems or extracts from books published by them:--

Messrs. Constable & Co., _Ancient Irish Poetry_, by Professor Kuno Meyer. T. Fisher Unwin, _Bards of the Gael and Gall_, by Dr. George Sigerson, F.N.U.I. Maunsel & Co., _Irish Poems_, by Alfred Perceval Graves; _Sea-Spray_, by T. W. Rolleston; _The Gilly of Christ_, by Seosamh mac Cathmhaoil. David Nutt, _Heroic Romances of Ireland_, by A. H. Leahy. Herbert & Daniel, _Eyes of Youth_, for a poem by Padraic Colum. Sealy, Bryers and Walker, _Lays of the Western Gael_, by Sir Samuel Ferguson; _Irish Nóinins_, by P. J. McCall. H. M. Gill & Son, _Irish Fireside Songs_ and _Pulse of the Bards_, by P. J. McCall. Williams & Norgate, _Silva Gadelica_, by Standish Hayes O'Grady. Chatto & Windus, _Legends, Charms, and Cures of Ireland_, by Lady Wilde.

I also desire to acknowledge the courtesy of His Majesty's Stationery Department in permitting the use of drawings taken from initial letters in Sir John T. Gilbert's _Facsimiles of Irish National MSS_. Others of the initial letters used in the book are drawn from the _Book of Lindisfarne_ and other Celtic manuscripts in the British Museum. I have to thank the Librarian of the Bodleian Library for permitting the reproduction of the photograph of the initial lines from the "Saltair na Rann" as a frontispiece to the book.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Printed in Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, iii. Appen. 2, p. 410, from a seventeenth century copy belonging to William Hennessy, compared with the copy in the _Book of Fermoy_.

[2] _Duanaire Finn_, edited by John MacNeill, pp. 34, 134 (Irish Texts Society, 1904).

[3] For this poem see _Duanaire Finn_, edited by John MacNeill (Irish Texts Society, 1904), pp. 21, 118.

[4] O'Grady's _Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the British Museum_, p. 451.

[5] Dr. Kuno Meyer's _Ancient Irish Poetry_ (Constable, 1911), p. 9.

[6] _Ancient Irish Poetry_, p. 19.

[7] _King and Hermit_ (1901); _Liadan and Curithir_ (1902); _Four Songs of Summer and Winter_ (1903); all published by D. Nutt.

[8] Chiefly of Dr. Michael Sheehan's collections in Co. Waterford, and those made by Mr. Fionan M'Collum and others in West Kerry (see Notes).

THE SALTAIR NA RANN, OR PSALTER OF THE VERSES

THE SALTAIR NA RANN, or Psalter of the Verses, so-called because it is divided into 150 poems in imitation of the Psalms of David, is undoubtedly the most important religious poem of early Ireland. It may justly be regarded as the Irish _Paradise Lost_ and _Paradise Regained_, for it opens with an account of the Creation of the Universe, the founding of Heaven and Hell, the fall of Lucifer, the creation of the Earthly Paradise and of man, the temptation and fall and the penance of Adam and Eve. After this it sketches the Old Testament History, leading up to the birth and life of Christ and closing with His death and resurrection. Though in general it follows the Bible narrative, it is peculiarly Irish in tone, and its additions and variations are of the greatest interest to students of mediaeval religious literature. The conception of the universe in the first poem, with its ideas of the seven heavens, the coloured and fettered winds, and the sun passing through the opening windows of the twelve divisions of the heavens, is curious; the earth, enclosed in the surrounding firmament, "like a shell around an egg," being regarded as the centre of the universe.

In the portions which relate the life of Adam and Eve, the author evidently had before him the Latin version of the widely known _Vita Adae et Euae_, which he follows closely, introducing from it several Latin words into his text; but even here the colouring is purely Irish. The poem is ascribed to Oengus the Culdee, who lived early in the ninth century; but its language is later, probably the end of the tenth century.

In 1883 Dr. Whitley Stokes published[9] the text from the only existing complete copy, that contained in the Bodleian MS. Rawl. B. 502, but no part of it has hitherto been published in English. The present translation of the sections dealing with the Creation and with the life of Adam and Eve is purely tentative; the poem presents great difficulties, and we suffer from the lack of a second copy with which to compare it.[10] Miss Eleanor Knott has read the translations and has helped me with many difficulties; and I had the advantage of reading parts of the poem in class with Dr. Kuno Meyer. For the errors which the translation must undoubtedly contain, I am myself, however, alone responsible.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] In _Anecdota Oxoniensia_ (Med. and Mod. Series), vol. i. part iii.

[10] The Lebar Brecc gives poem x., and a prose version of portions of poems ii., iv., vi., viii., ix., xi.

THE SALTAIR NA RANN, OR PSALTER OF THE VERSES

_Attributed to Oengus the Culdee, ninth century; but the date is probably the close of the tenth century._

I. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

My own King, King of the pure heavens, without pride, without contention, who didst create the folded[11] world, my King ever-living, ever victorious.

King above the elements, surpassing the sun, King above the ocean depths, King in the South and North, in the West and East, with whom no contention can be made.

King of the Mysteries, who wast and art, before the elements, before the ages, King yet eternal, comely His aspect, King without beginning, without end.

King who created lustrous heaven, who is not arrogant, not overweening, and the earth, with its multitudinous delights, strong, powerful, stable.

King who didst make the noble brightness, and the darkness, with its gloom; the one, the perfect day, the other, the very perfect night.

King who fashioned the vast deeps out of the primary stuff of the elements, who ... the wondrous formless mass.

King who formed out of it each element, who confirmed them without restriction, a lovely mystery, both tempestuous and serene, both animate and inanimate.

King who hewed, gloriously, with energy, out of the very shapely primal stuff, the heavy, round earth, with foundations, ... length and breadth.[12]

King who shaped within no narrow limits in the circle of the firmament the globe, fashioned like a goodly apple, truly round.

King who formed after that with fixity the fresh masses about the earth; the very smooth currents above the world of the chill watery air.

King who didst sift the cold excellent water on the earth-mass of the noble cliffs into rills, with the reservoirs[13] of the streams, according to their measures, with moderation.

CREATION OF THE WINDS WITH THEIR COLOURS

King who ordained the eight winds advancing without uncertainty, full of beauty, the four prime winds He holds back, the four fierce under-winds.

There are four other under-winds, as learned authors say, this should be the number, without any error, of the winds, twelve winds.

King who fashioned the colours of the winds, who fixed them in safe courses, after their manner, in well-ordered disposition, with the varieties of each manifold hue.

The white, the clear purple, the blue, the very strong green, the yellow, the red, sure the knowledge, in their gentle meetings wrath did not seize them.

The black, the grey, the speckled, the dark and the deep brown, the dun, darksome hues, they are not light, easily controlled.

King who ordained them over every void, the eight wild under-winds; who laid down without defect the bounds of the four prime winds.

From the East, the smiling purple, from the South, the pure white, wondrous, from the North, the black blustering moaning wind, from the West, the babbling dun breeze.

The red, and the yellow along with it, both white and purple; the green, the blue, it is brave, both dun and the pure white.

The grey, the dark brown, hateful their harshness, both dun and deep black; the dark, the speckled easterly wind both black and purple.

Rightly ordered their form, their disposition was ordained; with wise adjustments,[14] openly, according to their position and their fixed places.

The twelve winds, Easterly and Westerly, Northerly and Southerly, the King who adjusted them, He holds them back, He fettered them with seven curbs.

King who bestowed them according to their posts, around the world with many adjustments, each two winds of them about a separate curb, and one curb for the whole of them.

King who arranged them in habitual harmony, according to their ways, without over-passing their limits; at one time, peaceful was the space, at another time, tempestuous.

MEASUREMENTS OF THE UNIVERSE

King who didst make clear the measure of the slope[15] from the earth to the firmament, estimating it, clear the amount, along with the thickness of the earth-mass.

He set the course of the seven Stars[16] from the firmament to the earth, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Sol, Venus, the very great moon.

King who numbered, kingly the space, from the earth to the moon; twenty-six miles with a hundred miles, they measure them in full amount.

This is that cold air circulating in its aerial series(?) which is called ... with certainty the pleasant, delightful heaven.

The distance from the moon to the sun King who measured clearly, with absolute certainty, two hundred miles, great the sway, with twelve and forty miles.

This is that upper ethereal region, without breeze, without greatly moving air,[17] which is called, without incoherence, the heaven of the wondrous ether.

Three times as much, the difference is not clear(?) between the firmament and the sun, He has given to calculators;[18] my King star-mighty! most true is this!

This is the perfect Olympus, motionless, immovable, (according to the opinion of the ancient sages) which is called the Third Holy Heaven.

Twelve miles, bright boundary, with ten times five hundred miles, splendid the star-run course, separately from the firmament to the earth.

The measure of the space from the earth to the firmament, it is the measure of the difference from the firmament to heaven.

Twenty-four miles with thirty hundred miles is the distance to heaven, besides the firmament.

The measure of the whole space from the earth to the Kingly abode, is equal to that from the rigid earth down to the depths of hell.

King of each Sovereign lord, vehement, ardent, who of His own force set going the firmament as it seemed secure to Him over every space, He shaped them from the formless mass.

The poem goes on to speak of the division of the universe into five zones, a torrid, two temperate, and two frigid zones, and of the earth revolving in the centre of the universe, with the firmament about it, "like a shell encircling an egg." The passage of the sun through the constellations is then described, each of the twelve divisions through which it passes being provided with six windows, with close-fitting shutters, and strong coverings, which open to shed light by day. The constellations are then named, and the first section of the poem ends as follows:--

For each day five items of knowledge are required of every intelligent person, from every one, without appearance of censure,[19] who is in ecclesiastical orders.

The day of the solar month, the age of the moon, the sea-tide, without error, the day of the week, the festivals of the perfect saints, after just clearness, with their variations.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] Whitley Stokes gives "lawful."

[12] Comp. the parallel passage in Senchus mòr, _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, vol. i. intro. p. 26.

[13] This is Dr. Whitley Stokes' reading. Dr. R. Thurneysen reads "sextarii."

[14] It is not clear what the word _glés_, _gléssib_, which occurs frequently in the following passage, means. In mod. Irish, _gléas_, in one meaning, is a means or instrument for doing a thing. The verb _gléasaim_ = "to harness." It seems to have some such meaning here. The winds were apparently harnessed, curbed, or fettered two and two, the whole being held together in one fetter. In another sense _gléas_ means "harmony."

[15] Or "track."

[16] _i.e._ the Planets.

[17] Or "impure air"?

[18] _Cf._ the parallel passage in the Senchus mòr astronomical tract, _Anc. Laws of Ireland_, vol. i., Introduction, p. 28.

[19] Perhaps "boasting."

II. THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM

[Sidenote: l. 337]

King who formed the pure Heaven, with its boundaries, according to His pleasure, a habitation choice, songful, safe, for the wondrous host of Archangels.

Heaven with its multitude of hosts, noble, durable, exceeding spacious, a strong mighty city with a hundred graces, a tenth of it the measure of the world.

Therein are three ramparts undecaying, fixedly they surround heaven, a rampart of emerald crystal, a rampart of gold, a rampart of amethyst.[20]

A wall of emerald, without obscurity, outside, a wall of gold next to the city, between the two, with bright fair glory, a mighty rampart of stainless purple.

There, with a strong-flowing sea (?) is a spacious, perfect city, in it, with the light of peace,[21] is the eternal way of the four chief doors.

The measure of each door severally of the four chief doorways, (placed) side by side, by calculation, is a mile across each single door.

In each doorway a cross of gold before the eyes of the ever-shining host; the King wrought them without effort, they are massive, very lofty.

Overhead, on each cross, a bird of red gold, full-voiced, not unsteady; in every cross a great gem of precious stone.

Every day an archangel with his host from Heaven's king, with harmony, with pure melody, (gather) around each several cross.

Before each doorway is a lawn, fair ..., of sure estimation, I liken each one of them in extent[22] to the earth together with its seas.

The circuit of each single lawn with its silvern soil,[23] with its swards, covered with goodly blossom, with its beauteous plants.

Vast though you may deem the extent of the spacious lawns, a rampart of silver, undecaying, has been formed about each several lawn.

The portals of the walls without around the fortress on every side, with its dwellings soundly placed, affording abodes (?) for many thousands.

Eight portals in a series so that they come together around the city, I have not, in the way of knowledge,[24] a simile for the extent of each portico.

Each portal abounding in plants, with their bronze foundations, a rampart of fair clay has been established strongly about each portal.

Twelve ramparts--perfect the boundary (?) of the portals, of the lawns, without counting the three ramparts that are outside around the chief city.

There are forty gateways in the heavenly habitation with its kingly thrones; three to each tranquil lawn, and three to each portal.

[Sidenote: l. 409]

Gratings (or doors) of silver, fair in aspect, to each gateway of that lawn, gracious bronze doors to the gateways of the portals.

The corresponding walls from the fortress outwards of all the portals are comparable in height[25] (to the distance) from the earth to the moon.

The ramparts of the lawns, as is meet, wrought of white bronze, their height--mighty in brilliance-- is as that from the earth to the pure sun.

The measure of comparison of the three ramparts which surround the chief city, their height shows (a distance equal to that) from the earth to the firmament.

[Sidenote: l. 465]

The entrance bridges[26] of the perfect gates, a fair way, shining with red gold, they are irradiated--pure the gathering-- each step ascending above the other.

From step to step--brave the progress, pleasant the ascent into the high city; fair is that host, on the path of attainment (?) many thousands, a hundred of hundreds.

In the circuit of the ramparts--great its strength (?)-- in the interior of the chief city, bright glossy galleries, firm red-gold bridges.

Therein are flowering lands ever fresh in all seasons, with the produce of each well-loved fruit with their thousand fragrances.

[Sidenote: l. 553]

The nine grades of heaven, around the King of all causation, without loss of glory, with vigour of strength, without pride, without envy.

In abundant profusion (?) under the lawful King this their exact number, seventy-two excellent hosts in each grade of the grades.

The number of each host, unmeasured gladness, there is none that could know it, except the King should know it who created them out of nothing.

A majestic King over them all, King of flowery heaven, a goodly, righteous, steadfast King, King of royal generosity in His regal dwelling.

King very youthful, King aged long ago,[27] King who fashioned the heavens about the pure sun, King of all the gracious saints, a King gentle, comely, shapely.

The King who created the pure heavenly house for the angels without transgression, land of holy ones, of the sons of life,[28] a plain fair, long, spacious.

He arranged a noble, peaceful[29] abode, stable, under the regal courses, a comely, clear, perfect, bright circuit, for the wondrous folk of penitence.

My King from the beginning over the host, "sanctus Dominus Sabaoth," to whom is chanted upon the heights, with loving guidance, (?) the melody of the four-and-twenty white-robed saints.

The King who ordained the perfect choir of the four-and-twenty holy ones, sweetly they chant the chant to the host "sanctus Deus Sabaoth."

King steadfast, bountiful, goodly, noble, abode of peace, ... (?) with whom is the flock of lambs around the Pure Spotless Lamb.

Bright King, who appointed the Lamb to move forward upon the Mount (of Sion)[30] four thousand youths following Him, (with) a hundred and forty (thousand) in a pure progress,

A perfect choir, with glories of form, of the stainless virgins, chants pure music along with them following after the shining Lamb.

Equal in beauty, in swiftness, in brightness, across the Mount surrounding the Lamb; the name inscribed on their countenances, with grace, is the name of the Father.

The King who ordained the voice of the heavenly ones by inspiration, full, strong-swelling, as the mighty wave of many waters;

Or like the voice of sound-loving harps they sing, without fault, full tenderly, (like) multitudinous great floods over every land, or like the mighty sound of thunder.[31]

King of the flowering tree of life, a way for the ranks of the noble grades; its top, its droppings, on every side, have spread across the broad plain of heaven.

On which sits the splendid bird-flock sustaining a perfect melody of pure grace, without decay, with gracious increase of fruit or of foliage.

Beauteous the bird-flock which sustains it, (_i.e._ the melody) each choice bird with a hundred wings; they chant without guile, in bright joyousness, a hundred melodies for every wing.

King who created many splendid dwellings,[32] many comely, just, perfect works, through (the care of) my rich King,[33] over every sphere, no lack is felt by any of the vast array.

His are the seven heavens, perfect in might, without prohibition, without evil, whitely moving around the earth, great the wonder (?) with the names of each heaven.

Air, ether, over all Olympus, the firmament, heaven of water, heaven of the perfect angels, the heaven where is the fair-splendid Lord.

[Sidenote: l. 649]

The amount of good which our dear God, has for His saints in their holy dwelling, according to the skill of the wise(?) there is none who can relate a hundredth part of it.

The Lord, the head of each pure grade, who gathered (?) the host to everlasting life, may He save me after my going out of the body of battles, the King who formed Heaven.

King who formed the pure Heaven.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] Lit. "green," "gold," and "purple," but they seem to imply special stones.

[21] Or peaceful light.

[22] This is the L. B. reading; the text gives "excellence" or "fertility," which does not make good sense.

[23] The L. B. reading is _fond d'argut futhib_, which seems to point to some such meaning as "base," "foundation."

[24] Reading uncertain.

[25] This is the L. B. reading; our text seems to mean "in renown."

[26] Or "thresholds."

[27] Perhaps Ancient of Days.

[28] _Mac bethad_ may mean "a sinless man," as _mac ódis_, "son of death," means a sinful man.

[29] We take _síd_ to be an adjective; it might also mean "a fairy mound," but this is hardly applicable here.