238 THE GAELIC LANGUAGE. 



PECULIARITIES AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS 

 OF THE GAELIC LANGUAGE. 



BY DAVID SPENCE. 



It is remai-kable that for more than a thousand years, the Saxon 

 and the Kelt should have lived together in the same islands with 

 scarcely any accurate knowledge of each other's institutions — still 

 less of each other's language. This fact appears still more remark- 

 able when we consider that in some places the races are sepai'ated by 

 small mountain ranges only, in some by streams, and in others by 

 imaginary lines, English being spoken on the one side, and Gaelic on 

 the other. Till very recently there has been scarcely an instance of a 

 Saxon whose curiosity has been excited to know something about the 

 language of the people to the north and west of him. It has been 

 generally treated as a mere jargon, unworthy the serious attention of 

 any man of sense. I shall try to shew, as briefly as possible, that it 

 is one of the most important branches of the old Aryan speech, and 

 nearer the old forms than any other European language. It has a 

 gieat deal in common with English, although this does not appear on 

 the surface. In using the Indo-European forms for comparison, I 

 have drawn la)-gely from Skeat's Etymological Dictionary. 



Before proceeding, however, to such comparison, I wish to direct 

 attention to a few peculiarities of the language itself. A difference 

 in the mode of thought has impressed itself upon many of its forms. 

 To an English ear its idioms are often incomprehensible. A High- 

 lander, for instance, may say : Tha mi jxiiteach, I am thirsty ; the 

 ordinary form, however is : Tha am 2JO,thadh orm, the thirst is on me. 

 Similar forms are used in speaking of hunger, fear, sleep, etc. A 

 young man may say to his sweetheart : Tha gradh again ort, I have 

 love on thee ; analysed more closely, it would read . There is love at 

 me on thee. 



In describing a man's office or qualities, good or bad, a very 

 singular form is used. In place of saying He is a king, a Highlander 



