Deirdire, and the Lay of the children of Uisne, orally collected in the island of Barra [Scotland, in 1867] and literally translated by Alexander Carmichael

by Alexander Carmichael

This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.

172 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2005

About the author

Alexander Archibald Carmichael (Gaelic: Alasdair Gilleasbaig MacGilleMhìcheil) was a Scottish exciseman, folklorist, antiquarian, and author. Between 1860 and his death Carmichael collected a vast amount of folklore, local traditions, natural history observations, antiquarian data, and material objects from people throughout the Scottish Highlands, particularly in the southern Outer Hebrides where he lived, worked, and brought up his family between 1864 and 1882. Alexander Carmichael is best known today for Carmina Gadelica, an influential compendium of Highland lore and literature published in six volumes between 1900 and 1971.

Reviews

[dragonhelmuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leubh mi an sgeul seo bho 'Club Leabhar reprint' agus tha e gu fìor math. Bha mi ag leughadh e ann an obair. Tha e da-cananach (ged a tha na beurla beagan aosta), agus tha e gu math feumail airson na pìos no dha bàrdachd tron leabhar. Tha a' Ghàidhlig beagan doirbh àm gu àm, agus tha ghnàthan-cainnte mar 'a-ta' anns an àite 'ma-tha' ach air sgath gu bheil e da-cananach, tha e ceart gu leòr.

'S e pìos beag spòrs a th' ann 'Deirdire', ma tha fios agad an sgeul anns a' Ghàidhlig na h-Éireadh. Tha a h-uile pàirtean ainmeil ann, agus cuideachd pios no dha far is docha nach bhiodh fios agad.

{Sin agad earrainn bàrdachd 'o teacs gus do bheachd a dh' fhaigh:}

"Shin iad an taobh ri sruth
'S bu cho-ionann leo muir 'us tìr,
An fhairge mholach ghlas,
Ris a' mhachaire ghorm mhin.

(They stretched their sides to the stream,
Indifferent to them was sea or land;
The grey, shaggy sea,
Or the green, smooth machair)


{bheil e èibhinn no nach eil?}
'Cha lugha na facal righ agus feachd rìoghachd a chuireas mis as mo bhothan fhein an nochd.' ;Fosgail thus, agus mur fosgail thu dhe do dheoin fosgaidh tu dhe d'aindeoin,' ors' an righ, agus e fas feargach. 'An ta bhithinn na'r comain,' ors am boirionnach, 'na 'n tugadh sibh brath dhomh co tha sireadh orm dorus mo bhothain fhosgladh.' 'Tha mise, Conachar, righ Ulla, agus na biodh a' chuis an dalla-chrannachd ort na 's fhaide.' An uair a chuala bhean bhochd co bha 's an dorus, dh'eirich i le cabhaig, agus leig i stigh an righ agus na thoilleadh a stigh d'a choisir.


{Gu deiseil, tha cuid mòr de'n iomhaidheachd ainmhidh cuideachd, ach tha e sgoinneil gus a chluinntinn:}

Triuir maghamhna Innse Breatuinn
Triuir sheobhag shliabh a Chuillinn
Triuir da’n gèilleadh gaisgich
Triuir da’n tiubhradh amhuis urram

(Three bears of the isles of Britain
Three hawks of the hill of cuilinn,
Three to whom heroes would yield
Three to whom hirelings would pay homage