892
AN GAODHAL.
the members, will cause the selection
of a proper man, to whom the insidious
whisper of the traitor can do no injury,
nor, through him, to the organization.
(Continued from page 890)
And again on page 39, "Mar bh'anamh
an lá chuaidh thart, nach rachadh Goillís go
teach an t-sagairt," etc. We candidly
admit that we can see no difference in
the “case” of teach in the above three
instances, and that we have never seen
an instance in which the choice of a
preposition could change the “case” of
a noun. Professor O'Duffy in defining
chum says, “It governs the genitive
case." But suppose chum to be employ¬
ed out of place, is it reasonable to sup¬
pose that the case of the noun should
be thereby affected?
The proper definition of chum is this,
Chum is a compound preposition, and is
generally placed before nouns in the
genitive case — not that it governs that
case, for it is not in the power of any
preposition to change the case of the
noun. And we would respectfully di¬
rect the attention of Craoibhín and Pro¬
fessor O'Duffy to that fact. Also, in
the part of the country where we were
raised raibh is not used in the above
sense— we say rabh, was; neither do we
say taoibh — we say taobh, as, o thaobh go
taobh. It is so used by O’Reilly, though
he marks its gender as feminine. But
the Leabhar Sgeulaigheachta is the best
Gaelic production we have yet seen.
And the compiler rightly dedicates it
to the Rev. Euseby D. Cleaver in the
following words —
Do 'n Duine-uasail Eusebh D Cliabhair
.i. Euseby D Cleaver ollamh diadhachta.
Dhuit-se, Dhuine-uasail, ofrálaim an
leabhairín seo, o is tusa a chuir ann mo
cheann i d-tosach é do dheunamh, agus ó
is ort-sa thuit a chostas D'athruigh tú,
a Dhuine-uasail, an tír [?] ann a raibh tú
do chomhnuidhe, acht an inntinn a thug tú
leat as Éirinn níor athruigh tú ise. Is
fíor ad' thaoibh-se an rádh sin an Rómán¬
aigh, ach aon fhocal amháin d'athrughadh ann,
nihil Hibernicum alienum a me puto
"Ní'l aon nidh air bith a bhaineas le h-Éi¬
rinn nach g-cuirim suim ann." Tá do
chorp imthighthe ó n-ar measg acht tá do
spiorad linn. Chonnairc tú, a Dhuine-
uasail, rud nach bh-facaigh mórán daoine,
agus thuig tú rud nár thuig siad-san.
Chonnairc tú go d-tuitfeadh fíor-náire
air Éirinn dá leigfeadh sí d'a Gaedheilg
féin fághail bháis. Chonnairc tú nach raibh
na h-Éireannaigh ag tabhairt aon aire
do'n teanga a bhí dá labhairt 'nna measg
ceud bliadhain ó shoin ó Mháilionn go
Sgibirín, agus ó Chuan-na-mara go gea¬
taidh Bh'l'acliath, agus chuir tú rómhadh do
dhíthchioll do dheunadh chum an tsean-theang¬
a do chongbháil beó.
Chum congnamh a thabhairt do 'n obair
naomhtha seo, d'iarr tú orm-sa Leabhar
Sgeulaigheachta do sgríobhadh agus do
chur i g-cló. Rinne mé sin chomh maith a¬
gus d'fheud mé. Sgríobh mé síos cuid
de na sean-sgeultaibh a chualaidh mé féin
ameasg na ndaoine, gan mórán — agus i
n-áiteachaibh gan focal air bith — d'athrugh¬
adh, agus má tá tusa sásta leis, ní bhéidh
aon aithreachas orm-sa. Má bhfághaidh
tusa spéis air bith i m-obair-se is leor
dam mo thuarasdal.
Leig dam, a Dhuine-uasail, ainm na h-
Aondachta Gaedheilge do cheangailt le
d'ainm-se annsan roimh-rádh so, anman¬
na na ndaoine-uasal sin oifreálas go
toilteannach, mar thú féin, a n-uain, a
n-obair agus a n-airgiod air son cúise
na Gaedheilge. Fuair mé congnamh a bhí
ro riachtanach dam óm' cháirdibh Seághan
Pléimionn agus Tomás o Flannaoille, ag
ceartughadh an chlóidh dham, agus ag tabh¬
airt comhairle dham, agus admhuighim
duit gur air éigin d'fheudfainn do thoil
dheunamh agus an leabhar beag so thabh¬
airt amach gan a g-congnamh-san.
Go mairidh tú beo, a Dhuine-uasail, no
go bh-feicfidh tú teanga na h-Éireann
faoi mheas fós — is é sin mo ghuidhe.
Do shearbhfhóghanta bith dhíleas,
Dúbhghlas de h-Íde.
* [?] a Chomhnuidhe, a Chraoibhín o!
The book should be in the hands of
every Irish reader and Gaelic student.
It contains copious notes which are in¬
valuable to the student. The price of
