TUIREAD NA H-EIREANN. I. An-uairb smujn’m are jaojċib na h-Eireann,d Bjon mo ċrjod'se a'm'i ċljab 8' a reubad. [This mark * refers the reader to the notes at the end of this poem. There will be only one mark for each stanza. The foot notes will be marked by small letters, each verse beginning with the letter a. We had foot notes prepared for each stanza, but space obliged us to relinquish that plan, believing that the historical comments would prove more agreeable to our readers. If the foot notes belonging to each verse, be not found in the same folio with the text, they will be got in next page, and before those of next stanza. The numbers in the translation mark the order in which the words are to be read.] ana, of the, gen. of an, fem. gender, the masculine an is invariable in the singular, its plural is na, which is the same in all cases; na is also the plural feminine, and undergoes no variation-thus, na cora, the feet, ŋa 5-cor, of the feet, do na cosaib or cosa, to the feet, na cosa (the accus. is the same as the nom.), a cosa (chossa), o feet-observe that 5-cor is pronounced gus, or rather the o has a middle sound between short ŏ and ǎ.—ŋ'a, than, the word has many interpretations; in the text it is the genitive feminine article. b an is "the," ann in. The English preposition in is in Irish rendered by the above, as stated, also by a or 1, sometimes by μl before an 1, and by m, improperly by on. The A, preposition, is corruptly incorporated with m, for m', mo. Nay, we have occasionally um for a m', "in my." This must be exploded by scholars. Of late, a or ann is the form of preposition for the English "in," not 1. Another corruption we would respectfully suggest to the Irish student to be avoided. Some writers divide the preposition ann before a vowel, and this they do because the words sound as if one. Surely it does not thence follow that they are to be written, certainly not printed, as one word. In French, un ami, des amis, are pronounced as if oounamee, dayzamee; but who would, on that account print them so-unnami, dessamis? However, such a barbarism is in use amongst persons who are thought to be Irish scholars. They would maintain that an uair ought to be printed annuair, or THE DIRGE OF IRELAND; BY THE RIGHT REV. JOHN O'CONNELL, BISHOP OF KERRY, 1704. I. The hour I reflect on the nobles of (the) Erin, The devastation of the country, and the want of the clergy, The destruction of her people, and the melting of her wealth (jewels), My heart3 in3 my breast is tearing. an-nuair, thus inserting an euphonic ŋ where it is not required, as the n in an fills up the hiatus; and they would write ann an uair, “in the hour," an nannuair; and even if they use the hyphen, they tear the n from the preposition or article, and prefix it to the word following. It is time to put a stop to this barbarism. The mistake originated in this way: having heard two words sounded as if one, they thought they might write them so. In every language, it is common that two words sound to the ear as one, particularly in Greek, French, and Italian, yet no scholar would ever think of writing them as one word. An has many other significations, as aŋ, time, hence annus, a year, an t-an, when. an uair, “when," the hour.-Whenever the words of the text mean when, they may be joined; but they are to be written separate when the hour is signified, thus an uair. Some friends of the Irish language think that the system hitherto observed in writing and printing it is defective. They say that words, like these under consideration, ought to be always given separate, that wherever euphony requires the omission of a letter or letters, the apostrophe (') should be inserted, as 'ŋuaj, not ŋuaj: that wherever the euphonic ", or any eclipsing letter, such as m, b, 5, &c., occurs, a hyphen ought to be used thus, an t-ażair, not tata, the father. Others, on the contrary, are opposed to this mode, and call it an innovation; they add, that though this system might seem an improvement, so far as facilitating the study of the language, yet it might be doing violence to its native origin and peculiar structure. They urge, that Greek authors, particularly Homer, abound in compound terms-prefixes, affixes, infixes, elisions, crases, &c., still there was very little interference on the part of posterity with the originals. The apostrophe, coronis, breathings, and II. Taréis na díljonn feada mar léiżtear,b Har bájt neart na tujle tréjne,* Act Naoj 's a clann, Sem, Cam, is Japhétus. accent, as used by the Greeks, are observed by Irish writers to some extent. We must say, that the accent was not introduced by Greek writers until 200 years B.C., and then by Aristophanes, the comedian of Byzantium, according to the traditional Athenian intonation. The primitive Greeks, as well as the primitive Irish, spoke purely, without the use of the accent; but as men proceeded from the source, marks were requisite to preserve or restore original grace and melody. As to the point in dispute, we are to remark-that even in Greek, innumerable instances might be adduced in which, though there is an omission of a vowel or vowels, the apostrophe is not inserted—thus ταυτα, for τα αύτα, "the same things," Taλλa for тa aλλα, “the other things," sic passim; instances of crasis-προντυψας for πρὸ ετυπσας, passim. Between these opinions, we adopt a middle one. As to the hyphen after the aspirate "h," and the eclipsing letters, we agree with the improvement suggested, and generally with the use of the apostrophe. We have read, in an Irish prayerbook this word dob, instead of do d', and many such inelegant contractions. In our mind, they are barbarous, and ought to be discontinued. At the same time, we find similar contractions in Italian, thus col, for con or col,-laor le, and many of that class. We find "del padre," for "de el padre," in Spanish; not even an apostrophe is used. So also in German. Notwithstanding what has been already said, it is to be remembered that the beauty of a language may be injured, if not destroyed, by a cumbrous insertion of marks; and that the facility aimed at may be effected by a few clear prefatory observations, bearing on them, and an occasional note. Though the marks have been much used in the English editions of French works, yet we are satisfied the best ancient authors in France did not generally apply them, if we except the apostrophe. In fact, the absence of them is an evidence of a primitive tongue. In conclusion, we believe that the use of marks was unknown to the ancients. We recollect that, even when ourselves began our Greek Grammar, it was a contracted one, and when we required a Lexicon, &c., it was contracted. In course of time, the system was changed. So it will be with the Irish; the difficulty of rendering all matters in manuscript, imposed the neces II. After the Deluge, as is recorded (read) There lived not a portion of the generation of people That did not1odrown11 the2 force3 of 5 the universal' flood,8 But Noah, and his children, Shem, Ham, and Japhet. sity of contractions, and caused the absence of almost all marks-" In medio tutissimus." с ar is also written at when the next word has, in its first syllable, a slender vowel, as é or 1, though this practice is not observed in old manuscripts. d Na h-Eireann, of (the) Ireland.-"The" is used either for the sake of metre or pre-eminence, denoting glorious Eire, as we say in Greek, å ☺eos, the God, literally, though there is but one God. Eire will be found in this poem without the article, euphony demanding its omission. In Irish as in French, the article is generally set before the divisions of the earth, names of some countries, cities, &c., a proof of the affinity that exists between the languages and the peoples. Some ignorant dabblers in our venerable language have frequently detached the ŋ from the beginning of the article na and attached it to the previous word, especially to words whose final letter was o, and that because the old historians and poets not unfrequently placed after some words. This custom was very much abused, and sometimes interfered with the integrity of the word. The ancients often substituted that letter for ŋ, in the middle or end of a term which would otherwise have ŋŋ. In old Latin authors this practice existed. It has entirely disappeared, and so should it be discontinued in our language, unless where melody might demand it. e Tt, d, dt. mortifies or eclipses ; hence the word c-cjorċa, pronounced theerha (land), the tongue must be pressed much between the teeth, as the inhabitants of some parts of Ulster do when pronouncing "though." This is the best notion I can give of the sound. f djoċ for djotuaj, destroy, or destruction. In the Celtic, as in French and other languages, verbs are used substantively. The word is pronounced "dheeooa." 66 "A," her, does not cause aspiration, but requires h before a vowel'A," his, does require aspiration. h is, agus, a's, acus, agus, ocas, and. in-gréjte. The sound of n before 5 cannot be given in writing, it must be learned orally, just as the terminational "n" in French, which |