The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-26

speaking in strange, weird tongue, ana we
rolled rapidly along through strange,
weird country. Every soul OF the dozen or
more within the wag0nette, but myself.
spoke the Gaelic tongue, and not word
was spoken during the entire journey in En-
glish, save when | was addressed. 1t
was an immediate revelation OF a condl-
ton of things in the Highlands
which even intelligent Scotchmen IN
the large lowiaad cities are uBacquainted
with, or affect to be ignorant Of. From
every source of book, newspaper and oral
information outside the Highlands you
gain the impression that the Gaelic IAN
guage is dead; that perhaps somewhere
among the peat and miSts of inaccessible
peaks in Donegal and Connaught in Ire
land. or of Sutherland, Ross, skye and
the Hebrides in Scotland, there are few
old men and women who have retained
few words of language once common 10
the Cymric Cells; indeed, that tle uaeiic
language, with the crumbing remains OF the
glorious antiquities of ireland and Scotland,
are but the fabrics of zealo;S' dreams. But
if You will come far enough you VIII md
this language i'll all lis original richness,
purity and power, and will be astounded to
know that every soul in many districts IN
Ireland and, geographically, in the larger
portion of Scotland, speak it every waking
hour Of their lives precisely as their fore
fathers spoke it for unknown cycles OF years
before them.
"Oh, yes" explained my friend. 1--WE are
all Gaelic still, north of Perthshire and
Aberdeenshire, and in all the outlying
islands" And then modest.y, and as
though there might be something of the lin
gering old ,lacobitc- sedition in it:
preach to my people in Gaelic every other
Sunday"
And do they all understand it?"
Understand it! They will tell you that
Adam SPOKE Gaelic; that the Scripture can
be alone properly eXPounded in Gaelic; my
English sermons are given to empty oehches ;
the Gaelic Sundays bring hearers from
twenty miles away; and every lace Is a
picture of radiant devotion aad Joy-even to
the last one of their brave collie dogs!
Bless them for loyalty TO their traditions
and language, it must be so; Tor below and
behind us there came roar of song that
echoed wildly through the glenS and passes.
They had worn out the
THREADBARE GOSSIP
OF StrathglasS, and, as all without excep
ton had had the cookies of their hearts
warmed a little this day by "a cinder in
their glasses" as the Highlanders affection
ately term drop of peat whisky, moodineSs
and silence after 1.-THE ceilidh or goSSiping
was exhausted, were succeeded by mpetu-
Gus song. ''C0ire Cheathaich " was the
name of the first one they sang, and the very
title. from cojre (6ettle) and cheathaich
(steamy, vapory). or The Misty Dell" as
applied TO q loved Highland valley or hollow,
is Illustrative of the eXqulsltely poetic sig
nificance of words in all Gaelic original.
Here is the first Stanza:
'Se COire-cheathaich nan aighean subhIach,
An Coire rumach Is fGnn,
Gu lurach niad-fhrurach, in-ghael sughar,
each lusau husr bI chubhraidh lean:
Gu molach, dubh-shoTm, torrTch, luisreagach,
Corrach, piuranaeh. dlu-shlan. GRIM,
CaOln. ballaeh. dItheanach. canach, miSleauaeh:
Gieaun amhiltich'5 an lionmhor mang.
Nv oy1n Nistv Corria t,,- dear avar hau,ted
My OeauIiuus valley my own We, dant delll
Soft, rich ana grassy with sweets scented
Thicky all growing, brightly MI blowing,
over its shaggy and sreen-darkened lawn;
Through which gamOOlS lightly the 1.-the graceful
fawn!
'sIt will be my turn soon," said my friend
in whisper and with grimaee of reSigna-
ton.
Your turn?"
They will tire of their Misty DELI
shortly, and then every one, women and all.
will begin such d0ctrnal exposition and
catechism as, could YOU hear 1t IN English
you would regard as little less than assault.
Oh. yes, every one of my flock, and indeed
all Highlanders, love to get their minister
outside the kirk, ami harry him little. A II
ScOtchmen are born diSputantS. Add little
Of the right kind of tame to their zeal and
they are masters of polemics. One glass
makes one of my people doctrinal enthus-
Z y
difficult theolOgie problem; and | sometimes
think, with another he would stop on his
way into heaven and engage St. Peter HIM
SELF
His prediction was true one. One by
one they approached the cherished subject.
| They were answered kindly and silenced.
| Then few more bars OF the Misty Dell
were unleashed in joyous, uneven measure
! and high, sustained notes. Again two or
three would depioy. as it were, and set upon
81 do
| trinal problems that kept his best wits
! flashing TO meet and parry. Then they
would subside again and another song in
praise of Lord Lovat the JOYS of the Lovat
house. clan, the chase. hOsplttlTtleS and all,
was given with a roar of confused major
aud miner treble. This gave them courage
to move front ana flank upon my friend,
when, as | afterward learned. all the rami-
fications Of the Broken Covenant" were
! battled over with wonderful vigor, and this
| assault III turn gave place TO
| AN INTERLUDE,
! Or truce, in which the entire party, minister
| and all, sang with great yehemence and
! feeling "Gearan Nan Gaidheal, The Cry
! of the Gael" as if they had gathered
power from the strange notes OF this lam
/ entati0n, the whole coach-load driver and
/ all set upon my friend and hurled at lin
| points in "Justiication,' Adoption" and
Standardization" in an ecStacy Of argdmenta-
! tive frenzy. They stood up to it besides.
| To see more than a dozen vigorous High
! landers standing as high as the lurching Of
the coach would let them, pounding their
palms and each others broad shoulders to
| emphasize their arguments, each almost
| singing his wildly earnest assertions in a
| tongue unknown TO English ears, ana all
| reaching climaxeS of elOquence or huTllng
| thunderbolts of doctrinal logic, with half
! yelled ''Nisi Ms" (NowI nowvD as some
| particularly effective point was made; and
oil 20 on 1iurSnl II fhnlr Innocent
| apparently ready to annihilate my minis
| teTial friend to whom they were all de-
| yotedly attached, and who finally sank help
| less under the tempest OF oratory; was to
| know, with a malicious thrill Of delight, that
! there is one place in the world where the
! preacher must sit still and writhe. even as
! long-Suffering parishiOnerS, under his own
| teachings, returned to be heaped up and
! poured back upon him like the bread upon
| the waters which returneth after many
! days.
But far up the strath our horses were
changed at little clachan. Then here and
| there, where fOOt-pathS turned to the heights
above or the valley beneath, peasant doc
| triDarieS one by one descended and diSap-
| reared with a departing shot of ScTiptural
ferocty. Larder and fercer than all the
! granite cragS above us. The shadows crept
IN and were marshaled in dark phalanXes
| i'll the strath-bed far down there, thousands
of feet below. The river, now broad and
! CLASSY, now foaming torrent, and again a
| feathery waterfall, only disclosed It's
course in sound Hints of great hunt
| ing-lodges, like castles, were revealed
! by ghostly turrets which were sharply cut
! against the leaden sky above the darkeniag
trees, or by tremendous gates before great
avenues of sycamores, or by hyeried servi-
tors standing at the roadside to catch the
maiLpouehes flung to them as we ratified
by. And, finally, five little haxen heads,
appafition-like, bobbing beside the coach,
| and Growing and shouting to the " Pappy y
| beside me, told me we were at last in the
heart of Grand Strathglass, and that the
| great square pile behind the larches, from
which the welcoming lamp and fire light
| shone, was the sweet old Manse of Fasua-
| kyle where, for little, Yankee pilgrim
was to find a hospitable Highland home. =