HOW THE IRISH DERIVED AMUSEMENT AND INSTRUCTION FROM HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TALES.

From the earliest date, the Irish people, like those of other countries, had Stories, which, before the introduction of the art of writing, were transmitted orally, and modified, improved, and enlarged as time went on, by successive shanachies, or ‘storytellers.’ They began to be written down when writing became general: and it has been shown by scholars that the main tales assumed their present forms in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries; while the originals from which they sprang were much older. Once they began to be written down, a great body of romantic and historical written literature rapidly accumulated, consisting chiefly of prose tales. They are contained in our old manuscripts, from the Book of the Dun Cow downwards.

The chief use of popular tales all the world over was—and is—to amuse. The storyteller recited the narrative for his audience, who listened because it gave them pleasure. But in Ireland the native stories were turned to another important use:—they were made to help in educating the people in the manner explained farther on. Besides this use a large part of the History of Ireland is derived from the historic tales; and it is proper to remark here that the early histories of England, France, Germany, and other countries, as we find them now presented to us by the best and most reliable modern authors, are largely derived from similar sources.

The construction and arrangement of the tales were carefully studied by the Irish literary men of the olden time, and not more than their importance deserved. They were arranged in seventeen classes or groups, and in each group there were a number of individual stories. This grouping was a great help to the storyteller, who had to store up in his memory a large number of tales: for by having them in this manner, sorted as it were in parcels, he was enabled to call them up all the more readily—to put his hand on them, so to say—when he wanted them. ‘Voyages,’ for instance, formed one group, which included “The Voyage of Maeldune,” “The Voyage of St. Brendan,” “The Voyage of the Sons of O’Corra,” and many others. Another was ‘Tragedies,’ under which came “The Fate of the Children of Lir,” “The Fate of the Sons of Usna,” etc., etc. There were ‘Military Expeditions,’ ‘Courtships,’ ‘Cattle-raids,’ ‘Sieges,’ and so on, to the number of seventeen, each group with its own parcel of stories.

We have in our old books stories belonging to every one of these classes. The whole number now existing in manuscripts is close on 600: of which about 150 have been published and translated. But outside these, great numbers have been lost: destroyed during the Danish and Anglo-Norman wars.

Most of the Irish tales fall under four main cycles or periods of history and legend, which, in all the Irish poetical and romantic literature, were kept quite distinct.

First:—The Mythological Period, the stories of which are concerned with the mythical colonies preceding the Milesians, especially the Dedannans. The heroes of the tales belonging to this cycle, who are assigned to periods long before the Christian era, are gods, namely, the gods of the pagan Irish.

Second:—The Period of Concobar mac Nessa and his Red Branch Knights, who flourished in the first century. These Red Branch Knights were a sort of heroic militia, belonging to Ulster, mighty men all, who came every year to the palace of Emain to be trained in military science and feats of arms, residing for the time in a separate palace called Creeveroe or the Red Branch. Their greatest commander was Cuculainn, a demigod, the mightiest of all the Irish heroes of antiquity, whose residence was Dundalgan, now called the Fort of Castletown, near Dundalk. Others of these great heroes were Conall Kernagh, Laery the Victorious, Keltar of the Battles, Fergus mac Roy, and the three Sons of Usna—Naisi, Ainnle, and Ardan. They were in the service of Concobar or Conor mac Nessa, king of Ulster, who feasted the leading heroes every day in his own palace.

Third:—The Period of the Fena of Erin, belonging to a time two centuries later than the stories of the Red Branch. The Fena of Erin, who flourished in the time of King Cormac mac Art, in the third century, were a body of militia kept for the defence of the throne, very like the Red Branch Knights. Their most celebrated leader was King Cormac’s son-in-law, Finn, the son of Cumal—or Finn mac Coole, as he is commonly called—who of all the ancient heroes of Ireland is at the present day best remembered in tradition. We have in our old manuscripts many beautiful stories of these Fena, like those of the Red Branch Knights.Fourth:—Stories founded on events that happened after the dispersal of the Fena (in the end of the third century). Many fine stories—nearly all of them more or less historical—belong to this Period.

The stories of the Red Branch Knights form the finest part of our ancient Romantic Literature. The most celebrated of all these is the TÁin-bo-Quelne, the epic or main heroic story of Ireland. It relates how Maive, queen of Connaught, who resided in her palace of Croghan, set out with her army for Ulster on a plundering expedition, attended by all the great heroes of Connaught. The invading army entered that part of Ulster called Quelna or Cooley, the territory of the hero Cuculainn, the north part of the present county Louth, including the Carlingford peninsula. At this time the Ulstermen were under a spell of feebleness, all but Cuculainn, who had to defend single-handed the several fords and passes, in a series of single combats, against Maive’s best champions. She succeeded in this first raid, notwithstanding Cuculainn’s heroic defence, and brought away a great brown bull—which was the chief motive of the expedition—with flocks and herds beyond number. At length, the Ulstermen, having been freed from the spell, pursued the raiders, and attacked and routed the Connaught army. The battles, single combats, and other incidents of this war, form the subject of the TÁin, which consists of one main story, with about thirty shorter tales grouped round it.

Of the Cycle of Finn and the Fena of Erin we have a vast collection of stories. In these we read about Finn himself and his mighty exploits; about Ossian his son, the renowned hero-poet; about Oscar the brave and gentle, the son of Ossian; about Dermot O’Dyna, brave, honourable, generous, and self-denying, perhaps the finest hero of any literature; and many others. The Tales of the Fena, though not so old as those of the Red Branch Knights, are still of great antiquity.

Some of the Irish tales are historical, i.e., founded on historical events—history embellished with some fiction; while others are altogether fictitious—creations of the imagination, but always woven round historical personages. From this great body of stories it would be easy to select a large number, powerful in conception and execution, very beautiful, high and dignified in tone and feeling, many of them worthy to rank with the best literature of their kind in any language. The stories of the Sons of Usna,[5] the Children of Lir,[6] the Fingal Ronain, the Voyage of Maeldune,[6] The Voyage of the Sons of O’Corra,[6] Da Derga’s Hostel, The Pursuit of Dermot and Grania,[6] the Boroma, and the Fairy Palace of the Quicken Trees[6]—all of which have been published with translations—are only a few instances in point. And it would be easy to name many others if our space permitted.

On the score of morality and purity the Irish tales can compare favourably with the corresponding literature of other countries; and they are much freer from objectionable matter than the works of many of those early English and Continental authors which are now regarded as classics. Of one large collection of Irish tales, the great Irish scholar Dr. Whitley Stokes, a Dublin man, says:—“The tales are generally told with sobriety and directness: they evince genuine feeling for natural beauty, a passion for music, a moral purity, singular in a mediÆval collection of stories, a noble love of manliness and honour.” On the Irish Tales in general Dr. Kuno Meyer, a German, one of the greatest living Celtic scholars, justly remarks:—“The literature of no nation is free from occasional grossness; and considering the great antiquity of Irish literature, and the primitive life which it reflects, what will strike an impartial observer most is not its license or coarseness, but rather the purity, loftiness, and tenderness which pervade it.”

The tales were brought into direct touch with the people, not by reading—for there were few books outside libraries, and few people were able to read them—but by Recitation: and the Irish of all classes, like the Greeks, were excessively fond of hearing tales and poetry recited. There were professional shanachies and poets whose duty it was to know by heart numerous old tales, poems, and historical pieces, and to recite them at festive gatherings for the entertainment of the chiefs and their guests: and every intelligent person was supposed to know a reasonable number of them by heart, so as to be always ready to take a part in amusing and instructing his company.

The tales of those times correspond with the novels and historical romances of our own day, and served a purpose somewhat similar. Indeed they served a much higher purpose than the generality of our novels; for in conjunction with poetry they were the chief agency in education—education in the best sense of the word—a real healthful informing exercise for the intellect. They conveyed a knowledge of history and geography, and they inculcated truthfulness, manliness, help for the weak, and all that was noble and dignified in thought, word, and action. Along with this, the greater part of the history, tradition, biography, and topography of the country, as well as history and geography in general, was thrown into the form of verse and tales, so that the person who knew a large number of them was well educated, according to what was required in those times. Moreover, this education was universal; for, though few could read, the knowledge and recitation of poetry and stories reached the whole body of the people. This ancient institution of story-telling held its ground both in Ireland and Scotland down to a period within living memory.