SWAN 339 



bhaird aosda," the swan is poetically described as "Nighean 

 aluinn an uchd bhain/' fair maid of the white breast. A name 

 " Guleesh or goilios " comes from the words '^Goil-gheis or gall- 

 gheis," foreign swan. Muirgheis is a sea swan, generally termed 

 a "blackfoot." As before stated, the enchanted children of Lir 

 were privileged to retain their speech, and that Gaelic ; in many 

 other tales are they referred to, and this fact is always dwelt on. 

 They are also described as being "the spirits of human beings 

 under an enchanted spell," Clann righ fo gheasan, king's children, 

 and the enchanter is named as " Eachrais blair." Various " swan " 

 songs are extant ; one mournful, strangely wild and plaintive air 

 and ditty runs : — 



Guileag i, guileag o, sgeul mo dhunaigh, guilleag 1 

 Rinn mo leire, guileag o 

 Mo chasan dubh, guileag i. 



A ditty entitled " Luinneag na h-eala " is, or was, lately known 

 it is said in Cowal, as a favourite air for lulling children to sleep. 

 Mr A. Carmichael got a version in the Outer Hebrides, which 

 will be found in the Highlander of 1881-2. 



Some ornithologists deny the musical powers of the swan, so 

 often mentioned by the Greek and Latin writers, as well as by 

 the Celtic poets, but if their (the swans) singing is to be reckoned 

 among the vulgar errors, it has been a universal one, and of great 

 antiquity ; among others Dr Smith says in Sean dana, page 33, 

 " over the west of Scotland it is frequently affirmed as a fact, that 

 the swans which frequent these parts in winter are heard to sing 

 very melodious notes, when wounded, or about to take flight." 

 Jacob Bryant in his Analysis of Ancient Mythology, has a long 

 dissertation on the prevalence of this belief among the classic 

 poets. In Sean dana we also read, "mar ealadh air cuan 

 na Lanna," as a swan on the lake (loch) of Lena ; and " mar 

 bhinn guth ealadh 'n guin bais, no mar cheolan chaich mu 'n 

 cuairt di," as the melodious voice of the swan in the pain of 

 death, or the faint melody of her companions around her 

 (sympathising); "bhinn guth," is an example of the adjective 

 preceding the noun here. This points to two things or facts, 

 viz., that the voice of the swan is melodious, especially (and 

 plaintively so) when dying, and also that the others are 

 sympathetic (also melodiously so) when one of their number 

 is dying. This again seems to be only partially so, as in 

 a more modern song a maiden bewails her lonely fate, and 

 compares herself to a dying swan, "agus each uile 'n deigh a 

 treigsinn," and all the others having left or forsaken her. The 

 sweetness of the swan's note is also referred to in the lines : — 



'Nuair a theannas iad ri luinneag When they engage in singing 



'S binn' iad na guileag na h-eala. They are more melodious than the 



lamenting note of the swant 



