The Irish standard., 1906-01-27

a racy and enlivening book, with some
grim phases; but at the period Of its
publication, Ireland, on the whole, took
but little notice of it. "Cois ma Tein-
eadh" (Beside the Fire) was issued a
little later, and more readers and stu
dents came to realize the freshness
and spirit of the work. But they had
little conception of the delight and ro-
nance the ingathering had meant for
DR.. Hyde. He wandered and worked
with zeal such as had characterized
Asbjornsen in Norway and Lonnrot in
Finland in earlier days, and though he
seemed to CLEAN and gather for land
largely Indifferent the life. the ad-
venture, the story telling, and story
tellers away beyond the Shannon
were their own reward.
How to Save the Language.
In 1898 he became President Of the
Gaelic League, founded in Dublin by
a few people who realized that if the
Irish language were to be saved new
measures must be adopted: academic
ideas must be put away, the speaking
Of the language by those who knew it
insistently encouraged, a pride in it
fostered, while the young students
must be taught it as living language
and they and native speakers
brought as much as possible into con-
tact. The Gaelic League attracted
little notice at first. That the ances-
trail language had much to do with
nationality or progress was not recog-
nized or dreamed of by the many. DR..
Hydes labors widened. The following
year he published Love Songs of Con-
nacht"-with an English translation
strains of love, hope, despair, joy, most
of which had been familiar to him
from his youth, some of which had
been sung by the people for genera
tions. AS in the case of so much popu-
lar song in Irish, most of the authors
were unknown. The strains were part
of tradition-passionate and melo-
dious voices from the past. Even the
literal English renderings, lacking the
idiom, assonance, and flavor Of the
originals, gave some hint Of their sig
nigficance. This time DR.. Hyde had
something Of his reward. He went his
way serenely, collecting further songs
and folk-lore-the Religious Songs of
Connacht,' which ran for years in an
Irish magazine, the poems Of the blind
singer Raftery, and such tales as those
in "An Sgeulaidhe Goadhalach" (The
Irish Story-Teller), Of which there is
a French translation. A wider interest
came to be taken in Irish literary mat
ters, though so far most of the main
workers used English. The rise Of lit
erary societies, the work Of poets like
Mr.. Yeats, even the trouble in the po-
litical order that followed the Parnell
crisis. turned minds to serener INTEL
lectual things. More attention was di-
rected to native Irish tradition, and
the personality and work of the un-
assuming Douglas Hyde came to loom
larger. For his part he took every op-
portunity Of urging that If the Irish
language were allowed to die the con-
nection with the past would be broken,
and what might be great energising
force in the present would disappear.
All the time, by lectures and books,
he helped the new idea through Eng
lish as well as Irish. Thus "The Story
Of Early Gaelic Literature" and the
far more comprehensive Literary His
tory of Ireland" 1880, spread stimu-
lating knowledge of the trend of
thought in many Gaelic generations.
In "Ubhla den Chraoibh," or Apples
from the Branch $4,000, he published
his own Irish chants and fancies of
years. Here are lilts in many keys;
songs of love, exile, social life, and
many more, showing a kinship of spirit
with the old country singers.
A Renascence Of Energy.
BY this time the Gaelic League and
the movement for the preservation and
extension of Irish had become a force.
The work of devoted men like DR.. Hyde,
Father O'Growney, and their comrades
had told. Gradually hundreds Of peo-
pie came to see quite a romantic sig
nificance in DR.. Hyde himself. AS
they turned to Irish studies-long
banned in regular Irish education-and
gathered some sense of the stories and
the lore Of the past, they came to see
that "An Craoibhin Aoibhinn" himself
had much Of the verve and mellowness
Of the older time. He seemed like
a character in a pleasant saga. It
would be a great mistake. however, to
imagine that the movement was main
ly concerned with the past. Quite the
contrary. It meant an awakening Of
mind, Imagination, and energy-an IN
sistent desire to make the most of the
present, of the social. intellectual ar
tistic attributes of the race-of Ireland,
material and snfritual