The Fernaig manuscript ( gd, Làmh-sgrìobhainn Fheàrnaig or ''Làmh-sgrìobhainn MhicRath'') is a document containing approximately 4,200 lines of verse consisting largely of political and religious themes. The manuscript was composed between 1688 and 1693 by Donnchadh MacRath in

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to the ...

and is notable for the author's unique

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

which is, like the more famous

Book of the Dean of Lismore The ''Book of the Dean of Lismore'' ( gd, Leabhar Deathan Lios Mòir) is a Scottish manuscript, compiled in eastern Perthshire in the first half of the 16th century. The chief compiler, after whom it is named, was James MacGregor (''Seumas Mac ...

, based upon English, rather than

Classical Gaelic Classical Gaelic or Classical Irish () was a shared literary form of Gaelic that was in use by poets in Scotland and Ireland from the 13th century to the 18th century. Although the first written signs of Scottish Gaelic having diverged from Iri ...

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

. Although the manuscript has been studied, "translated" in accordance with correct Gaelic orthography and republished – for the first time in 1923 by Calum MacPhàrlainn – it has been said that it has yet to be reliably interpreted.School of Celtic Studies – 50th Anniversary Report – The State of the Art
/ref> In addition to the unusual spelling system used the manuscript is notable for several other reasons. It is the only record of Scottish verse which is similar in form and nature to that practised by the

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

poets at the start of the 17th century. It also contains religious poems which predate the composition of the manuscript by several centuries and have been described as the only extant examples of religious verse from that period as equivalent examples recorded following Culloden are very sparse. All other remaining records of 17th century Gaelic verse were committed to paper only after surviving for a hundred years or more as part of the oral tradition. The manuscript contains 59 pieces with 10 being of unknown authorship, 12 attributed to MacRath himself with a further 17 authors named as responsible for the rest. The manuscript, in the form of two books, is currently held by the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

library. Prior to the university gaining possession the manuscript was held by a Matheson of Fernaig, and was thus named the Fernaig manuscript. It then passed through the hands of Dr Mackintosh-Mackay, Dr W.F. Skene and the Reverend John Kennedy of Arran who finally bequeathed it to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

.Thomson, The Companion to Gaelic Scotland pp71 The dialect used in the text varies and seems to vary between the formal, literary style and that of the local vernacular. While it is possible that MacRath had some knowledge of Gaelic (both Scottish and Irish) manuscripts written in the literary form, the almost total lack of

eclipses An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

present in the text – which are a feature of

Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

and the main distinction between Scottish and Irish dialectsMacPharlain ''Lamh-Sgrìobhainn Mhic Rath'', (pp290) – suggest that the author did not commit anything to paper dictated by an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

speaker. However the anthology does include pieces by two Irish poets who lived generations before the time of the author and this does point to some degree of familiarity by MacRath with that class of literature. The two books of the manuscript can basically be divided by the general theme of the verse found within them. The first contains mostly religious works of a literary style while the second is more political and colloquial in nature. A considerable number of the words used throughout cannot be found in modern

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

dictionaries but many can be found in

dictionaries and Shaw's "pan-Gaelic" dictionary.

Notes

References

*MacPharlain, Calum ''Lamh-Sgrìobhainn Mhic Rath'', (Dundee) *Thomson, Derick S. ''The Companion to Gaelic Scotland'', (Blackwell Reference) {{authority control 17th-century manuscripts Scottish Gaelic literature Orthography Scottish poetry University of Glasgow Library collection Scottish manuscripts 1680s works 1690s works 1680s in Scotland 1690s in Scotland Christian manuscripts Christian poetry Political literature Ross and Cromarty 17th-century Scottish literature Political history of Scotland History of Christianity in Scotland

See also

Notes

References