1891-92. ] CELTIC PROSODY. 217 
Here a proper concord obtains between szzbhal and szos, and between 
tty and ¢thall, An improper concord prevails between ¢aom and taom; 
Shaicear and each, steud and sliabh, sgaoileadh and sgiath. There is like- 
wise a correspondence between shruth, diugh and guth, and between 
Sliabh and sgiath. 
The Iambus is the foot that enters most frequently into the poems of 
Ossian. It has to be frankly admitted that in scanning the poems of 
the Bard of Selma, a rigid adherence to the laws by which the poems 
of Greece and Rome are scanned, is simply impossible. Sometimes, by 
omitting the first syllable of a verse, as German scholars are wont to do 
in scanning the choruses of the Greek tragedians; or by omitting the 
the first two syllables as is the wont at times of the same scholars, it is 
possible to find purely Iambic feet in the other syllables of an Ossianic 
verse. With the aid, therefore, of an azacruszs or a base, the poetry of 
Ossian can be scanned as Iambics in very many instances. Trochees 
obtrude themselves occasionally in the middle of a verse, and even 
Dactyls make their appearance in the middle of a verse; so that to 
describe the verse as purely Iambic or Trochaic is out of the question. 
Though the poems of Ossian, having peculiarities of their own so far as 
prosody and scansion are concerned, refuse to obey the laws by which 
Greek and Latin poetry is scanned, the rhythm is of such a character 
that the cultivated Celtic ear can readily detect whether a verse or poem 
is Ossianic in its structure or not. 
Miann @ Blaird Aosda, a poem of exquisite beauty, which, though the 
author and the date of its composition are unknown, must belong to a re- 
mote age, presents one of the best examples in the whole range of Gaelic 
poetry, of Iambic feet. The metre is lambic Dimeter Acatalectic, eg.: 
O caraibh mi ri taobh nan allt, 
A shiubhlas mall le ceumaibh ciuin, 
Fo sgail a’ bharraich leag mo cheann, 
’S bi thus’ a ghrian, ro-chairdeil rium. 
Rishop Carswell’s translation into Gaelic of John Knox’s Liturgy was 
published in 1567, and was the first Gaelic book that was ever printed. 
In a brief Gaelic hymn or poem which he composed to the Gaelic book 
that he was sending forth among his Scottish and Irish fellow-Gaels, he 
shows an accurate familiarity with the peculiar features of Celtic verse. 
Gluas romhad, a leabhrain bhig 
Go hua ndiubhne rig ad reim. 
There is here a correspondence between d/zg and rzg and an improper 
concord between vzg and rezm. 
