Ogam inscriptions.
I. IRISH LITERATURE.--In the absence of a native coinage it is extremely
difficult to say when the use of letters was introduced into Ireland. It
is probable that the Latin alphabet first came in with Christianity.
With the exception of the one bilingual Ogam inscription as yet
discovered in Ireland (that at Killeen Cormac) all the inscriptions in
Roman letters are certainly later than 500. Indeed, apart from the stone
reading "LIE LUGUAEDON MACCI MENUEH," they are all contemporary with or
later than the Old Irish glosses. With regard to the Ogam inscriptions
we cannot make any confident assertions. Owing to the lack of criteria
for dating certain Irish sound-changes accurately it is impossible to
assign chronological limits for the earlier stones. The latter cannot be
later than the 5th century, but there is nothing to show whether they
are Christian or not, and if pagan they may be a century or two earlier.
It is true that the heroes and druids of the older epics are represented
in the stories as making constant use of Ogam letters on wood and stone,
and as the state of civilization described in the oldest versions of the
Ulster sagas seems largely to go back to the beginning of the Christian
era, it is not impossible that this peculiar system of writing had been
framed by them. The Ogam system is certainly based on the Latin and not
the Greek alphabet, and was probably invented by some person from the
south of Ireland who received his knowledge of the Roman letters from
traders from the mouth of the Loire. It may, however, be regarded as
certain that the Ogam script was never employed in early times for
literary purposes. We are told that the Gaulish druids disdained to
commit their lore to writing, although they were familiar with the use
of Greek letters, and their Irish confreres probably resembled them in
this respect. Tradition connects the codification of the Brehon Laws
with the name of Patrick, and there is reason for believing, as we shall
see later, that the greatest Irish epic was first committed to writing
in the 7th century.
Old Irish MSS.
Hymns.
The great bulk of Irish literature is contained in MSS. belonging to the
Middle Irish period (1100-1550), and in order to be able to treat this
literature as a whole it will be convenient for us to deal first with
those documents which are termed Old Irish, especially as the
contemporary remains of the literature of the earlier period are almost
exclusively of a religious nature. Most of the Old Irish documents have
been printed by Stokes and Strachan in the _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_,
and where no reference is given the reader is referred to that
monumental work. The extraordinary outburst of intellectual activity in
Ireland from the 6th to the 9th centuries and the compositions of
Irishmen in the Latin language, belong to the history of medieval
European literature and fall outside the scope of this article. For the
_Confession of St Patrick_ and his "Letter to the Subjects of Coroticus"
see PATRICK. The only Irish document ascribed to the saint is the
strange so-called "Hymn," the _faeth fiada_, more properly _foid fiada_,
"the cry of the deer." This is a rhythmical incantation which is said to
have rendered the saint and his companions invisible to King Loigaire
and his druids. The Trinity and powers of nature are invoked to help him
to resist spells of women and smiths and wizards. The hymn, which
contains a number of strange grammatical forms, is undoubtedly referred
to in the Book of Armagh, and may very well go back to the 5th century.
The Latin hymns contained in two MSS. dating from the end of the 11th or
beginning of the 12th century, a Trinity College, Dublin, MS., and a MS.
belonging to the Franciscan monastery in Dublin, are of interest to us
as exhibiting the influence of the native metrical system. Quantity and
elision are ignored, and rhymes, assonances, alliterations and harmonies
abound in true Irish fashion. The line consists of two units which
commonly contain either seven or eight syllables apiece. The earliest
and best-known of these religious poems are the Hymn of Secundinus
(Sechnall d. 447) on St Patrick, and the two hymns attributed to St
Columba (d. 597) beginning "_Noli pater_" and "_Altus prosator_," the
latter of which exhibits some of the peculiarities of the so-called
Hibernian Latin of the _Hisperica Famina_ and the _Lorica_ of Gildas.
The date of the Irish hymns in the _Liber Hymnorum_ ranges, according to
Stokes and Strachan, from the 7th to the 11th centuries. Ultan's hymn on
St Brigit beginning "_Brigit be bithmaith_," which is by far the most
artistic of the collection, was perhaps composed in the 7th century.
Definite metrical laws had evidently been elaborated when this poem was
written. The beat is iambic, but the natural accent of the words is
rigidly observed. The long line consists of two units of five syllables
each. The rhymes are dissyllabic and perfect. Alliteration is always
observed in the latter half of each line and assonances are found
knitting up the half-lines. The short prayer ascribed to Ninine or to
Fiacc is a highly alliterative piece without rhyme, the date of which
cannot be fixed. The well-known hymn on St Patrick traditionally
ascribed to Fiacc, bishop of Sletty, and the piece beginning "_Sen De_,"
traditionally ascribed to Colman, are assigned on linguistic grounds to
the beginning of the 9th century. The lines going by the name of
"Sanctan's Hymn" probably belong to the same century, whilst the
metrical catalogue of marvels performed by St Brigit contains such a
medley of older and later forms, probably due to interpolation, that it
is impossible to determine its age. The few lines entitled "Mael-Isu's
Hymn" are the most recent of all and probably belong to the 11th century
(Mael-Isu d. 1086). The Patrician documents by Muirchu Maccu Machtheni,
who professed to write at the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty (d. 698),
and by Tirechan, who is said to have received his information from
Bishop Ultan (d. 656), are contained in the Book of Armagh, a MS.
compiled by Ferdomnach in 807. These documents, like the _Life of St
Columba_ by Adamnan, the MS. of which was written by Dorbbene, abbot of
Hi (d. 713), contain a number of names and forms of great importance for
the study of the language.
Earliest prose.
The earliest pieces of connected prose in Irish are three:--(1) the
Cambray Homily, contained in an 8th-century codex at Cambray copied by a
continental hand from a MS. in the Irish character; the language is very
archaic and dates from the second half of the 7th or the beginning of
the 8th century; (2) the additions to the notes of Tirechan on the life
of St Patrick in the Book of Armagh; these seem to go back to the early
8th century; (3) the tract on the Mass in the Stowe Missal, which is in
all probability nearly as old as the Cambray Homily, though contained in
a 10th or 11th century MS. Of especial interest are the spells and poems
found in the Stowe Missal and two continental MSS. The Stowe MS. (now
deposited in the Royal Irish Academy) contains three rather badly
preserved spells for a sore eye, a thorn and disease of the urine. A St
Gall codex has preserved four Irish incantations of the 8th and 9th
centuries. These are respectively against a thorn, urinary disease,
headache and various ailments. Another charm, which is partly obscure,
occurs in the 9th-century codex preserved at the monastery of St Paul in
Carinthia. The same MS. also contains (1) a humorous poem treating of
the doings of a bookish writer and his favourite cat Pangur Ban; (2) a
riddling poem ascribed to Suibne Geilt, a king who is said to have lost
his reason at the battle of Moira (A.D. 637); (3) verses extracted from
a poem ascribed to St Moling (d. 697), who may very well have been the
actual author; (4) a poem in praise of some Leinster princeling called
Aed.
Old glosses.
For our knowledge of the older language, however, we have to rely mainly
on the numerous glosses scattered about in a large number of MSS., which
it is impossible to enumerate here. Indeed, such an enumeration is now
rendered superfluous owing to the publication of the _Thesaurus
Palaeohibernicus_, in which all the various glosses have been collected.
For our purpose it will be sufficient to mention the three most
important codices containing Old Irish glosses. These are as
follows:--(1) The Codex Paulinus at Wurzburg, which contains the
thirteen epistles of St Paul, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, with a
great mass of explanatory glosses, partly in Latin, partly in Irish,
partly mixed. The chief source of the commentary is the commentary of
Pelagius, who is often cited by name. The date of this highly important
MS. is much disputed; part of the Irish glosses seem to date from about
700, whilst the rest may be placed a little before 800. (2) The Codex
Ambrosianus, formerly at Bobbio, now at Milan, which contains a
commentary on the psalter with a large number of Irish glosses. In their
present state these glosses were copied in the first half of the 9th
century. (3) Glosses on Priscian contained in four MSS., of which the
most important is the Codex Sangallensis, dating from the middle of the
9th century. Apart from the biblical glosses and scholia the other chief
texts or authors provided with Irish glosses are Augustine, Bede, the
Canons, the Computus, Eutychius, Juvencus, Philargyrius, Prudentius and
Servius.
The Milan and the St Gall codices just mentioned both contain several
short poems in Irish. In two stanzas in the Swiss MS. we find expressed
for the first time that keen sympathy with nature in all her moods which
is so marked a feature of Irish and Welsh verse.
Two ponderous religious poems have now to be noticed. To Oengus the
Culdee is attributed the lengthy _Felire_ or Calendar of Church
Festivals, consisting of 365 quatrains in _rinnard_ metre, one for each
day in the year. The language of this dry compilation, which is heavily
glossed and annotated, points to 800 as the date of composition, and
Oengus, who is stated to have lived about that time, may well have been
the author. This calendar has been twice edited by W. Stokes with an
English translation, the first time for the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin,
1880), and again for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1905).
It may perhaps be as well to enumerate here the later Irish
martyrologies. (1) The _Martyrology of Tallaght_ (Tamlacht), founded on
an 8th-century calendar, but containing additions down to 900 (ed. D.H.
Kelly, Dublin, 1857). (2) The metrical _Martyrology of O'Gorman_, c.
1166-1174, edited by Stokes for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1895). (3)
The _Martyrology of Donegal_, an important compilation in prose made by
Michael O'Clery in 1630, edited by J.H. Todd (Dublin, 1864). A
composition which is wrongly assigned to Oengus the Culdee is the
_Saltair na Rann_ or Psalter in Quatrains, contained in an Oxford MS.
(Rawlinson B 502) and published without a translation by Stokes (Oxford,
1883). The work proper consists of 150 poems corresponding to the number
of Psalms in the psalter, but 12 poems have been added, and in all it
contains 2098 quatrains, chiefly in _deibide_ metre of seven syllables.
The poems are mainly based on biblical (Old Testament) history, but they
preserve a large measure of medieval sacred lore and cosmogony. The
psalter received additions as late as 998, and the Oxford MS. belongs to
the 12th century. We should perhaps also mention here the famous _Amra_
or Eulogy of St Columba, commonly attributed to Dallan Forgaill, a
contemporary of the saint, but Stokes takes the view that it was written
in the 9th century, and is intentionally obscure. The oldest but not the
best copy of the _Amra_ is preserved in the Trinity College, Dublin, MS.
of the _Liber Hymnorum_, but it also occurs in LU. and elsewhere. It
invariably appears heavily gloss-laden, and the glosses and commentary
added thereto are out of all proportion to the text. This piece, which
is not extant in its integrity, was probably intended as artificial
alliterative prose, but, as we have it, it is a medley of isolated
phrases and irrelevant comment.
Old collectors.
Book of the Dun Cow.
Book of Leinster.
Yellow Book of Lecan.
Book of Ballymote.
Speckled Book.
During the 9th and 10th centuries Ireland was harassed by the Vikings,
and a host of scholars seem to have fled to the continent, carrying with
them their precious books, many of which are preserved in Italy,
Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere. Hence very few early Irish MSS. are
preserved in Ireland itself. When the fury of the storm was past, Irish
scholars showed increased interest in the old literary documents, and
copied all that they could lay hands on into miscellaneous codices. The
earliest of these collections, such as the _Cin of Druim Snechta_, the
_Yellow Book of Slane_, the _Book of Dubdaleithe_, the _Psalter of
Cashel_, exist no longer, though their names have come down and certain
of them were known in the 17th century. However, copies of a goodly
portion of the contents of these old books are preserved to us in one
form or another, but mainly in a series of huge miscellaneous codices
ranging in date from the 12th to the 16th century. The oldest is _Lebor
na h-uidre_, or Book of the Dun Cow, preserved in the Royal Irish
Academy and published in facsimile (Dublin, 1870). This MS. was compiled
in part in the monastery of Clonmacnoise by Moelmuire MacCelechair, who
was slain in 1106. The Book of the Dun Cow (where necessary we shall
abbreviate as LU.) derives its name from a legend that Ciaran of
Clonmacnoise (d. 544) took down the story of the _Tain Bo Cualnge_ on a
parchment made from the hide of his favourite cow. The name seems to
have been wrongly applied to the 12th-century MS. in the 15th century.
LU. is almost entirely devoted to romance, the stories which it contains
belonging mainly to the Ulster cycle. The next MS. in point of age is
the Book of Leinster (abbreviated LL.) now in Trinity College, Dublin.
It was transcribed by Finn, son of Gorman, bishop of Kildare (d. 1160).
LL. also contains a large number of romances in addition to other
important matter, mainly historical and genealogical, bearing more
particularly on the affairs of Leinster. The Yellow Book of Lecan
(YBL.), also in Trinity College, Dublin, was written at different times
by the MacFirbis family, but chiefly by Gilla Isa, son of Donnchad Mor
MacFirbis about 1391. The MacFirbises were hereditary scribes and
genealogists to the O'Dowds, chiefs of the Hy Fiachrach (Co. Sligo).
YBL. contains a vast amount of romance, and is indispensable as
supplementing and checking the contents of LU. and LL. The most
extensive collection of all is the Book of Ballymote (BB.), now
belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, which was compiled about the
beginning of the 15th century by various scribes. The book was in the
possession of the chiefs of Ballymote for more than a century. In 1522
it was purchased by the O'Donnells for 140 milch cows. BB. only contains
little romantic matter, but it has preserved much valuable historical
and genealogical material. The contents of the _Leabhar Breac_ (LB.), or
Speckled Book, now in the Royal Irish Academy, are chiefly
ecclesiastical and religious. LB. seems to have been compiled in large
measure before 1544. All these five codices have been published in
facsimile by the Royal Irish Academy with a description of their
contents. Two important Mid. Ir. MSS. in the Bodleian (Rawlinson B 512
and Laud 610), containing a good deal of romantic material, are also
published in facsimile by Henry Frowde.
Other MSS. material.
Other MSS. which require special mention are (1) The Great Book of
Lecan, compiled in the year 1417 by Gilla Isa Mor MacFirbis, in the
Royal Irish Academy; (2) The Book of Lismore, the property of the duke
of Devonshire at Lismore Castle. This codex was compiled in the latter
half of the 15th century from the lost book of Monasterboice and other
MSS. Its contents are described in the introduction to Stokes's _Lives
of Saints from the Book of Lismore_ (Oxford, 1890). (3) The Book of
Fermoy in the Royal Irish Academy. The contents are described in the
introduction to O'Beirne Crowe's edition of the _Tain Bo Fraich_
(Dublin, 1870). (4) The Book of Hy Maine recently acquired by the Royal
Irish Academy. The scribe who wrote it died in 1372. O'Curry, O'Longan
and O'Beirne Crowe drew up a MS. catalogue of the Irish MSS. in the
Royal Irish Academy, and O'Donovan performed the same service for the
Trinity College, Dublin, collection. A briefer account of the Irish MSS.
in TCD. will be found in Abbott's Catalogue of the MSS. in that library.
O'Curry also drew up a list of the Irish MSS. in the British Museum, and
S.H. O'Grady has printed part i. of a descriptive catalogue of this
collection (London, 1901), part ii. by T. O'Maille. The twenty-six MSS.
in the Franciscan monastery in Dublin are described by J.T. Gilbert in
the _Fourth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical MSS._ W.F.
Skene catalogued the collection of MSS. in the Advocates' Library,
Edinburgh, a printed catalogue of which has been issued by D. Mackinnon
(Edinburgh, 1909; see also _Trans. Gaelic Soc. of Inverness_, xvi.
285-309).
In order to give some idea of the enormous extent of Irish MS. material
we may quote some calculations made by O'Curry, who states that if the
five oldest vellum MSS. were printed the result would be 9400 quarto
pages. Other vellum MSS. ranging in date from 1300 to 1600 would fill
9000 pages of the same size, whilst the innumerable paper MSS. belonging
chiefly to the early 18th century would cover no less than 30,000 pages.
The well-known French scholar, D'Arbois de Jubainville, published in
1883 a tentative catalogue of Irish epic literature. His work is by no
means complete, but his figures are instructive. He mentions 953 Irish
MSS. containing epic matter preserved in Irish and English libraries. To
these have to be added another 56 in continental libraries. Of this mass
of material 133 Irish and British MSS. and 35 continental MSS. were
written before 1600. It should, however, be stated that the same subject
is treated over and over again, and much of the later material is
absolutely valueless.
Character of Middle Irish.
Before we pass on to the consideration of the literature itself, it will
be well to make a few preliminary observations on the nature of the
language in which the pieces are written and on the status of the poet
in medieval Ireland. The language in which the huge miscellaneous
codices enumerated above are contained is called by the general name of
Middle Irish, which is a very wide term. Irish scribes often copied
their original somewhat mechanically, without being tempted to change
the language to that of their own time. Thus in many parts of LU. we
find a thin Middle Irish veneer on what is largely Old Irish of the 8th
or 9th century. Hence such a MS. often preserves forms which had been
current several centuries before, and it may even happen that a 14th or
15th century MS. such as YBL. contains much older forms than a
corresponding passage in LL. Of recent years several scholars--notably
Strachan--have devoted much attention to the Old Irish verb-forms, so
that we have now safe criteria for establishing with some degree of
certainty the age of recensions of stories and poems preserved in late
MSS. In this way a number of compositions have been assigned to the 9th,
10th and 11th centuries, though actual written documents belonging to
this period are comparatively rare.