on the mountain stream,-they burst, never more to appear." The editor has only, in concluding this lengthy but he hopes not uninteresting preface, to acknowledge the many marks of polite attention which he has received from several parties to whom he had occasion to apply for information, especially from the Right Hon. the Knight of Kerry and the Knight of Glin. ΤΟ CROFTON CROKER. TRANSLATED FROM THE IRISH BY THE EDITOR. O WELL fed scholar, of the cheerful face, How neat your hand to plane and polish verse is ! To English turning, with a silken grace, The branchy Irish, that so sweet and terse is. Early and late, once proudly sung the bard, The glowing strains his busy brain created; And surely on such honied fame 'twas hard That none his valued stores should have translated. But Erin's long neglected minstrelsy, Thy skill will save-nor shall it be neglected; A merry champion has it found in thee, Who seeks to make our country's name respected. CEANGAL. Go on! and prosper, make a glorious gleaning, SPECIMENS OF THE KEEN OF THE SOUTH OF IRELAND. THE LAMENT OF O'GNIVE. VERSIFIED FROM THE IRISH BY MR. CALLANAN. AFTER a literal translation in O'Connor's Dissertations on Irish History. Here reprinted from the "Recluse of Inchidony, and other Poems, by J. J. Callanan." (London, 1830), in which volume it is thus prefaced:— "Fearflatha O'Gniamh, was family olamh, or bard, to the O'Neil of Clanaboy, about the year 1556. The poem, of which the following lines are the translation, commences with 'Mo thruaid mar atáid gaoidhil,' " p. 135. Mr. Callanan's versification was first printed in Bolster's Magazine (Cork, No. 5, January 1827), and in a letter, addressed to the author of a memoir of Mr. Callanan in a subsequent No. of the same publication, upon the appearance of these verses, Callanan says “I am much indebted to you for the manner in which my 'O'Gnive' came to light; your deep reading in our history, and acquaintance with the past state of Ireland, enabled you to elucidate it very satisfactorily." The notes to be ascribed to this source are distinguished by a star at the end. As it is stated in the Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society, that this poem "Upon the miserable condition of the Irish in those parts of the country where the power of the English prevailed," B consists of ninety-two verses, it is evident that Mr. Callanan has versified only a very small portion of it, and the first line, which signifies literally "Alas for the state of the Gathelians," is sufficient to shew how much in his version he has embellished the original. 66 An imperfect translation may be seen in O'Connor's Dissertations on the History of Ireland (p. 72, Christie's Ed. Dublin, 1812). 'Copies of the original are in the hands of almost every Irish scholar." Trans. Ib. Celtic Soc. 4to. Dublin, 1820, p.. cxxxvii. How dimm'd is the glory that circled the Gael, Like a bark on the ocean, long shattered and tost O, where is the beauty that beam'd on thy brow? Bright shades of our sires! from your home in the skies, O blast not your sons with the scorn of your eyes! * Innisfail the island of destiny, one of the names of Ireland.* |