'I never heard the old song of Percy and Douglas that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet."-Sir PHILIP SIDNEY. 66 Songs may exist unsung, but voices exist only when they sound.' LANDOR. THE SONGS AND SINGERS OF IRELAND. On Thursday evening, February 27th, 1896, Mr. Thomas Costley delivered the eleventh of a series of lectures on "The Songs and Singers of Ireland," in the Pendleton Town Hall. In the unavoidable absence of Mrs. Grindon, who had been announced to preside, the chair was occupied by Mrs. Mercer, a member of the Salford Board of Guardians. In opening the proceedings, Mrs. MERCER said she anticipated that the lecture would be of such interest that she would not stand between them and the lecturer by offering any remarks at that juncture. Mr. COSTLEY, who met with a most cordial reception -preliminary to the reading of his paper, said: It gives me much pleasure to give the eleventh lecture of the series, entitled, "The Songs and Singers of Ireland." There is no other country that I am aware of, for its size, that has contributed more than Ireland to the literature of the world, so far as songs and singers are concerned. And I' Hail them as mighty masters of the lyre, Nature's true sons, the friends of man and truth Whose song, sublimely sweet, serenely gay, Amused my childhood, and informed my youth; Oh! let your spirit still my bosom soothe, Inspire my dreams, and my wild wanderings guide. Your voice each rugged path of life can smooth; For well I know, wherever ye reside, There harmony and peace and innocence abide." 66 It is quite true that none of her sons or her daughters have written any great poem, that is, any great epic poem like "Paradise Lost," of Milton; Homer's Iliad"; Dante's "Divine Comedy"; or Tasso's "Jerusalem." Nevertheless, the sons and daughters of Ireland have composed poems that are couched in "thoughts that breathe, and words that burn." In a very large number of the Irish songs we find fire, pathos, beauty, the true spirit of freedom, and everything that is noble, refined and religious. The singers of Ireland, are, in fact, so numerous, that when one purposes speaking or writing of them, he scarcely knows where to begin. I cannot tell you who was the first singer in the Irish language, but this I do know, that before any singer lived in England, or who wrote any song of which there is any trace today, there were Irish poets. We know that the songs of Ossian have never been surpassed in the history of the world, and yet they were written in the earliest B ages of Irish history—perhaps in the fourth century after Christ. The ancient Irish were not only great in song writing, but were also more than respectable in works of art. When Europe was passing through its dark period, and during what we call the "middle ages," in England, poetry flourished in Ireland. A great deal of Irish poetry is lost because there has been no one to chronicle it; it has not been written and preserved the same as the poetry of other countries. What Irish poetry is still extant has found scholars who have been able to translate it. Few poets have lived who have surpassed the bards of Ireland for beauty of expression and thought. One name should be mentioned, especially that James Joseph Callanan, who was a famous translator of Irish poems, and himself a poet. We are indebted to him for giving us some of the finest Irish lyrics. The earliest literature of these islands is that of the Gaels. The Battle of Gabhra, occurring between two famous clans at deadly enmity with each other, is said to have been fought A.D. 284. The following description of this battle is exceedingly impressive, both for its poetry and its fire. The piece itself is from a collection of Gaelic poems made by Sir James McGregor, Dean of Lismore, in the beginning of the 16th century. Fergus Finnbheoil is supposed to describe, in reply to questions from his father, Fion MacCumhail, the slaughter of his Fenians at the Battle of Gabhra, and the death of Oscar, Oisin's son, the old man's grandson. Henry Morley says:-"A Gaelic poem closes usually with repetition of its first word or phrase. That repetition here serves also to suggest the bard, who was the historian of ancient times, passing from tribe to tribe and answering in each place the demand for full details of the great deeds, whereof it was he only who kept the record and maintained the fame." THE DEATH OF OSCAR. Say, Bard of the Feinn of Erin, In Gabhra's fierce battle-day? Say!" "The fight fared not well, son of Cumhaill, For Oscar the fearless is slain. * The Feinn of Britain are fallen. "Now, O Bard-my son's son, my desire, How he hewed at the helms ere he fell.' "Hard were it, Fionn, to number, No pounce of the hawk on his prey, And you who last saw him could see How he throbbed in the roar of the fray, As a storm-worried leaf on the tree Whose fellows lie fallen below, As an aspen will quiver and sway Grief of griefs! drove its point through our Oscar His weight on his weapon he threw, And smote at MacArt, and again smote So died Oscar, a king in his glory. As an example of the doctrines preached by St. Patrick, and as showing to some extent the spirit in which he undertook his work, I may quote the hymn commonly known as "Saint Patrick's Breastplate." The original is written in Irish of a very ancient dialect, and it is quoted in the seventh century as the work of Saint Patrick. As it partakes of the nature of a creed, it will tell us some of the beliefs of the ancient Irish Church. It is extracted from James Henthorne Todd's "Life of Saint Patrick." |