The farmer and mechanic., 1913-03-04
RESUSCITATION OF
A DYING LANGUAGE
rne celtic RcyivaHIts Agencies and
some of Its Ehects-A Many
sided Movement.


Ne English people born of so-called
,s,lo-Saxon parentage not infre-
..,entlv lack imagination. Ensconced |
,..bind the SNUG satisfaction that our !
.,..the- tongue is the most perfect !
.,s.dium OF communication the world !
tas ever known and that its position |
a. well assured as that of Gil |
tr,ltar. we are liable to regard the |
.teappearance OF an alien language
torc the deadly advance of English
..e mere accident in the progress
- civilization, the removal Of one
more obstacle in the pathway Of our
,.t,,h lauded modern efficiency; but
,yr are still more Liable to forget the
.,th.r side--the poignant tragedy, the
nfftcr shame of people whose
sprech. once the instrument of schol-
.rs saints, warriors, and kings, has
tar generations shown signs of in
,ipient decay, and had but yesterday
dapencrated into "a rude dialect spoken
tv few and cherished by fewer. Such
nas been the fate of the once great
irish language; and had it not been
for the energy and linguistic patriot
sm of those who, desiring their
tongues as well as their hearts to be
r,ltic. began the revival Of their be-
practically unknown as a spoken lam
.bagp except to "a few peasants and
fshcrmeu along the western coast of
ireland and on the neighboring is
lands
If W. are To approach the subject
of The Celtic Revival sympathetically,
or even dspassionately, we must first
lqd our minds of several misappre-
her>ions REGARDING the Irish character
Nt,> Na1, l.. ..-A.~
WAS IN infinitely nobler figure than
he miserable caricature who SO often
reprcse nts the Irishman on the boards
Of our cheap theatres; and his lam
Suacc, in richness and fiexibility of
vocabulary and SyntaX, far Outstripped
The now triumphant English. More
aver Irish is not and never has been
a broken-down dialect of English,
though only n short time since some
presumably intelligent persons in
qyiTed whether "A certain prominent
celtic scholar was not investigating (
the speech of Irish serving maids.
irish tcaied by the natives Gaelic
Forms one branch Of the great Celtic
family. to which also belong Breton
cornish. Welsh. Manx and the older
l'nguace Of the Highlands of Scot
land Long before julius Cesar led
his conauering legions across the
plains uf Gaul and into the dark for
cSts uf Germany, the Celts inhabited
vast territory: their language in its
various dialects was spoken from
Galaua in Asia Minor over Contra
and Western Europe TO Cape Fin
iStcrre in Spain" The inhabitants o.
Britain. Of whom C9sar tells us il
tn" fourth and fifth books of hi
,aliic War. were also Cclts, and Gel
ur VAS spoken by the ancient dwell
ers iu Ireland. As time went on, tn
'cltS Of Europe and the British Isle
were absorbed by later conuueror
or were driven further and furthe
westward. until there now remain
mere handful (perhaps 5000, 00
SOULS so-called celtic Fringe
scattered along the shores of tn
western Ocean, in Brittany, Wales
lh" Isle of Man. the Highland o
Scotland. and Ireland
Ancient Ireland possessed the oides
and richest of Western Europe liter
atnrcs. The Roman lcgions never sc
foot on her soil. and her native Gus
i"mS and traditions escaped the trans
forming influence of Latin culture
Long after the Britons and GaulS ha
adopted the civilization of their Ro
man conquerors the Irish retaine
heir own primitive tribal system
thelr picturesque, though barbara
mode Of life, and to "A large eXter
fh"ir pagan religion. Early in tn
uith century tabout the time of tn
AhSto-SaSon conquest of Britain
hrlstlanity was introduced into III
island. and later flourished so abunC
anty that Ireland came to be know
as I'll" Island Of the Saints" wit
hrlstlanity came learning: from tf
eighth to the tenth century Irelar
vas the schoolmistress OF Europe, ar
!" her great monastic schools fiOckt
students from Britain and the Cont
hrnt. The Irish monks, inspired
mat national pride which still cha
acterizes the people Of Erin, wro
down large amount of their nation
htcrature-reli@ious and seeul
poems. epic stories of gods and herOf
1hd romantic tales of golden hair,
larry princesses who loved chose
mcrtals and lured them away to I
ma n-Og, the Celtic paradise of etern
sunshine and everlasting yout
through the yiciSSitudeS OF intern