The Writings of "Fiona MacLeod", Volume 2

by Fiona Macleod, William Sharp

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910. Excerpt: ... Ulad of the Dreams i THE MELANCHOLY OF ULAD In the sea-loch now known as that of Tarbert of Loch Fyne, but in the old far-off days named the Haven of the Foray, there was once a grianan, a sunbower, of so great a beauty that thereto the strings of the singing men's clarsachs vibrated even in far-away Ireland. This was in the days before the yellowhaired men of Lochlin came swarming in their galleys, along the lochs and fjords of the west. So long ago was it that none knows if Ulad sang his song to Fand before Diarmid the Fair was slain on the narrow place between the two lochs, or if it were when Colum's white robes were wont to come out of the open sea up the Loch of the Swans, that is now West Loch Tarbert, so as to reach the inlands. But of what import the whitherset of bygone days, where the tale of the years and of the generations is as that of autumn's leaves? Ulad was there, the poet-king; and Fand, whom he loved; and Life and Death. None knows whence Ulad came. In the Isles of the West men said he was a prince out of the realm of the Ultonians; but there, in the north of Eire, they said he was a king in the southlands. Art the White, the wise old Ardrigh of the peoples who dwelled among the lake-lands far south, spoke of Ulad as one born under a solitary star on the night of the Festival of Beltane, and told that he came out of an ancient land north or south of Muirnict, the sea which has the feet of Wales and Cornwall upon its sunrise side, and the rocks and sands of Armorica upon that where the light reddens the west. But upon Ioua, that is now Iona, there was one wiser even than Art the White - Duach the Druid; and when questioned as to Ulad the poet-king, he said he was of the ancient people that dwelt among the inlands of Alba, the old race th...

82 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2010

About the author

Fiona MacLeod was a pseudonym used by the Scottish writer William Sharp (1855 - 1905) from 1893. In the biography Sharp constructed for Fiona Macleod, she is identified as a Highland cousin with a knowledge of Gaelic. The Gaelic deployed in her writings seems to have been derived from Mary Mackellar's Tourists Hand-book of Gaelic and English Phrases for the Highlands (c.1882).

Reviews

[dragonhelmuk]

I’m not quite sure what this volume is supposed to contain, but I’ll put my review here anyway…
Fiona Sharp writes with a mixture of amazing short stories like The Dark Nameless, Cathal of the Woods and some of his ones about when Cathbad meets Colum Cille (if I seem to like the pagan ones better it’s because they actually have a plot ;>) Some of the others are terrible though, and you should avoid any stories with “Swords” in the title or first paragraph (these are actually fanfiction for the Barzaz Breiz collection of Breton poetry). Anyway, three more quotes:

(excellent help with colloquial gaelic… Just give me an excuse ;>)
Gach la is gach oidhche Ni mi cuimhneachadh air sloinneadh Brighde, Cha mharbhar mi, Cha ghuinear mi, Cha ghonar mi, Cha m.ho dh' fhagas Criosd an dearmad mi; Cha loisg teine gniomh Shatain mi;
…
" Droch spadadh ort," answered the seal, " A bad end to you, Colum of the Gown

(Cool info about supernatural beasts)
" Yes," he said, " I have heard of the each- uisge (the sea-beast, sea-kelpie, or water- horse), but I have never seen it with the eyes. My father and my brother knew of it. But this thing I know, and this what we call an- caiUeach-uisge (the siren or water-witch) ; the eailliach, mind you, not the maighdeannmhara (the mermaid), who means no harm. May she hear my saying it! The eailliach is old and clad in weeds, but her voice is young…
' The English equivalent of Annir-Choille would be the Wood-nymph. The word Annir is an ancient compound Gaelic word for a maiden. 32i

(Amazing storylines)
"Ay, it endureth. Long, long ago, before Oisin sang, before Fionn, before Cuchullin was a glorious great prince, and in the days when the Tuatha-De Danann were sole lords in all green Banba, Black Angus made the woman Kirsteen McVurich leave the place of