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AN GAODHAL
and graiméar na Gaedhilge, for Irish
grammar instead of, graiméar Gaedhilge
This man said the title page of THE GAEL was
"bad” Irish, because it has an Teanga
Ghaedhilge, instead of his ungrammatical
form, Teanga na Gaedhílge. Teanga
Ghaedhilge, is simply, Irish tongue, the
word "Irish” being an adjective de¬
scribing what kind of language is meant. We say
the long tongue the small tongue, the large tongue,
the Irish tongue — in Irish, an teanga
fhada, an teanga bheag, an Teanga mhór,
an Teanga Ghaedhilge. But this man
would not have them in that form, he
writes them, Teanga na fada, teanga
na bige, teanga na móra Teanga na
Gaedhilge, which translated into Eng¬
lish would read, the tongue of the long, the ton¬
gue of the little, the tongue of the big, the tongue
of the Irish — forms which no Irish speaker ever
used.
Dictated to by this same party (we presume) the
Gaelic Union has made the title page of the Gaelic
Journal rediculous. Why do they not call it
“The Gaelic Journal” in the Irish language, and
not call it “The Journal of the Gaelic?"
An t-iris leabhar Gaedhilge, is the
proper translation of “The Gaelic Journal.” Gaelic
being merely an adjective describing the kind of
Journal, distinguishing it from an English Journal.
etc. We would respectfully call Mr. Fleming's at¬
tention to this matter. There is no idea of poss¬
ession or generation conveyed, but merely that of
description.
A mason at one time contracted to build the piers
of a gate for a man named Owen. He sent a lot
of young, inexperienced masons to do the work.
The piers fell in a shert time after and the owner
sued the contractor for loss and damage.
The judge, after hearing the evidence on both
sides, announced his decision thus ;—
"Saortha óga; bhí muirtéal go leor
ann, — Geata bhí aig Eón agus thuit sé
air a thoin."
Agus dá bh-fuigheochadh saortha óga na
teangan cead a g-cinn is geárr go d-
tuiteochadh an teanga air a tóin mar
thuit geata Eóin; ní sé amháin o dhroch
shaoirseacht, ach o easbuigh cothuighthe.
This man calls all who are engaged in the move¬
ment for the preservation of the Irish language in
America, “ignorant ignoramuses,” but again adds,
“the best of us" etc., meaning, of course, that he
is not ignorant. We always had the impression
that presumption, pomposity, misrepresentation
and petty pedantry fairly comprehended the ess¬
ence of “ignorance," all of which his letter is the
embodiment.
The late Dr. Martin A. O'Brennan declared that
Archbishop McHale was the greatest (then) living
Irish scholar. This man asserts that he (the Arch¬
bishop) wrote "bad” Irish !
Before this egotist is permitted to pursue his
course of defamation further, it is pertinent I ask,
Where did he get his education?
There are scores of men in America who can
write "really correct Irish."
The best way to handle a nettle is to grasp it
tightly, and this venomous nettle must be so han¬
dled. He need not think that he can ride rough-
shod over the Irishmen of the present day. He
may, by his coarse, vulgar, defamatory epithets,
be able to silence some timid men into a seeming
submissson to his dictatorial sway, but be made a
big mistake when he thought to silence the editor
of THE GAEL by such tactics.
Burlingtoon, lowa, Mar. 19, 1887.
Dear Sir — I am happy to inform you that THE
GAEL is growing like a grain of Egyptian wheat
taken from the pyramid it which it slept for thou¬
sands of years, and producing abundantly in new
soil in a new world that the Pharaohs never dream¬
ed of, nor the Ptolemies neither.
Send one copy to Div. 1, 312 Columbia St., and
Div. 2, 902 Washington St. of the A. O. H.; James
Hagerty 212 Columbia St.
The friends of Ireland have been slow to see the
danger of the destruction of their nationality
through the decay of their language; but the
scheme of Wolsley for a “Confederation of English
speaking nations” is arousing them to a sense of
duty. The Irish, Scotch and Welsh, and their de¬
scendants see in this move the merging of their ele¬
ments into one world-wide institution for the grat¬
ification of Saxondom and the crushing out of Nat¬
ional aspirations.
Our language like our ancient Land tenure sys¬
tem is by its intrinsic excellence forcing itself
on the attention of the public. Our own people
have been as densely ignorant of both as if the
English language, and the monstrous system of
land stealing, invented by Henry VIII., had been
the recognized language and law of our race since
Gael was born in Egypt. But the faithful few who
resolved not to permit the “Tongue of Sages, Saints
and Kings” to die, and those who
"Have sworn beneath God’s burning eye,
To break their country's chains, or die,"
are laying the foundations of a new Ireland, labor¬
ing slowly, steadily at the same time to remove
the mountain of prejudice and the rock bottom of
ignorance on which it rests.
I find the sons of Irishmen more enthusiastic
than men of Irish birth,
“Whose step betrays,
The freedom of penal days."
Yet all things considered, there is reason to feel
grateful and proud of the progress already made.
Our language can never die while we have such
bards as those whose songs appear in THE GAEL,
Air an ádhbhar sin buaidheachas le Dia,
Just now is the hardest time of the year on labor¬
ing men, in this locality, I trust that with the op¬
ening of the busy season, THE GAEL'S subscription
will lengthen.
I wish we had more wealthy patriots like Mr.
Tierney of San Juan. Those of us who are dispos¬
ed to help are too poor to do much, and they who
have the means are, as a rule, ignorant of Ireland's
language and history, and incapable of education in
that direction. Great revolutions are not the work
of capital, but of brain, heart, and laborious hands.
Postal Note within for $1.80.
Táim do charaid,
J. Hagerti.
