ancient poems, recording their most memorable transactions, may be considered as originally unwritten. What Sir Wm. Jones tells us respecting the unwritten language of the Arabs, is equally applicable to the Celtic, or Gaelic, and proves that "Dr. Johnson's reasoning on the extreme imperfection of unwritten language was too general, since a language that is only spoken may nevertheless be highly polished by a people who, like the ancient Arabs, make the improvement of their idiom a national concern, appoint solemn assemblies for the purpose of displaying their poetical talents, and hold it a duty to exercise their children in getting by heart their most approved compositions." This too, as observed in the preceding notes, was the constant practice and duty of the rhapsodists of ancient Greece, and of the druids, and Celtic bards; and the practice was continued after letters were known, and even after the art of printing had been introduced into Europe. We find that in the reigns of Edgar the Peaceable, and of Ethelred, the mountains of Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and even of Iceland, were the residence of the Muses. The commemoration of heroic actions, and the chronicle of interesting events were, in those countries, perpetuated in rhyme; and, like the sons of Albion, the ancient Greeks, as well as the northern nations, advanced to battle with their war-songs. We are told in Torfæus, † that the Scandinavian bards or scalds were, like the Celtic, held in the highest * Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus. ↑ Torf. Hist. Rerum Orcadensium. estimation by the people of Norway, Denmark, aud Sweden. They were for many ages retained by monarchs, and invested with extraordinary privileges. In the court of the Norwegian sovereign, Harold Harfager, who reigned in the ninth century, they had precedence at table next to the king himself, every individual of the order according to his dignity. The poems of these ancient bards are said to have had the same wonderful influence on the minds and passions of the hearers, as those of the Caledonian bards. Like the poems of other nations in the hunting or early stages, they inculcated morality as well as heroism; and the sister-art music lent her aid, to give them the most powerful effect. Legends of the fascinating powers of music are related by the historians of those times, and similar effects are ascribed to its magical charms on the harp, accompanied with the song, as to the lyres of Orpheus, Arion, and Amphion. The compositions of the Caledonian bards, as well as of the Scandinavian scalds, are full of similies drawn from objects of nature, and interspersed with metaphors exceedingly bold and sublime. Their language and expressions were nervous, glowing, and animated; the composition also dazzled the imagination, with an endless variety in the kind and measure of their verses. Their music suited the song; and the last in all its inflections was congenial with the passions meant to be excited. Whether with a view to have the effect of the "spirit-stirring drum," the warlike sound of the bagpipe, or the plaintive and moving strains of the lute; all were combined to produce the desired effect, when the harp was strung, and its sound with the song arose in the hall, amidst the feast of shells. Ossian often mentions, that the halls of Fingal and his warriors rung with the united melody of the voices of "a hundred bards, who had strung the harp."-" Bid the harp to be strung," says Fingal to Morne, "and the voice of the bard to arise, that those who fall may rejoice in their fame." The ingenious author of Gaelic Antiquities* tells us, that the ancient Caledonians were a nation of musicians. "The art was not at all peculiar to the bards, although they were the chief masters of it. Every hero, every virgin could touch the harp and melt the soul. This universality of the art was probably owing, in some measure, to the simplicity of the instrument. In the ancient states of Greece, the harp, consisting of only four strings, was of so simple a construction, that warriors, women, and even children, engaged in other pursuits and avocations, could play upon it. In Egypt the case was the same, insomuch that even the Israelitish women, notwithstanding the severity of their bondage, could all play on instruments of music. The Caledonian, or British harp, we may suppose to have been in its construction equally simple, and in its effects equally powerful. In the vicissitudes of all human affairs, not only the ancient harp, but even the ancient science of music, has been in a great measure lost, and supplied only by what is made up of certain ⚫ Dr. Smith's Dissertation on the Authenticity of Ossian's Poems, p. 107. notes that fell into the fancy of a poor friar in chanting his matins."* The old Caledonian airs, when divested of their modern deteriorations and unnatural variations, are peculiarly distinguished for their melodious, tender, and moving strains, which touch the heart, and most sensibly affect the imagination. No wonder then that every repetition should awaken, in the minds of the people, a love and affection for their parent soil, and a fond remembrance of the companions and friends of their youth. This fondness for native music is not peculiar to the Scottish Highlanders. We find that, in many other mountainous countries, a similar passion pervades the inhabitants. The Irish, Welsh, Swiss, the Corsicans,† and Calabrese, all have national airs peculiar to themselves, combining romantic sweetness with pathetic simplicity. We often see the Highlanders affected by hearing sung or played such airs as "Cha pill me tuille, &c." The Irish by the airs Cumh' leinn, Ailein a ruin, &c. and the Swiss by the air called Ranz de Vache. Those national songs have been cherished and preserved, with the same fond care as their ancient language; together with many of their ancient customs, pastimes, and institutions. Temple's Miscellany, Vol. II. + The Corsicans resemble the Scottish Highlanders of this day in many of their manners and customs, so much indeed that the writer could not help being forcibly struck with their similarity, when in Corsica after the island had become, for a short period, annexed to the crown of Great Britain. "Ask a Scotch Highlander if he would exchange his lot with the It was the duty of the ancient bards to celebrate heroic actions, and to adorn their songs with all the charms of music; so as to excite in their hearers a love of virtue, and an ardent desire to have their names renowned for deeds of valour, and their fame transmitted to posterity. "Your fame," says Ossian, "shall remain in my song, when these mouldering stones shall fail."* Ossian, indeed, in several places, makes music or song a part of the happiness of a future state. One of the principal tenets, inculcated by the Druids, was the immortality of the soul, in order to inspire the warriors with courage in battle. Their paradise was called Flath-innis, which signifies first potentate of the earth. When far removed from his beloved mountains, he carries with him the recollection of them wherever he goes; he sighs for his rocks, his torrents, and his clouds. He longs to eat again his barley-bread, to drink goats' milk, and to sing in the valley the ballads which were sung also by his forefathers. He pines if prevented from returning to his native clime. It is a mountain plant which must be rooted among rocks; it cannot thrive unless it be battered by the winds and by the rain; in the soil, the shelter, and the sun-shine of the plain it soon droops and dies. With what joy will he again fly to his roof of furze! With what delight will he visit all the sacred relics of his indigence! See Shoberl's Translation from the French of Aug. Chateaubriand. * + Exegi monumentum ære perennius. Horace. Taibhse na thuit anns a' bhlâr Ag aomadh gun dan o 'n sianaibh. Tighmora, Vol. III. p. 60. "The ghosts of those who fell in battle bend forward from their clouds to the song. Bid, O Cathmore! the harp to rise, to reflect a beam of light on the brave who ride on their wandering blasts." |