Teil 1

, Abt. xi. 1. (E. C. Q.)

(b) _Breton_.--Breton (_Brezonek_) is the name given to the language spoken by those Britons who fled from the south-west of England to Armorica (see BRITTANY) in the 5th and 6th centuries of our era to avoid being harassed by the Saxons. The first migration probably took place about 450. The Dumnonii and Cornovii founded small states in Brittany, or Britannia Minor, as it was termed, and were followed in the second half of the 6th and into the 7th century by a long stream of refugees (cf. J. Loth, _L'Emigration bretonne_, Paris, 1883; A. de la Borderie, _Histoire de la Bretagne^2_, vol. i., 1905).

In the earliest stages it is difficult to distinguish Breton from Welsh. The history of the language may be divided into Old Breton from the 7th to the 11th centuries, Middle Breton from the 11th to the 17th centuries, and Modern Breton. In Old Breton the only material we possess consists of glosses and names occurring in lives of saints, Frankish authors, and charters. However, we find a few characteristics which serve to show that the old glosses are really Breton and not Welsh. Thus, an original a never becomes a diphthong (au, aw) in Old Breton, but remains o. In Bret, gn becomes gr. Further, in O.W. pretonic u is weakened to an indeterminate sound written i and later y, a phenomenon which does not occur in Breton, e.g. Lat. _culcita_ appears in O.W. as _cilcet_, but in O. Br. as _colcet_. A marked characteristic of Breton is the confusion of i and e, e.g. Ir. _lis_, "court," W. _llys_, Br. _les_. In Old Breton as in Old Welsh neither the initial nor the medial mutations are expressed in writing, whilst in Middle Breton only the latter are regularly denoted. In this period the language diverges very rapidly from Welsh. As prominent features we may mention the following. Stressed o (=Prim. Celt. and Ir. a) becomes eu, in unstressed syllables e; thus the suffix _-aco_ becomes _-euc_ and later -ec, but in Welsh _-auc_ and later -oc, -og. Postvocalic -tr, -tl become -dr, -dl as in Welsh, but in Middle Breton they pass into -zr, -zl, which in the modern language appear as _-er, -el; e.g._ Mid. Br. _lazr_, Mod. Br. _laer_, "robber," W. _lleidr_, Lat. _latro_. Further, -lt becomes -ot, -ut, e.g. Br. _aot_, _aout_, "cliff," W. _allt_; Br. _autrou_, "lord," Ir. _altram_, W. _alltraw_, _athraw_, Corn. _altrou_; and, more important still, th, [+a] (W. dd) become s, z, e.g. Mid. Br. _clezeff_, "sword," Mod. Br. _kleze_, W. _cleddyf_. The orthography only followed the pronunciation very slowly, and it is not until 1659 that we find any attempt made to reform the spelling. In this year a Jesuit priest, Julien Maunoir (Br. Maner), published a manual in which a new spelling is employed, and it is usual to date Modern Breton from the appearance of this book, although in reality it marks no new epoch in the history of the language. It is only now that the initial mutations are consistently denoted in writing (medially they are already written in the 11th century), and the differences between the dialects first come into view at this time. As in Welsh the accent is withdrawn during the middle period from the final to the penultimate (except in the Vannes dialect), which causes the modern unstressed vowel to be reduced in many cases. Again, in Old Welsh and Old Breton a short stressed vowel in words of one syllable was lengthened, e.g. _tad_, "father," pl. _tadau_, but in Modern Breton the accent tends to lengthen all stressed vowels. Breton has gone its own way in the matter of initial mutation. The nasal mutation has been entirely given up in the initial position, whilst a new mutation, called medial provection, has arisen in the case of b, d, g, which become p, k, t after a few words which originally ended for the most part in z or ch. The vocalic mutation of initial g in Breton is _c'h_. We may also make mention of one or two other points on which Breton differs widely from Welsh. Breton has given up the combination ng, e.g. Mid. Br. _moe_, Mod. Br. _moue_, "mane," W. _mwng_, Ir. _mong_. The language betrays a fondness for nasalized vowels, and in this connexion it may be noted that v representing an original m (W. f, Ir. mh), though generally written ff in Middle Breton, now frequently appears as nv; Mid. Br. _claff_, Mod. Br. _klanv_, "sick, ill," W. _claf_, M. Ir. _clam_. Final g after r and l and sometimes in monosyllables after a vowel is represented in Breton by _c'h_, whilst in Welsh in the one case we find a vowel and in the other nil, e.g. Br. _erc'h_, "snow," W. _eiry_, _eira_; Br. _lec'h_, "place," W. _lle_. In Welsh mb, nd immediately preceding the stress appear in the modern language as mm, nn but in Breton we find mp, nl, e.g. Br. _kantol_, "candle," W. _cannwyll_, Lat. _candela_; Br. _kemper_, "confluence" (in place names), W. _cymmer_, Ir. _combor_.

With regard to the extent of country over which Breton is spoken we shall do well to note the seats of the old Breton bishoprics. These were Quimper, St Pol de Leon, Treguier, St Brieuc, St Malo, Dol and Vannes. Under Count Nominoe the Bretons succeeded in throwing off the Frankish yoke (841-845) and founded an independent state. At this time of greatest political expansion the language boundary was formed by a line which started roughly a little to the west of Mont St Michel at the mouth of the Couesnon, and stretched to the mouth of the Loire. During the next three centuries, however, in consequence of political events which cannot be enumerated here, we find French encroaching rapidly on Breton, and the old dioceses of Dol, St Malo, St Brieuc, and in part Vannes became Romance-speaking (cp. J. Loth, _Revue celtique_, xxviii. 374-403). So that since the 13th and 14th centuries the boundary between French and Breton begins in the north about Plouha (west of St Brieuc Bay), and stretches to the mouth of the Vilaine in the south. That is to say, the Breton speakers are confined to the department of Finistere and the west of the departments Cotes-du-Nord and Morbihan. Lower Brittany contains a population of 1,360,000, of whom roughly 1,250,000 speak Breton. The number of monoglot Bretons is stated to have been 768,000 in 1878, 679,000 in 1885, and over 500,000 in 1898. There is an infinity of dialects and subdialects in Brittany, but it is usual to divide them into four groups. These are the dialects of (1) Leon in Finistere; (2) Cornouailles in Finistere, the Cotes-du-Nord and a part of Morbihan; (3) Treguier in the Cotes-du-Nord and Finistere; (4) Vannes in Morbihan and a portion of the Cotes-du-Nord. The first three resemble one another fairly closely, but the speech of Vannes has gone its own way entirely. The dialect of Leon is regarded as the literary dialect, thanks to Legonidec.

The modern language is unfortunately saturated with words borrowed from French which form at least a quarter of the whole vocabulary. The living speech is further characterized by innumerable cases of consonantal metathesis and by parasitic nasalization. Loth gives specimens of the most important varieties of Breton in his _Chrestomathie bretonne_, pp. 363-380, but here we must confine ourselves to pointing out the two most salient differences between the speech of Vannes and the rest of Brittany. In Vannes the stress has not been shifted from the final syllable. In Haute-Cornouailles and Goelo there is a tendency to withdraw the stress on to the antepenultimate, whilst in Treguier certain enclitics attract the accent to the final. s, z of the other dialects representing Welsh th become h in Vannes, e.g. W. _caeth_, Br. _keaz, kez_, "poor, miserable," Vannes _keah, keh_. This phenomenon occurs sporadically in other dialects. It may also be mentioned that Prim. Celt, non-initial d, W. dd, is retained as z in Leon but disappears when final or standing between vowels in the other dialects, e.g. O. Br. _fid_, W. _ffydd_, "faith," Leon _feiz_, in Cornouailles, Treguier and Vannes, _fe_. It is doubtful if the most serious differences between the dialects are older than the 16th century.

In the middle ages the language of the Breton aristocracy was French. Upper Brittany was politically more important than the western portion. The consequence was that no patronage was extended to the vernacular, and Breton sank to the level of a patois with no unity for literary purposes. But a new era dawned with the beginning of the 19th century. The national consciousness was awakened at the time of the Revolution, when the Bretons became aware of the difference between themselves and their French neighbours. It may be mentioned by the way that the Breton language was regarded with suspicion by the leaders of the First Republic and attempts were made to suppress it. A Breton named Legonidec had to flee to England for fighting against the Republic. He came under the influence of the movement in Wales, and on his return sought to create a Breton literary language. He published an excellent grammar (_Grammaire celto-bretonne_, Paris, 1807) and a dictionary (_Dictionnaire breton-francais_, Paris, 1821), from which he omitted the numerous French words which had crept into the language and for which native terms already existed. Legonidec's example fired a number of writers with zeal for their native tongue and the clergy became interested. Under their auspices manuals of Breton were published and the language was utilized in a number of schools. A society called the _Association Bretonne_ was founded in the year 1844. But under the Second Empire, for reasons which are not easy to discover, this Breton awakening was declared to be contrary to the interests of the state, and all the means at the disposal of a highly centralized government like that of France were employed to throttle the movement. Down to the present day the use of Breton is strictly forbidden in all the state schools, and the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy has for the most part been hostile to the language. However, the attitude of the government aroused considerable dissatisfaction in the early 'nineties, and in 1896 the _Association Bretonne_ (disbanded in 1859 and reconstructed in 1873) appointed a permanent committee with the object of preserving and propagating the national language. At the same time some of the clergy headed by Abbe Buleon began to move, and Breton was introduced into many of the schools not under state control. In 1898 was founded the _Union Regionaliste Bretonne_, the most important section of which endeavours to foster the native speech in conjunction with the _Comite de preservation du breton_ (founded 1896). In 1899 the annual meeting of the U.R.B. was modelled on the lines of the Irish Oireachtas, the Welsh Eisteddfod and the Scottish Mod, and festivals of this kind have been held ever since. Many Breton newspapers publish columns in Breton, thus _Ar Bobl_ (a weekly newspaper founded in 1904 and published at Carhaix) frequently devotes half its columns to the language. But there is also a weekly four-page newspaper which is wholly in Breton. This is _Kroaz ar Vretoned_, edited by F. Vallee and published at St Brieuc. In addition to this there are three monthly magazines wholly in Breton. The first is _Ar Vro_, edited by the poet Jaffrennou, and in 1908 in its fifth year. The second is _Dihunamb_, written in the dialect of Vannes and started in 1905. The third is _Feiz ha Breiz_, started 1899.

AUTHORITIES FOR BRETON.--For the external history of Breton see H. Zimmer, "Die keltische Bewegung in der Bretagne," _Preussische Jahrbucher_ for 1899, xcix. 454-497. For Old and Middle Breton, J. Loth, _Chrestomathie bretonne_ (Paris, 1890), and the same writer's _Vocabulaire vieux-breton_ (Paris, 1884). Loth and E. Ernault have been indefatigable in investigating the history of the language. Their numerous contributions are mainly to be found scattered through the _Revue celtique, Zeitschrift fur celtische Philologie_ and the _Annales de Bretagne_. Ernault has also published _Glossaire moyen-breton_ in 2 vols. (Paris, 1895-1896); _Dictionnaire etymologique du moyen-breton_ (Paris, 1888). Another etymological dictionary was published by V. Henry (Paris, 1900). Grammars, &c.:--Dialect of Leon: Legonidec, _Grammaire celto-bretonne_ (Paris, 1807, 1838[2], also contained in H. de la Villemarque's edition of Legonidec's Dictionary); F. Vallee, _Lecons elementaires de grammaire bretonne_ (St Brieuc, 1902); E. Ernault, _Petite Grammaire bretonne_ (St Brieuc, 1897, the latter also takes account of the dialects of Treguier and Cornouailles). Dialect of Treguier: L. le Clerc, _Grammaire bretonne_ (St Brieuc, 1908); J. Hingant, _Elements de la grammaire bretonne_ (Treguier, 1868); P. le Roux, "Mutations et assimilations de consonnes dans le dialecte armoricain de Pleubian," _Annales de Bretagne_, xii. 3-31. Dialect of Vannes: A. Guillevic and P. le Goff, _Grammaire bretonne du dialecte de Vannes_ (Vannes, 1902); _Exercises sur la grammaire bretonne_ (Vannes, 1903); H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, "Etude phonetique sur le dialecte breton de Vannes," _Revue celtique_, i. 85 ff. 211 ff.; E. Ernault, "Le Dialecte vannetais de Sarzeau," _Rev. celt._ iii. 47 ff., 232 ff.; J. Guillome, _Grammaire francaise-bretonne_ (Vannes, 1836). As a curiosity we mention P. Treasure, _An Introduction to Breton Grammar_ (Carmarthen, 1903). Dictionaries: Legonidec, _Dictionnaire francais-breton_ (St Brieuc, 1847), _Breton-Francais_ (St Brieuc, 1850), both republished by de la Villemarque and representing the Leon dialect; A. Troude, _Nouveau Dictionnaire pratique francais et breton du dialecte de Leon avec les acceptations diverses dans les dialectes de Vannes, de Treguier, et de Cornouailles_ (Brest, 1869), and _Nouveau Dictionnaire pratique breton-francais_ (Brest, 1876); E. Ernault, "Supplement aux dictionnaires bretons-francais," _Revue celtique_, iv. 145-170. The Breton words in Gallo, the French patois of Upper Brittany, were collected by E. Ernault, _Revue celtique_, v. 218 ff.

(c) _Cornish._--The ancient language of Cornwall (_Kernuak, Carnoack_) stood in a much closer relation to Breton than to Welsh,[1] though in some respects it sides with the latter against the former.

It agrees with Breton on the following points:--It has given up the nasal mutation of initials but provects the mediae. Prim. Celt. a is not diphthongized, but becomes e, e.g. Corn, _ler_, "floor," Br. _leur_, W. _llawr_, Ir. _lar_. _Ng_ is lost as in Breton, e.g. _toy_, "to swear," Br. _toui_, W. _tyngu_, Ir. _tongu_; nd becomes nt before the stress and not nn as in Welsh, e.g. Corn. Br. _hanter_, "half," W. _hanner_. Cornish like Breton does not prefix a vowel to words beginning with s + consonant, e.g. Corn. _spirit_, later _spyrys_, Br. _spered_, W. _yspryd_. On the other hand, O. Cornish does not confuse i and e to the same extent as Bret., e.g. W. _helyg_, "willow," O. Cornish _heligen_, Br. _halek_. Further, Cornish does not change th, d to s, z as in Breton, _e.g. beth_, "grave," Br. _bez_, W. _bedd_, and initial g disappears in the vocalic mutation as in Welsh. Peculiar to Cornish is the change of non-initial t, d to s, z. This occurs in the oldest Cornish after n, l, e.g. O. Corn, _nans_, "valley," W. _nant_; Corn. _tas_, "father," W. _tad_. A feature of later Cornish is the introduction of a d before post-vocalic m, n, e.g. _pedn_, "head," W. _pen_. In later Cornish the accent seems to have fallen on the penultimate as in Modern Welsh and Breton.

In 936 the "Welsh" were driven out of Exeter by AEthelstan, and from that time the Tamar appears to have formed a general boundary between English and Cornish, though there seems to be evidence that even as late as the reign of Elizabeth Cornish was spoken in a few places to the east of that river. The decay of Cornish has been largely attributed to the Reformation. Neither the Prayer-book nor the Scriptures were translated into the vernacular, and we find the same apathy on the part of the Church of England in Cornwall as in Wales and Ireland. Unfortunately the Methodist movement came at a time when it was too late to save the language. By 1600 Cornish had been driven into the western parts of the duchy and in 1662 we are informed by John Ray that few of the children could speak it. Lhuyd gives a list of the parishes in which Cornish was spoken, but goes on to state that every one speaks English. In 1735 there were only a few people along the coast between Penzance and Land's End who understood Cornish, and Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole, who died in 1777, is commonly stated to have been the last person who spoke it, though Jenner seems to show that there were others who lived until well into the 19th century who were able to converse in the dialect. However, the modern English speech of West Cornwall is full of Celtic words, and nine-tenths of the places and people from the Tamar to Land's End bear Cornish names. Celtic words still in use are to be found in Jago's _Dialect of Cornwall_ (Truro, 1882); thus the name for the dog-fish is _morgy_, "sea-dog."

AUTHORITIES FOR CORNISH.--A mass of details about Cornish is collected in H. Jenner's _Handbook of the Cornish Language_ (London, 1904). (Cf. J. Loth's review in the _Revue celtique_, xxvii. 93.) Lhuyd's _Archaeologica Britannica_ (1707) contains a grammar of the language as spoken in his day, and a _Sketch of Cornish Grammar_ is to be found as an appendix to Norris's _Ancient Cornish Drama_. A dictionary was published by R. Williams entitled _Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum_ (Landovery, 1865), to which W. Stokes published a supplement of about 2000 words in the _Transactions of the London Philological Society_ for 1868-1869. We may also mention the _English-Cornish Dictionary_, by F.W.P. Jago (Plymouth, 1887), and a _Glossary of Cornish Names_, by J. Bannister (Truro, 1871). W. Stokes published a Glossary to _Beunans Meriasek_ in the _Archiv fur celtische Lexikographie_, i. 101, and important articles by J. Loth have appeared in the _Revue celtique_, vols. xviii. to xxiv. W.S. Lach-Szyrma, "Les Derniers Echos de la langue cornique," _Revue celtique_, iii. 239 ff. H. Jenner, "Some Rough Notes on the Present Pronunciation of Cornish Names," _Rev. celt._ xxiv. 300-305.

III. THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT PICTS.--The evidence from which we can draw any conclusions as to the affinities of the language of the Picts is so extremely scanty that the question has been the subject of great controversy. The Picts are first mentioned by Eumenius (A.D. 297), who regarded them as having inhabited Britain in the time of Caesar. In the year 368 they are described by Ammianus Marcellinus as invading the Roman province of Britain in conjunction with the Irish Scots. In Columba's time we find the whole of Scotland east of Drumalban and north of the Forth divided into two kingdoms--north and south Pictland--and it is reasonable to identify the Picts, at any rate in part, with the Caledonians of the classical authors. Galloway and Co. Down were also inhabited by Picts. Bede in enumerating the languages of Britain mentions those of the Britons, Picts, Scots and the English. The names by which the Picts are known in history have aroused considerable discussion. It seems natural to connect Lat. _Picti_ with the _Pictones_ and _Pictavi_ of Gaul, but in Irish they are known as _Cruithne_, which appears in Welsh as _Prydyn_, "Pict"; cp. _Prydein_, "Britain," forms corresponding to the earliest Greek name for these islands, [Greek: nesoi Pretanikai].

Three conflicting theories have been held as to the character of the Pictish language. Rhys, relying on the strange character of the Scottish Ogam inscriptions, pronounces it to be non-Celtic and non-Indo-European. In this he has been followed by Zimmer, who bases his argument on the Pictish rule of succession. Skene maintained that the Picts spoke a language nearly allied to Goidelic, whilst Stokes, Loth, Macbain, D'Arbois and Meyer are of opinion that Pictish was more closely related to Brythonic. Of personal names mentioned by classical writers we have Calgacus and Argentocoxus, both of which are certainly Celtic. The names occurring in Ptolemy's description of Scotland have a decidedly Celtic character, and they seem, moreover, to bear a greater resemblance to Brythonic than to Goidelic, witness such tribal designations as Epidii, Cornavii, Damnonii, Decantae, Novantae. In the case of all these names, however, it should be borne in mind that they probably reached the writers of antiquity through Brythonic channels. Bede mentions that the east end of the Antonine Wall terminated at a place called in Pictish _Pean-fahel_, and in Saxon _Penneltun_. _Pean_ resembles Old Welsh _penn_, "head," Old Irish _cenn_, and the second element may possibly be connected with Gaelic _fal_, Welsh _gwawl_, "rampart." The names of the kings in the Pictish chronicles are not an absolutely trustworthy guide, as owing to the Pictish rule of succession the bearers of the names may in many cases have been Brythons. The names of some of them occur in one source in a Goidelic, in another in a Brythonic form. It is of course possible that the southern part of Pictish territory was divided between Goidels and Brythons, the population being very much mixed. On the other hand there are a number of elements in place-names on Pictish ground which do not occur in Wales or Ireland. Such are _pet_, _pit_, "farm" (?), _for_, _fother_, _fetter_, _foder_, "lower" (?). _Aber_, "confluence," on the contrary, is pure Brythonic (Gaelic _inver_). Though the majority of scholars are of opinion that Pictish was nearly akin to the Brythonic dialects, we are entirely in the dark as to the manner in which that language was ousted by the Goidelic speech of the Dalriadic Scots. In view of the comparatively unimportant part played for a considerable period in Scottish affairs by the colony from Ireland, it is well-nigh incredible that Pictish should have been supplanted by Gaelic.

AUTHORITIES.--J. Rhys, _Celtic Britain_ (London[2], 1905), _The Welsh People_ (London[3], 1902), "The Language and Inscriptions of the Northern Picts," in _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_ (1892); H. Zimmer, "Das Mutterrecht der Pikten," in _Savignys Zeitschrift_ (1895); also trans. by G. Henderson in _Leabhar nan Gleann_ (Inverness, 1898); W.F. Skene, _Celtic Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1876); A. Macbain in appendix to reprint of Skene's _Highlanders of Scotland_ (Stirling, 1902); A. Macbain, "Ptolemy's Geography of Scotland," in _Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness_, xviii. 267-288; W. Stokes, _Bezzenbergers Beitrage_, xviii. 267 ff.; H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, _Les Druides et les dieux celtiques a forme d'animaux_ (Paris, 1906). The various theories have been recently reviewed and criticized by T. Rice Holmes in an appendix to his _Caesar's Invasion of Britain_ (London, 1907).

IV. HISTORY OF CELTIC PHILOLOGY.--For many centuries the affinities of the Celtic languages were the subject of great dispute. The languages were in turn regarded as descended from Hebrew, Teutonic and Scythian. The first attempt to treat the dialects comparatively was made by Edward Lhuyd in his _Archaeologia Britannica_ (Oxford, 1707), but the work of this scholar seems to have remained unnoticed. A century later Adelung in Germany divided the dialects into true Celtic (= Goidelic) and Celtic influenced by Teutonic (= Brythonic). But it took scholars a long time to recognize that these languages belonged to the Indo-European family. Thus they were excluded by Bopp in his comparative grammar, though he did not fail to notice certain resemblances between Celtic and Sanskrit. James Pritchard was the first to demonstrate the true relationship of the group in his _Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations_ (London, 1831), but his conclusions were not accepted. As late as 1836 Pott denied the Indo-European connexion. A year later Pictet resumed Pritchard's arguments, and Bopp himself in 1838 admitted the languages into the charmed circle, showing in an able paper entitled _Uber die keltischen Sprachen_ that the initial mutations were due to the influence of terminations now lost. But it was reserved to a Bavarian historian, J.C. Zeuss (1806-1856), to demonstrate conclusively the Indo-European origin of the Celtic dialects. Zeuss, who may worthily rank with Grimm and Diez among the greatest German philologists, rediscovered the Old Irish glosses on the continent, and on them he reared the magnificent structure which goes by his name. The _Grammatica Celtica_ was first published in 1853. The material contained in this monumental work was greatly extended by a series of important publications by Whitley Stokes and Hermann Ebel, so much so that the latter was commissioned to prepare a second edition, which appeared in 1871. Stokes has rendered the greatest service to the cause of Celtic studies by the publication of countless texts in Irish, Cornish and Breton. In 1870 the _Revue celtique_ (vol. xxviii. in 1908) was founded by Henri Gaidoz, whose mantle later fell upon H. d'Arbois de Jubainville. In 1879 E. Windisch facilitated the study of Irish by publishing a grammar of Old Irish, and a year later a volume of important Middle Irish texts with an exhaustive glossary, the first of its kind. Since then Windisch and Stokes have collaborated to bring out some of the greatest monuments of Irish literature in the series of _Irische Texte_. The text of the Wurzburg glosses was published by Zimmer (1881) and by Stokes (1887), and that of the Milan glosses by Ascoli. An important step forward was the discovery of the laws of the Irish accent made simultaneously by Zimmer and Thurneysen. This discovery led to a thorough investigation of the difficult verb system of Old Irish--a task which has largely occupied the attention of Strachan in England, Thurneysen and Zimmer in Germany, and Pedersen and Sarauw in Denmark. In a sense the publication of the _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_ (Cambridge, 1901-1903) may be regarded as marking the close of this epoch. The older stages of Irish have hitherto so monopolized the energies of scholars that other departments of Celtic philology save Breton have been left in large measure unworked. J. Strachan had begun to tap the mine of the Old Welsh poems when his career was cut short by death. J. Loth and E. Ernault have concentrated their attention on Breton, and can claim that the development of the speech of Brittany has been more thoroughly investigated than that of any other Celtic language. The number of periodicals devoted entirely to Celtic studies has increased considerably of recent years. In 1896 K. Meyer and L. C. Stern founded the _Zeitschrift fur celtische Philologie_ (now in its 7th volume), and in 1897 the _Archiv fur celtische Lexikographie_ began to appear under the direction of K. Meyer and W. Stokes. As a supplement to the latter Meyer has been publishing his invaluable contributions to Middle Irish lexicography. In Ireland a new periodical styled _Eriu_ was started by the Irish School of Learning in 1904. The Scottish _Celtic Review_, dealing more particularly with Scottish and Irish Gaelic, began to appear in 1903, and the _Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness_ are in the 26th volume. For Wales we have _Y Cymmrodor_ since 1877, and the _Transactions of the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion_ since 1892, and for Brittany the _Annales de Bretagne_, published by the Faculty of Letters at Rennes (founded 1886).

See V. Tourneur, _Esquisse d'une histoire des etudes celtiques_ (Liege, 1905). (E. C. Q.)

CELTIC LITERATURE

Ogam inscriptions.

I. IRISH LITERATURE.--In the absence of a native coinage it is extremely difficult to say when the use of letters was introduced into Ireland. It is probable that the Latin alphabet first came in with Christianity. With the exception of the one bilingual Ogam inscription as yet discovered in Ireland (that at Killeen Cormac) all the inscriptions in Roman letters are certainly later than 500. Indeed, apart from the stone reading "LIE LUGUAEDON MACCI MENUEH," they are all contemporary with or later than the Old Irish glosses. With regard to the Ogam inscriptions we cannot make any confident assertions. Owing to the lack of criteria for dating certain Irish sound-changes accurately it is impossible to assign chronological limits for the earlier stones. The latter cannot be later than the 5th century, but there is nothing to show whether they are Christian or not, and if pagan they may be a century or two earlier. It is true that the heroes and druids of the older epics are represented in the stories as making constant use of Ogam letters on wood and stone, and as the state of civilization described in the oldest versions of the Ulster sagas seems largely to go back to the beginning of the Christian era, it is not impossible that this peculiar system of writing had been framed by them. The Ogam system is certainly based on the Latin and not the Greek alphabet, and was probably invented by some person from the south of Ireland who received his knowledge of the Roman letters from traders from the mouth of the Loire. It may, however, be regarded as certain that the Ogam script was never employed in early times for literary purposes. We are told that the Gaulish druids disdained to commit their lore to writing, although they were familiar with the use of Greek letters, and their Irish confreres probably resembled them in this respect. Tradition connects the codification of the Brehon Laws with the name of Patrick, and there is reason for believing, as we shall see later, that the greatest Irish epic was first committed to writing in the 7th century.

Old Irish MSS.

Hymns.

The great bulk of Irish literature is contained in MSS. belonging to the Middle Irish period (1100-1550), and in order to be able to treat this literature as a whole it will be convenient for us to deal first with those documents which are termed Old Irish, especially as the contemporary remains of the literature of the earlier period are almost exclusively of a religious nature. Most of the Old Irish documents have been printed by Stokes and Strachan in the _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, and where no reference is given the reader is referred to that monumental work. The extraordinary outburst of intellectual activity in Ireland from the 6th to the 9th centuries and the compositions of Irishmen in the Latin language, belong to the history of medieval European literature and fall outside the scope of this article. For the _Confession of St Patrick_ and his "Letter to the Subjects of Coroticus" see PATRICK. The only Irish document ascribed to the saint is the strange so-called "Hymn," the _faeth fiada_, more properly _foid fiada_, "the cry of the deer." This is a rhythmical incantation which is said to have rendered the saint and his companions invisible to King Loigaire and his druids. The Trinity and powers of nature are invoked to help him to resist spells of women and smiths and wizards. The hymn, which contains a number of strange grammatical forms, is undoubtedly referred to in the Book of Armagh, and may very well go back to the 5th century. The Latin hymns contained in two MSS. dating from the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, a Trinity College, Dublin, MS., and a MS. belonging to the Franciscan monastery in Dublin, are of interest to us as exhibiting the influence of the native metrical system. Quantity and elision are ignored, and rhymes, assonances, alliterations and harmonies abound in true Irish fashion. The line consists of two units which commonly contain either seven or eight syllables apiece. The earliest and best-known of these religious poems are the Hymn of Secundinus (Sechnall d. 447) on St Patrick, and the two hymns attributed to St Columba (d. 597) beginning "_Noli pater_" and "_Altus prosator_," the latter of which exhibits some of the peculiarities of the so-called Hibernian Latin of the _Hisperica Famina_ and the _Lorica_ of Gildas. The date of the Irish hymns in the _Liber Hymnorum_ ranges, according to Stokes and Strachan, from the 7th to the 11th centuries. Ultan's hymn on St Brigit beginning "_Brigit be bithmaith_," which is by far the most artistic of the collection, was perhaps composed in the 7th century. Definite metrical laws had evidently been elaborated when this poem was written. The beat is iambic, but the natural accent of the words is rigidly observed. The long line consists of two units of five syllables each. The rhymes are dissyllabic and perfect. Alliteration is always observed in the latter half of each line and assonances are found knitting up the half-lines. The short prayer ascribed to Ninine or to Fiacc is a highly alliterative piece without rhyme, the date of which cannot be fixed. The well-known hymn on St Patrick traditionally ascribed to Fiacc, bishop of Sletty, and the piece beginning "_Sen De_," traditionally ascribed to Colman, are assigned on linguistic grounds to the beginning of the 9th century. The lines going by the name of "Sanctan's Hymn" probably belong to the same century, whilst the metrical catalogue of marvels performed by St Brigit contains such a medley of older and later forms, probably due to interpolation, that it is impossible to determine its age. The few lines entitled "Mael-Isu's Hymn" are the most recent of all and probably belong to the 11th century (Mael-Isu d. 1086). The Patrician documents by Muirchu Maccu Machtheni, who professed to write at the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty (d. 698), and by Tirechan, who is said to have received his information from Bishop Ultan (d. 656), are contained in the Book of Armagh, a MS. compiled by Ferdomnach in 807. These documents, like the _Life of St Columba_ by Adamnan, the MS. of which was written by Dorbbene, abbot of Hi (d. 713), contain a number of names and forms of great importance for the study of the language.

Earliest prose.

The earliest pieces of connected prose in Irish are three:--(1) the Cambray Homily, contained in an 8th-century codex at Cambray copied by a continental hand from a MS. in the Irish character; the language is very archaic and dates from the second half of the 7th or the beginning of the 8th century; (2) the additions to the notes of Tirechan on the life of St Patrick in the Book of Armagh; these seem to go back to the early 8th century; (3) the tract on the Mass in the Stowe Missal, which is in all probability nearly as old as the Cambray Homily, though contained in a 10th or 11th century MS. Of especial interest are the spells and poems found in the Stowe Missal and two continental MSS. The Stowe MS. (now deposited in the Royal Irish Academy) contains three rather badly preserved spells for a sore eye, a thorn and disease of the urine. A St Gall codex has preserved four Irish incantations of the 8th and 9th centuries. These are respectively against a thorn, urinary disease, headache and various ailments. Another charm, which is partly obscure, occurs in the 9th-century codex preserved at the monastery of St Paul in Carinthia. The same MS. also contains (1) a humorous poem treating of the doings of a bookish writer and his favourite cat Pangur Ban; (2) a riddling poem ascribed to Suibne Geilt, a king who is said to have lost his reason at the battle of Moira (A.D. 637); (3) verses extracted from a poem ascribed to St Moling (d. 697), who may very well have been the actual author; (4) a poem in praise of some Leinster princeling called Aed.

Old glosses.

For our knowledge of the older language, however, we have to rely mainly on the numerous glosses scattered about in a large number of MSS., which it is impossible to enumerate here. Indeed, such an enumeration is now rendered superfluous owing to the publication of the _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, in which all the various glosses have been collected. For our purpose it will be sufficient to mention the three most important codices containing Old Irish glosses. These are as follows:--(1) The Codex Paulinus at Wurzburg, which contains the thirteen epistles of St Paul, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, with a great mass of explanatory glosses, partly in Latin, partly in Irish,

## partly mixed. The chief source of the commentary is the commentary of

Pelagius, who is often cited by name. The date of this highly important MS. is much disputed; part of the Irish glosses seem to date from about 700, whilst the rest may be placed a little before 800. (2) The Codex Ambrosianus, formerly at Bobbio, now at Milan, which contains a commentary on the psalter with a large number of Irish glosses. In their present state these glosses were copied in the first half of the 9th century. (3) Glosses on Priscian contained in four MSS., of which the most important is the Codex Sangallensis, dating from the middle of the 9th century. Apart from the biblical glosses and scholia the other chief texts or authors provided with Irish glosses are Augustine, Bede, the Canons, the Computus, Eutychius, Juvencus, Philargyrius, Prudentius and Servius.

The Milan and the St Gall codices just mentioned both contain several short poems in Irish. In two stanzas in the Swiss MS. we find expressed for the first time that keen sympathy with nature in all her moods which is so marked a feature of Irish and Welsh verse.

Two ponderous religious poems have now to be noticed. To Oengus the Culdee is attributed the lengthy _Felire_ or Calendar of Church Festivals, consisting of 365 quatrains in _rinnard_ metre, one for each day in the year. The language of this dry compilation, which is heavily glossed and annotated, points to 800 as the date of composition, and Oengus, who is stated to have lived about that time, may well have been the author. This calendar has been twice edited by W. Stokes with an English translation, the first time for the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1880), and again for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1905).

It may perhaps be as well to enumerate here the later Irish martyrologies. (1) The _Martyrology of Tallaght_ (Tamlacht), founded on an 8th-century calendar, but containing additions down to 900 (ed. D.H. Kelly, Dublin, 1857). (2) The metrical _Martyrology of O'Gorman_, c. 1166-1174, edited by Stokes for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1895). (3) The _Martyrology of Donegal_, an important compilation in prose made by Michael O'Clery in 1630, edited by J.H. Todd (Dublin, 1864). A composition which is wrongly assigned to Oengus the Culdee is the _Saltair na Rann_ or Psalter in Quatrains, contained in an Oxford MS. (Rawlinson B 502) and published without a translation by Stokes (Oxford, 1883). The work proper consists of 150 poems corresponding to the number of Psalms in the psalter, but 12 poems have been added, and in all it contains 2098 quatrains, chiefly in _deibide_ metre of seven syllables. The poems are mainly based on biblical (Old Testament) history, but they preserve a large measure of medieval sacred lore and cosmogony. The psalter received additions as late as 998, and the Oxford MS. belongs to the 12th century. We should perhaps also mention here the famous _Amra_ or Eulogy of St Columba, commonly attributed to Dallan Forgaill, a contemporary of the saint, but Stokes takes the view that it was written in the 9th century, and is intentionally obscure. The oldest but not the best copy of the _Amra_ is preserved in the Trinity College, Dublin, MS. of the _Liber Hymnorum_, but it also occurs in LU. and elsewhere. It invariably appears heavily gloss-laden, and the glosses and commentary added thereto are out of all proportion to the text. This piece, which is not extant in its integrity, was probably intended as artificial alliterative prose, but, as we have it, it is a medley of isolated phrases and irrelevant comment.

Old collectors.

Book of the Dun Cow.

Book of Leinster.

Yellow Book of Lecan.

Book of Ballymote.

Speckled Book.

During the 9th and 10th centuries Ireland was harassed by the Vikings, and a host of scholars seem to have fled to the continent, carrying with them their precious books, many of which are preserved in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere. Hence very few early Irish MSS. are preserved in Ireland itself. When the fury of the storm was past, Irish scholars showed increased interest in the old literary documents, and copied all that they could lay hands on into miscellaneous codices. The earliest of these collections, such as the _Cin of Druim Snechta_, the _Yellow Book of Slane_, the _Book of Dubdaleithe_, the _Psalter of Cashel_, exist no longer, though their names have come down and certain of them were known in the 17th century. However, copies of a goodly portion of the contents of these old books are preserved to us in one form or another, but mainly in a series of huge miscellaneous codices ranging in date from the 12th to the 16th century. The oldest is _Lebor na h-uidre_, or Book of the Dun Cow, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy and published in facsimile (Dublin, 1870). This MS. was compiled in part in the monastery of Clonmacnoise by Moelmuire MacCelechair, who was slain in 1106. The Book of the Dun Cow (where necessary we shall abbreviate as LU.) derives its name from a legend that Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (d. 544) took down the story of the _Tain Bo Cualnge_ on a parchment made from the hide of his favourite cow. The name seems to have been wrongly applied to the 12th-century MS. in the 15th century. LU. is almost entirely devoted to romance, the stories which it contains belonging mainly to the Ulster cycle. The next MS. in point of age is the Book of Leinster (abbreviated LL.) now in Trinity College, Dublin. It was transcribed by Finn, son of Gorman, bishop of Kildare (d. 1160). LL. also contains a large number of romances in addition to other important matter, mainly historical and genealogical, bearing more

## particularly on the affairs of Leinster. The Yellow Book of Lecan

(YBL.), also in Trinity College, Dublin, was written at different times by the MacFirbis family, but chiefly by Gilla Isa, son of Donnchad Mor MacFirbis about 1391. The MacFirbises were hereditary scribes and genealogists to the O'Dowds, chiefs of the Hy Fiachrach (Co. Sligo). YBL. contains a vast amount of romance, and is indispensable as supplementing and checking the contents of LU. and LL. The most extensive collection of all is the Book of Ballymote (BB.), now belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, which was compiled about the beginning of the 15th century by various scribes. The book was in the possession of the chiefs of Ballymote for more than a century. In 1522 it was purchased by the O'Donnells for 140 milch cows. BB. only contains little romantic matter, but it has preserved much valuable historical and genealogical material. The contents of the _Leabhar Breac_ (LB.), or Speckled Book, now in the Royal Irish Academy, are chiefly ecclesiastical and religious. LB. seems to have been compiled in large measure before 1544. All these five codices have been published in facsimile by the Royal Irish Academy with a description of their contents. Two important Mid. Ir. MSS. in the Bodleian (Rawlinson B 512 and Laud 610), containing a good deal of romantic material, are also published in facsimile by Henry Frowde.

Other MSS. material.

Other MSS. which require special mention are (1) The Great Book of Lecan, compiled in the year 1417 by Gilla Isa Mor MacFirbis, in the Royal Irish Academy; (2) The Book of Lismore, the property of the duke of Devonshire at Lismore Castle. This codex was compiled in the latter half of the 15th century from the lost book of Monasterboice and other MSS. Its contents are described in the introduction to Stokes's _Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore_ (Oxford, 1890). (3) The Book of Fermoy in the Royal Irish Academy. The contents are described in the introduction to O'Beirne Crowe's edition of the _Tain Bo Fraich_ (Dublin, 1870). (4) The Book of Hy Maine recently acquired by the Royal Irish Academy. The scribe who wrote it died in 1372. O'Curry, O'Longan and O'Beirne Crowe drew up a MS. catalogue of the Irish MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, and O'Donovan performed the same service for the Trinity College, Dublin, collection. A briefer account of the Irish MSS. in TCD. will be found in Abbott's Catalogue of the MSS. in that library. O'Curry also drew up a list of the Irish MSS. in the British Museum, and S.H. O'Grady has printed part i . of a descriptive catalogue of this collection (London, 1901),