468
AN GAOḊAL
Láṁa 'g oibriuġaḋ gan sgiġ.
Ann sin, a ċruit, árduiġ do ċeann
Go glóireaċ ann do neart,
'Gus seinn go saor ṫrí ṫallaiḋ 'n Lann' —
Tá 'n tíorán ársa ṫart!
FREEDOM IS NOT DEAD!
She lives, in breaking hearts oppress'd,
And hearts that never break;
And faithful hands that never rest,
Away her chains will take.
Then, Harp of Tara, strung anew,
Triumphant rear thy head,
And ring the halls of Tara through —
Old Tyranny is dead!
The foregoing simple, nevertheless correct, Gae¬
lic verses are the composition of an American gen¬
tleman, Mr. L. M. Baldwin who joined the Brook¬
lyn Philo Celtic Society February last, and who
then did not know a word of the Irish language.
Is not this fact, along with the reasons which he
states "Suggested" his additional stanza to Moore's
"Harp of Tara”, sufficient to bring the blush of
shame to the brow of Irishmen? This American
gentleman stands as a neutral judge viewing pass¬
ing events, and he sees in the effort to revive the
language the awakening of a truly Irish national
spirit and, as if carried away for the moment by
the sentiment that he was an Irishman, he im¬
pulsively exclaims,
"Freedom is not dead!"
Volumes might be written to show why Irishmen
should endeavor to preserve and cultivate their
language but the whole range of argument is cov¬
ered by the above few lines. Mr. Baldwin, like
other foreigners, could not believe in the protesta¬
tations of Irish patriotism when Irishmen ignored
the very essence of Nationality. When Irishmen
demonstrate to their brethren of other nationali¬
ties that they are in earnest then they will get both
moral and material sympathy for their cause. Not
till then.
Mr. Baldwin presented these verses as an exer¬
cise in composition simply, never dreaming that
they would be published, hence their value. Not
being written for effect they truly represent the
writer's idea of what he considers a truly national
spirit. Mr. Baldwin is fully thirty seven years of
age, and, after seven months' ordinary study has
produced the above (it has not been corrected but
merely as it was handed in). What a rebuff to
those Irishmen who say they cannot learn their
language? It is an admission that they are intel¬
ectually and patriotically behind their neighbor.
Saxon brutality has too strong a hold on them.
GAEL GLAS ON THE PROPHECIES.
(Second Letter)
Aug 4th 1885.
To the Editor of the Gael
Dear Sir:
Having in my last letter, rather ab¬
ruptly dropped my remarks on the Irish proph¬
ecies, I shall now with your permission briefly re¬
fer to that subject as one which I think must be of
great interest to the readers of the Gael. But at
the same time I must avoid the tedium of writing
a disquisition on the origin of prophecy in general
and how the Chaldeans, the Grecians and the Ro¬
mans of old had their diviners, soothsayers, and
sibylline Oracles, and how the Germans, according
to Tacitus, had in ancient times, their Vates and
female prophetesses some of whose names are
given by him. The Scandinavians also in ancient
times had their prognosticators whom they always
consulted before engaging in battle, and pursuant
to whose counsels the Danes decided to attack the
army of Brian Boru on Good Friday on the plains
of Clontarf so that they might be thereby enabled to
destroy the life of that most brave, patriotic and
Christian monarch. The Druids were of old held
in great esteem among the Irish, Gauls and British.
They were the flamens, priests, philosophers, leg¬
islators and judges, as Caesar testifies where he
gives a long account of their order, office jurisdic¬
tion, and learning. They were also skilled in mag¬
ic as appears in Pliny who calls the Druids of
the Gauls magicians. Those of them who resided
in Ireland were great sorcerers and deeply adept in
the art of divination. It is stated in Irish history
that they predicted many events of the future and
foretold the coming of St. Patrick three years be¬
fore his arrival; and in the ancient annals and rec¬
ords of Ireland many instances are recorded, not
necessary to be specified here, of pagan foreknow¬
ledge before the advent of Christianity. The four
great prophets of Ireland according to Giraldus
Cambrensis were St. Patrick, St. Columbkille, Sts.
Braccan and Moling, and he affirms that their
works were extant in his time. Cambrensis else
where avers that St. Columba had previously fore¬
told the subversion of Ulster by John De Courcy
and he asserts that De Courcy had in his hands
that prophecy of St. Columba written in Irish as
a prospect of the work he had to do. (See Ware's
annals of Ireland. page 17). St. Moling, Archbishop
of Ferns wrote in Irish verse certain prophecies
of the kings of Ireland and their battles and deaths
till the end of time. (Ware's writers page 8). He
likewise foretold the coming of the Danes and
Norwegians as also the English invasion. Brac¬
can Abbot of Ard Braccan committed to writing
his prophecies of the wars of Ireland and of the
coming and success of the English, which with the
prophecies ascribed to St. Patrick were collected
into one volume and published by Walter De Islip
