76 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



side by side in the " Lyra Celtica " translations of the songs and poems that were 

 wont to be sung and tO' be admired in distant days of Cehic warfare and exploits 

 by Welsh and Cornish and Armorican Celts, and by Irish and Scottish Gaels 

 and Manxmen. There must be those who, elated by the strong vitality which is 

 pulsating now through the arteries and veins of the Celtic races, will call in question 

 the accuracy of the statement " that the Celtic race stands now with averted torch, 

 and the light of it is, a glory before the eyes, and the flame of it is blown into the 

 hearts of the mightier conquering people. The Celt falls, but his spirit rises in the 

 heart and in the brain of the Anglo-Celtic peoples with whom are the destinies 

 of the generations to come." 



It must be regarded as a strong indication of the present vitality of the Gaelic 

 language that a translation of the Book of Common Prayer into Gaelic, for the 

 benefit of the Gaelic members of the Scottish Episcopal Church, was published 

 during last year. The translators have performed their work well, as a general rule. 

 With commendable propriety, advantage was taken of the Gaelic version of the 

 Bible, which is in common use in Scotland, for the purpose of presenting, in a 

 Gaelic dress, those portions of Scripture that, along with the Psalms, go to form 

 a considerable portion of the English Prayer-Book. It. is, at least, interesting to 

 know that in Argyllshire itself there are several Episcopal ministers who conduct 

 religious services in Gaelic. It may be safely inferred, that if the bishops of the 

 Scottish Episcopal Church were apprehensive that Gaelic was sadly on the decline, 

 and was hurrying to the day of its death and consequent extinction, they would 

 not have taken the pains of translating the English Prayer-Book into Gaelic. 



As might be expected, owing to the great dissimilarity which exists between 

 English and Gaelic idioms, the Gaelic translation of the English Prayer-Book is 

 occasionally stiff. Praise rather than blame, however, is to be generously bestowed 

 on the translators, who have done their work with much ability and accuracy. 



In the introduction to his grammar — the first Gaelic grammar which was 

 published — Shaw had this doleful statement to, make when it was published in 1778 : 

 " But at present I much doubt whether there be four men in Scotland that would 

 spell one page the same way. The taste, at this day, of the clergy — a lettered and 

 respectable order — is to understand the English, content with what Gaelic enables 

 them to translate of a sermon they originally wrote in .English. And, although 

 they are obliged to speak in public once in seven days, there are not five ministers 

 in Scotland who write their discourses in their own tongue." Almost one hundred 

 and twenty years have passed since Shaw had occasion to give such a lamentable 

 account of the defective Gaelic scholarship of his time. Immeasurable progress 

 has, in the interval, been made in the grammatical study of the Gaelic language, 

 and in the acquiring of ability and facility to speak and write it fluently and accu- 

 rately. It would be simply ridiculous to apply the strong condemnation which 

 Shaw attached to the Gaelic scholarship of his own time, to the wide and thorough 

 scholarship which obtains in our day. Were correctness in the understanding and 

 in the writing of Gaelic to be taken as an infallible criterion of the utility of that 

 language, the conclusion could not be resisted, that the chances of a prolonged 

 existence are altogether on the side of Gaelic as we know and speak it now. 



"A Course of Gaelic Grammar, by Duncan Reid, F.S.L.A., teacher of Gaelic 

 in the High School of Glasgow : " Such is the writing on the title page of a very 

 useful and intelligible grammar, which was published in August, 1895. The author 

 thus writes in his preface : " In compiling this course of Gaelic grammar, I have 

 adopted the plan which I have followed during the last few years in teaching the 

 students of the Gaelic class in the High School of Glasgow. It' is. chiefly intended 

 as a text-book for Highland schools and pupil teachers, and is designed to meet the 

 requirements of the Scotch Education Code. The ordinary student will find here 

 sufficient material to enable him to acquire a good knowledge of Gaelic grammar. 



