3393 



GAETA 



for its most characteristic pro- 

 ductions. There were the rich and 

 abundant Sagas, or prose romances 

 transmitted., by "oral tradition. 

 What is known as the Heroic cycle, 

 about the opening of the Christian 

 era, was really the golden age of 

 Gaelic romance. Before this there 

 had been a mythological cycle, and 

 after, the Ossianic cycle (3rd cen- 

 tury A.D.), the hero of which has 

 continued to inspire the classic 

 poetry of the Gael down to the 

 modern days. 



The first cycle deals with ancient 

 myths ; the secoiid with the 

 famous Cuchullin romances, great- 

 est of which is the Tain Bo Chu- 

 ailgne ; the third with the tales of 

 Fionn, his son Ossian, and the 

 Fianna. The earliest records of 

 them are to be found in the great 

 Middle Age MSS.,, Leabhar na 

 h' Uidhre, and the Books of Lein- 

 ster, Ballymote, Lecain, and Lis- 

 more. The most valuable docu- 

 ment in Gaelic literature is this 



Gaelic. Facsimile of a passage from the Book of Leinster, 

 a 12th century manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin. 

 These lines tell of the hunting of a dangerous boar at 

 Lough Con, in co. Mayo, by the dogs of Manannan mac 

 Lir, and the hounds from Mod, now Clew Bay islands 



Leabhar na h' Uidhre. Like its 

 famous contemporary, the Liber 

 Hymnorum, a book of ancient 

 Latin and Gaelic hymns, it belongs 

 to the llth century, and is a com- 



K'lation from earlier books now 

 st. It is the oldest exclusively 

 Gaelic MS. in existence. 



At the dawn of letters among the 

 Gael, S. Patrick figures as the 

 author of two letters in Latin, the 

 Epistola ad Coroticum ; and a 

 lorica, or hymn, in Gaelic, still ex- 

 tant, popularly known as S. 

 Patrick's Breastplate. After him 

 S. Columba and his followers in- 

 augurated a period of great lit- 

 erary activity, which continued for 

 two centuries. They wrote in Latin 

 and Gaelic, using the Roman 

 script and the Roman alphabet. 

 With great assiduity they made 

 Latin copies of books of the Bible, 

 some of them beautifully decorated 

 and illuminated. They also wrote 

 hymns and lyrical poems having 

 nature for their theme. Many of 

 these, including S. Patrick's and 

 S. Columba' s, are in the Liber 

 Hymnorum. 



During this early period the 

 Gaels gave to the Continent 

 evangelists and professors, who 

 founded monasteries and wrote 

 books. In later times others fled 

 thither from the Norse, carrying 

 their MS. treasures. As a result, 

 most of the early documents are in 

 France, Italy, Switzerland, Hol- 

 land, Belgium, and Germany. In 

 all, excluding scores of Latin ones, 

 there are 56 Gaelic MSS. abroad, 

 of dates ranging from the 8th to 

 the 19th century the oldest at 

 Milan and Cambrai. These also 

 are Latin books, but they contain 

 Gaelic glosses, poems, or other 

 jottings of great interest. M. H. 

 d'Arbois de Jubainville, in 1881, 

 catalogued the MSS. in England. 

 Ireland, and on the Continent, and 

 Prof. MacKinnon did the same for 

 those in Scotland The latter are 

 deposited in the Advocates' Lib- 

 rary, the Universities of Edinburgh 

 and Glasgow, and the library of 

 the Society of Antiquaries. 



The two oldest 

 books of Gaelic 

 Scotland now 

 extant are 

 Adamnan's Vita 

 C o 1 u m b a e in 

 Schaffhausen,and 

 the Book of Deer, 

 9th century, with 

 Scottish Gaelic 

 entries of 10th to 

 12th, in Cam- 

 bridge. After 

 the latter comes 

 the Book of the 

 Dean of Lismore, 

 containing a col- 

 lection of pre-Reformation Gaelic 

 poetry taken down from 1512 to 

 1526 in Argyllshire. It has pieces 

 from 56 authors, 11,000 lines, 800 

 Ossianic. Similarly the Fernaig 

 MS. (Ross-shire), c. 1688-93, and 

 the Books of Clanranald (Inver- 

 ness-shire) represent the literary 

 output of the 17th century. 



From 1600 Scottish Gaels led the 

 way in a great change which trans- 

 formed the poetry of both Ireland 

 and Scotland. Hitherto most of 

 it had been Ossianic and in the 

 ancient style. Mary Macleod was 

 the first of the modern Highland 

 bards to break away from the 

 older order. She invented rhythms 

 of her own, and from her time a 

 great variety of new and melodious 

 metres appear. John Macdonald 

 and some others followed, and then 

 came the golden asre of Gaelic 

 poetry around the Forty -five a 

 quick and splendid succession of 

 bards. In the fifty years after 

 Culloden are grouped nearly all 

 the greater names of Highland 

 poetry ; among the many, Alex- 

 ander Macdonald, John Mac- 



Codrum, Duncan Ban Macintyre, 

 Dugald Buchanan, Robb Donn, 

 James Macpherson, and William 

 Ross. Greatest of all were Mac- 

 donald and Macintyre, their de- 

 scriptive powers being unique. 

 The Birlinn Chlann Raonuill of 

 the one, and the Coire Cheathaich 

 and Ben Dorain of the other, rank 

 as the masterpieces of Gaelic poetry. 



The 19th century produced a 

 succession of new bards, gifted, 

 and of a high order, from Maclach- 

 lan, Livingston, and Maccoll on to 

 Neil Macleod. It also furnished 

 books of the choicest selections of 

 Highland literature : John Mac- 

 Kenzie's Beauties of Gaelic Poetry, 

 1841 ; J. F. Campbell's Popular 

 Tales of the West Highlands, 

 1860-62; and Leabhar na Feinne, 

 1872; Archibald Sinclair's The 

 Gaelic Songster, 1879; Alex 

 Cameron's Reliquiae Celticae, 

 1892-94; and Alexander Car- 

 michael's Carmina Gadelica, 1900. 



Gaelic poetry is mainly lyrical. 

 There are no epic poems except 

 Macpherson's Ossian. Songs of 

 love, nature, chiefs and Prince 

 Charlie, descriptive poems, hymns, 

 eulogies, satires, epitaphs and 

 laments were more in the line of the 

 bards. The best prose is represented 

 in the Gaelic Bible, Caraidnan 

 Gaidheal, and Nicolson's Proverbs. 



The great modern interest in the 

 language and literature dates from 

 the publication of J. C. Zeuss's 

 Grammatica Celtica in 1853, a 

 work which revolutionised Celtic 

 studies. Among Gaelic gram- 

 mars those of Alexander Stewart, 

 James Munro, H. C. Gillies, and 

 Duncan Reid are chiefly used. 

 There are large dictionaries by 

 R. A. Armstrong, The Highland 

 Society of Scotland, Alexander 

 Macbain (etymological), and Ewen 

 Macdonald ; and a smaller one by 

 Neil Mac Alpine. 



John Reid's Bibliotheca Scoto- 

 Celtica contains a list of all books 

 printed in Gaelic before 1832, the 

 first being Carewell's Translation 

 of Knox's Liturgy, 1567. Since 

 then Donald Maclean has brought 

 the list down to 1914. Beautiful 

 English renderings of Gaelic poetry 

 are published in Selections from 

 the Gaelic Bards, T. P. Pattison, 

 1866, and in Language and Litera- 

 ture of the Highlands, J. S. Blackie, 

 1876. See Erse, illus. 



Gaeta (anc. Portus Caieta). 

 Seaport and city of Italy, in the 

 prov. of Caserta. It stands amid 

 beautiful surroundings 30 m. N.W. 

 of Capua, and 74 m. by rly. N.W. 

 of Naples. A strongly fortified 

 naval station, it has an Angevin 

 castle, a 12th century cathedral 

 with belfry, remains of an amphi- 

 theatre and theatre. The town is 



1Y 4 



