AN GAODHAL.
245
SONGS OF OUR LAND.
Sad as the wind through the mid-winter forest
When its glory of greenness is witnessed no
more,
And weird as the wail of a caoine on a mountain,
Or the lone midnight roll of the waves on the
shore;
And solemn and slow as the words that are spoken
When we take the loved dying at last by the hand
Ere the spirit is parted, the fillit is broken —
Is the spirit that saddens the Songs of our Land!
II
Tender and sweet as the songs in mid-summer
That are swelling their chorus from Nature
to God;
And cheering and fresh as the hue of the sham-
rock
The emblem of Erin that springs from the sod;
And gentle as dews by a willow-fringed river,
That are dropped in its tide as it rolls to the
strand,
Is the spirit that sings through our music forever-
The spirit that mellows the Songs of our Land.
III
Glad as the smile of the sun in the morning,
When its splendour of shining is shed on the
hills,
And sweeping and swift as the stream of a torrent
That is fed with the bounty of far-flashing rills;
And stern and strong as the voice of the thunder,
When the timid are quaking, the boldest un-
manned.
Is the tone of our music — the wide world, wo-
der —
The undying soul of the Songs of our Land.
IV
Shall the pine, shall they perish, those songs
of our nation,
Is there love from them yet in the Land of
their birth:
From those children of Genius, those orphans
of ages,
Those chords that are turned to our heart-
strings through earth?
Ah, perish the thought ! let the doubt be for-
saken!
All tender, and solemn and cheering, and
grand ;
When from long nights of sorrow the isle shall
awaken,
They will live, they must live, those sweet
Songs of our Land!
From Songs For Freedom, by Father McHale.
Every Irishman should get a copy
of the Dublin Gaelic Journal, its price
is only six shillings a year. It and the
GAEL are the only papers published in
the Irish Language.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
H.K. Bunkerhill Kas, writes — Please let me
know through the correspondence column of the
Gael if I can purchase an Irish song-book in the
Gaelic language or are Moore's poems translated?
You can get Moore's poems, translated by the
late Archbishop McHale at this office for fifty
cents.
Your communication was mislaid or you should
have this answer before now. Ed. G.]
Dr. Hugo Schuchardt, professor of Romance
Philology, University of Gratz, Styria, Austria,
has been elected a member of the Council of the
Gaelic Union. Other German members of the
council are Abbe de Smedt, St. Michael's College,
Brussels, Drs. Zimmer, Deventer and Windish,
and Prof. Geisler.
We hope some of our American friends will
become members of the council. The cost is on-
ly $5 a year, and includes a copy of the Gaelic
Journal, monthly for the same period.
W.B. Phil. Pa. We consider that N.Y. being
the accepted metropolis of the country, would be
the most desirable place to erect a Gaelic hall.
Should Brooklyn become a part of New York, as
now is being spoken of, a site could be purchased
there cheaply. The erection of one would be a
most patriotic idea, and our wealthy countrymen
could not have a more lasting monument to their
patriotism than such a hall. A nice hall could be
built for about $100,000.
P.K. Kansas City. — Having regard for the ad-
vancement of the Irish Language movement, we
have resolved to exclude from the columns of the
Gael all matters relating to politics, so that all who
desire to join in promoting that patriotic idea may
patronize the Gael without being subjected to per¬
sonal annoyance by seeing matter in it which they
may not relish. There are various publications
exclusively devoted to such matters as you advert
to — The United Irishman, The Irish World, the
Democrat etc. and we have no doubt but our sen¬
timents could be freely expressed through them.
Nevertheless, you may rest assured that while we
conduct it no anti national sentiment shall invade
the columns of the Gael.
The Dublin Gaelic Union is laboring energeti-
cally to have the education of the children in Ir-
ish speaking districts cultivated through the me-
dium of the mother tongue, and has produced
strong and conclusive arguments in support of the
necessity of adopting such course, if the children
are to be properly and efficiently instructed.
The president of the Gaelic Union, Right Hon.
the O'Connor Don has waited on the secretary
of the Treasury in reference to the Ashburnham
MSS. and states that he has no doubt but the re-
sult will be satisfactory. This MSS. has been no¬
ticed in a previous number of the Gael.
