Fògradh, Fàisneachd, Filidheachd Page 19
A thaobh an àite às an d’thàinig iad air tùs theirear na Daolan Ruadathach riutha mar ainm, agus is freagarrach an t-ainm dhaibh e, oir an uair a tha iad ’nan uamhagan tha iad ruadh ann an dath, glè choltach ri uamhagan nan caorach ’s nan uan. Is ann nuair a tha iad aig an inbhe so a nì iad call air a’ bhuntàta le bhi ag itheadh nan duilleagan uaine. Ann an ceann ùine àraid gheibh iad sgiathan sligneach, striamach, buidhe agus dubh-ghlas, striam mu seach buidhe agus glas. Beiridh iad sin uighean ’nam mìltibh a thig beò le teas na grèine gu bhi ’nan uamhagan ruadha ag itheadh duilleagan a’ bhuntàta. A thuilleadh air na sgiathan sligneach, tha sgiathan sròlach aig na daolan ruadha cho tana, mìn ri sìoda, agus a chionn gu bheil dà phaidhir sgiathan mar so aig gach daol, tha iad a’ sgiathalaich bho àite gu àite. Ach b’fheàrr gu d’fhuaras a mach culaidh-sgrios èifeachdach gu cur às doibh.
(13 June 1896)
The Old Gaels
George Buchanan wrote a History of Scotland in Latin and in it he tells about Britain’s first settlers. He was of the opinion that they were the same people as those who lived in France, Spain, Germany and Holland, that they spoke the same language, and that the name by which they were known to the Romans was Galli or Celtae. They had previously been races or tribes that differed from each other in their mode of speech, though they had the same native language.
According to George Buchanan, the first settlers of the south of Britain came from the north coast of France, an area called Armorica; the first settlers of Ireland came from Spain; and the first inhabitants of the north of Britain came from Germany or Scandinavia. Though they came from these different countries they spoke the same Gaelic language with minor differences, since the same race occupied the mainland of Europe at this time.
This apparently happened long before the emergence of the people who became the ancestors of today’s Englishmen, Scandinavians and Germans. Those who came from Armorica in France were known as the old Britons; they were the ancestors of those who live in Wales, and they spoke a language that is spoken in that country to this day. Those who came to north Britain were called the Caledonians or the Picts and they spoke Gaelic like the Gaelic that is now spoken in Scotland. However, the people who came from Spain to Ireland were known as the Scoti and they spoke Gaelic like today’s Irish Gaelic. A tribe of these went across from Ireland to Argyll and lived among the inhabitants that had been there for a long time. From them came the royal family that ruled the whole of Scotland when the country was put under single sovereignty.
Buchanan also says that the people of Scotland were called Caledonians because they lived in a land that was full of hazel forests; that Dùn-challtainn (Hazel Fort), or Dunkeld, was the capital of the kingdom and that it got its name for the same reason. Therefore the name “Caledonians” means the Hazel Folk. From this we see that George Buchanan believed that the Picti were Gaels and that they and the Scoti were related to each other. He shows that Bede was of the same opinion when he said that the Picts gave the Scots the part of their own territory that had few people or was empty. He also says that before the Saxons arrived one language was spoken by virtually all of the inhabitants of the British Isles.
(13 Ogmhios 1896)
Na Seann Ghàidheil
Sgrìobh Seòras Buchanan Eachdraidh na h-Albainn ann an Laidinn agus tha e labhairt innte mu thimcheall a’ cheud luchd-àitich a ghabh còmhnaidh ann am Breatann. B’i a bharail-san gum b’e an t-aon sluagh a bha còmhnaidh anns na tìribh ris an abrar a nis an Fhraing, an Spàinn agus a’ Ghearmailt no an Olaind, gun do labhair iad an aon chànain agus gum b’e an t-ainm leis an robh iad aithnichte do na Ròmanaich Galli no Celtae. Bha iad roimhe ’nam fineachan no ’nan treubhan eadar-dhealaichte o chèile anns an dòigh labhairt, ged a bha an aon chànan aca a thaobh dùthchais.
A rèir beachd Sheòrais Bhuchanain is ann o oirthir thuath na Frainge ris an abairteadh Armorica a thàinig a’ cheud luchd-àitich do cheann deas Bhreatainn; thàinig na ceud dhaoine às an Spàinn do Eirinn; agus thàinig a’ cheud sluagh do cheann tuath Bhreatainn às a’ Ghearmailt no Lochlainn. Ach ged a thàinig iad a nall às na tìribh so fa leth gidheadh labhair iad an aon chànain Ghàidhealach le beagan dealachaidh a thaobh gum b’e an aon sluagh a bha còmhnaidh air tìr-mòr na Roinn-Eòrpa aig an àm so.
Thachair na nithean so a rèir coslais fada mun do thog an sluagh sin an ceann o’n d’thàinig na Sasannaich, na Lochlannaich agus Gearmailtich an là an diugh. Theirteadh na seann Bhreatannaich ris an t-sluagh a thàinig a nall o Armorica às an Fhraing; b’iad so sinnsearan nam fineachan a tha còmhnaidh ann an dùthaich Wales, agus labhair iad cainnt a labhrar anns an tìr sin air an là an diugh. Theirteadh na Caledonaich no na Pictich ris an fheadhainn a thàinig gu ceann tuath Bhreatainn agus labhair iad Gàidhlig coltach ris a’ Ghàidhlig a labhrar an diugh ann an Albainn. Ach theirteadh Scoti mar ainm ris an t-sluagh a thàinig às an Spàinn do Eirinn agus labhair iad Gàidhlig cosmhail ris a’ Ghàidhlig Eireannaich. Chaidh dream àraidh dhiubh so a nunn à Eirinn do Earraghàidheal agus ghabh iad còmhnaidh am measg an luchd-àitich a bha an sin o chian. B’ ann dhiubh so a bha an teaghlach rìoghail a thàinig gu bhi rìoghachadh os ceann Albainn gu lèir nuair a chuireadh an rìoghachd fo aon riaghladh.
Tha Buchanan mar an ceudna ag ràdh gun d’thugadh Caledonaich mar ainm air an t-sluagh a bha ann an Albainn a chionn gun robh iad a’ còmhnaidh ann an tìr a bha làn de choille challtainn; gum b’e Dùn-challtainn no Dùn-chailleann ceann-bhaile na rìoghachd aca agus gun d’fhuair e an t-ainm so o’n adhbhar cheudna. A rèir sin tha an t-ainm Caledonaich a’ ciallachadh Calltainnich. Mar so chì sinn gun robh Seòras Buchanan a’ creidsinn gum bu Ghàidheil na Picti, agus gun robh iad fèin agus na Scoti càirdeach d’a chèile. Tha e a’ nochdadh gun robh Bede dhe’n bheachd cheudna nuair a tha e ag ràdh gun d’thug na Picti do na Scoti pàirt de ’n tìr aca fèin anns an earrainn sin a bha air bheag sluaigh no falamh. Tha e ag ràdh mar an ceudna roimh theachd nan Sasannach gun robh ach beag an aon chànain air a labhairt le uile luchd-àitich an eilein Bhreatannaich.
(27 October 1899)
The Coming of Christianity
We are not sure when the gospel first came to the Highlands, but it appears that when the disciples of Christ were persecuted by the rulers of Rome they were prone to escape to the north over the borderline between the Romans and the tribes of Caledonia. No doubt they would be eager to spread the gospel among the Gaels who welcomed them and protected them from the callousness of their enemies, and in this way they were a blessing to the land and a means of bringing the gospel into it. Since they had been given shelter from the storm of persecution they steered the people who helped them toward the Supreme Being who is the haven from the wind and the refuge from the tempest.
We have no proof of when the first Christian missionaries came to the country but, about the year 209 AD, Tertullian said: “In those parts of Britain which the Romans couldn’t occupy the gospel is advancing to the extent that they have submitted to Christ; and the name and kingdom of Christ is reaching places that challenged the Roman forces.” Origen mentions this also in an account that he wrote around the year 230 AD. From the testimony of these writers we see that knowledge of the gospel was spread to Caledonia about the end of the 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd, but we do not have a definitive account of the first missionaries who explained the joyful story of salvation to our ancestors.
Ninian is the first person about whom we have any information. He was one of the old Britons. He was born around 360 AD and came to preach in the south of Scotland about 400 AD. The historian Bede says that “the southern Picts were converted from idolatry and brought to knowledge of the truth by Ninian, a holy man of the Britons.” The southern Picts were the Gaels who lived south of the Grampian Hills in the land that comprises the county of Fife, part of the county of Perth, Stirling and Angus. It was in these places in particular that Ninian preached the gospel. However, it is likely that he made journeys farth
er north, since there are many churches or chapels named after him, some of them in the north of the Highlands.
After Ninian, Palladius arrived around the year 430 AD. He had originally been preaching in Ireland but from there he came over to Scotland, where he preached the gospel and died in the county of Kincardine, in the land of the Picts, among the Old Gaels. However, according to the testimony of ecclesiastical historians, before these people there were missionaries among the Gaels who preached the gospel, taught the faith, and served the sacraments to them though their names are not remembered today. For two hundred years before the arrival of Ninian the Christian creed was among the Gaels, according to Tertullian. Probably because these preachers settled in bothies and lonely, deserted hideouts, the native inhabitants called them “The Hermits,” possibly in derision just as the name “Puritans” was introduced centuries later.
The Hermits were godly, educated men who spent their time rewriting the holy Scriptures, praying and fasting. They preached to the Gaels in the southern Highlands but the Gaels in the north, in the area now called the shires of Inverness, Ross, Sutherland and Caithness, along with the northern and western isles, were shrouded in darkness and ignorance, and in the thick fog of idolatry, until Columba came with the joyous story of salvation.
The north of the Highlands was cloaked in the deep darkness of idolatry, and unaware of the Road of Salvation through Christ until Columba came. Around 563 AD he left Ireland to preach the gospel to the Scottish Gaels. At that time he was about 42 years of age. Twelve other men came with him to be his helpers in spreading the gospel. These men were his relatives and it is likely that they were stimulated and guided by the same Spirit.
Columba himself belonged to the royal family of Ireland. He was the son of Feilim, son of Fergus, son of Conall, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages who was head of the O’Neill clan and overlord of Ireland. He was also related to the royal family of the Scoti in Argyll, since Feilim, son of Fergus, had been the king of Argyll; and at that time his own friend Conall, son of Comhal, son of Domhanairt, was king of the Scoti. This king was the great-grandson of a brother of Columba’s great-grandfather.
Columba and his companions left Ireland in a coracle or skiff made of woven rods of willow covered with hides. They sailed a long way on the ocean until they went ashore in Iona, at a place afterward called Coracle Harbour. Venerable Bede the historian says that Brude, king of the Picts, gave Columba the right to have sole possession of the island of Iona for the use of the church. Others say that he got possession of the island from Conall, king of the Scoti, his own friend. It might be that these two Highland kings both played a part in ensuring that Columba and the church had a right to ownership of the island, that it was situated on the boundary between them, and useful to each of the two kingdoms.
After Columba had settled on Iona he went on a trip to see Brude, king of the Picts, who was then living at the west end of Loch Ness, where the River Ness joins the loch. This journey took him 150 miles from Iona. At that time the route was rough, difficult to travel, with hills and rivers, as well as channels when there were no roads, and ferry boats were hard to find. He went through the Great Glen of Scotland, past Appin, Corran Ardgour, Inverlochy and Letterfinlay, and he stopped in Glenurquhart where there was an old man who had been converted and baptized. He then went onward to Bona at the east end of Loch Ness where the king’s castle was, in the place that is now called Castle of Spirits. Here he met Brichean, chief of the Druids, the pagan priests of the Old Gaels, who tried to prevent him from converting the king to the Christian faith. But he did not succeed, for Columba overcame him eventually and the king was persuaded to believe the gospel. After that the gospel flourished among the people, for they followed the example of their overlord and complied with his religion, something the Old Gaels were accustomed to doing. In a short time the Druids were driven from the land; their religion was completely abandoned; and Columba got control from the king of the places of worship that the Druids had previously possessed.
Columba established a centre of education in Iona, where many young people received instruction in the Scriptures and were prepared to go to preach the gospel throughout the land. He spent thirty-four years preaching in every place throughout the Highlands until the Gaels or the northern Picts all came to believe in the truth. It is said that he built more than three hundred Cells or Churches in different parts of Scotland. These places of worship are called Cilltean (Cells), as Columba called them, to this day. He and his companions toiled tirelessly among the people until they drove the heresy of the Druids completely out of the land and the entire country began to admit to believing in Christ. “The Hermits” was the name given to those who worked with Columba in spreading the gospel.
Columba died in 597 AD on the night of Saturday June 9th. About midnight he went into the church to pray, as he was accustomed to doing. He went down on his knees in front of the altar. A short while later his servant Diarmad followed him and shouted: “Where are you, father?” He found him lying near the altar, looking as if the end was nigh. All of the brethren then came in and began to weep and wail when they saw their spiritual father looking as if he was about to die, but he waved to them with his hand since he was unable to speak, meaning that he was bidding them farewell. Shortly after that he took his last breath. After three days he was buried in Reilig Orain (Oran’s Burial Ground).
Many godly men helped Columba in spreading the gospel amongst the Old Gaels. When he first came across from Ireland he brought twelve companions with him. Among them was Diarmad, his servant, and Beathan son of Brendan, who was made Abbot of Iona after his own death. Brendan was Columba’s uncle and his two sons, Beathan and Conan, came with the missionary to the Highlands. Apparently Strathconan, a place in the county of Ross, was named in memory of Conan. Kenneth was another man who worked with Columba. After the death of Beathan he was made Abbot of Iona, about the year 600. Kenneth’s name is remembered in different parts of the Highlands, such as Kilkenneth in Kintyre, Kilkenneth at the east end of Loch Laggan in Badenoch, Inchkenneth in Loch nan Ceal in the Isle of Mull, Kilkenny in Ireland, and other places in Ireland and Scotland. Kenneth was a native of Ireland and belonged to the clan Ruadhraidh in Ulster.
Ciaran, son of the carpenter, was another of Columba’s contemporaries. He was born in 515 AD and died in 549 at the age of thirty-four. Ciaran was an educated and holy man whose renown was widespread throughout Ireland and Scotland. It was in his memory that Kilkerran in one of the districts of Kintyre, Kilkerran in Arran, and in other parts of Scotland, were named. The cave in which he used to live can be seen near the Head of Kilkerran Loch (Campbeltown), in the rocks near the sea at the south end of the town.
Donnan was another of Columba’s companions. This man’s name is commemorated in Kildonan in the Isle of Eigg and Kildonan, a district in the north of Sutherland. It is said that Donnan was the only man to be put to death for Christ’s testimony in spreading the gospel among the Old Gaels. Some say that he and fifty others were killed in the Isle of Eigg. According to others he lost his life in Kildonan in Sutherland in the year 617.
These first Christian missionaries were learned, godly, hard-working men who travelled far and wide through the Highlands and the Islands of Scotland declaring the happy tale of salvation to uncivilized and uninformed natives. The work of their faith and their labour of love was often thwarted by the bloody wars that took place between the Highland tribes, the Scoti and the Picti, but despite every injustice and obstacle in their way they succeeded in their struggle until all of the Gaels yielded to the gospel of Christ. The missionaries of Christ went to every part of the Highlands – to Sutherland, Caithness and the Orkney Islands, and to the Isle of Skye, Lewis, Uist, Barra and the other islands of the west of Scotland.
Iona was famous for education and erudition, and from there learned people went out to preach the gospel on the mainland of Europe. The gospel flourished among the Old Gael
s. Christ had a lively and spiritual church in the land, which was assiduous in promoting the gospel among the Saxon pagans, in Britain and in Germany. We do not have much historical information about them, but their life story is written on high in the presence of the heavenly throne.
(27 Dàmhair 1899)
Inntreachdain an t-Soisgeil
Cha ’n ’eil fios cinnteach againn cuin a thàinig an soisgeul do’n Ghàidhealtachd an toiseach, ach a rèir coslais an uair a bha deisceabail Chrìosd air an geur-leanmhainn leis an uachdaranachd Ròmanach, bha e dualach dhaibh teicheadh gu tuath thar a’ bhalla a bha eadar na Ròmanaich agus fineachan Chaledonia. Gun teagamh bhiodh iad sin eudmhor a chum an soisgeul a chraobh-sgaoileadh am measg nan Gàidheal a ghabh riutha agus a thug dìdean dhaibh o an-iochd nan naimhdean; agus mar so bha iad ’nam beannachd do’n tìr agus ’nam meadhon air an t-soisgeul a thoirt a steach innte. Do bhrìgh gun d’fhuair iadsan fasgadh o stoirm na geur-leanmhainn, threòraich iad an sluagh a thug so dhaibh a dh’ionnsaidh na Tì sin a tha mar ionad fasgaidh o’n ghaoith agus mar dhìdean o’n doinneann.
Cha ’n ’eil dearbhadh sam bith againn mu thimcheall an àm anns an d’ thàinig na ceud theachdairean soisgeulach do’n tìr, ach, mu ’n bhliadhna A.D. 209, tha Tertullian ag ràdh: “Anns na h-àitibh sin de Bhreatann far nach b’ urrainn na Ròmanaich teachd tha an soisgeul a’ buadhachadh ionnas gu’n do ghèill iad do Chrìosd; agus tha ainm agus rìoghachd Chrìosd a’ ruigsinn a dh’ionnsaidh àitean a thug dùbhlan do fheachd na Ròimhe.” Tha Origen a’ toirt fianais air an nì so mar an ceudna agus sgrìobh esan mu’n bhliadhna A.D. 230. A rèir teisteanas nan ùghdar so chì sinn gu’n robh eòlas an t-soisgeil air a chraobh-sgaoileadh gu ruig Caledonia mu dheireadh na dara linne no mu thoiseach na treas linne, ach cha’n ’eil cunntas cinnteach againn mu na ceud theachdairean so a chuir an cèill sgeul aoibhneach na slàinte do ar sinnsearaibh.