Blair Collection > Vestigia celtica
(18)
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But underlying this infinite variety of form
there is one definite dominating idea, pre-
sently to be illustrated. That underlying
idea is undoubtedly of high linguistic anti-
quity. Some little knowledge of languages
so far apart as Sanskrit and Archaic French,
as well as my special reading in the Celtic
tongues, has enabled me to trace its ana-
logue, more or less obvious, along the
whole front of that wide lingfuistic sfamut.
The common mother of the Gadhelic and
Cymric families of speech must have used
it ; for all her living descendants — Gaelic,
Irish, Breton, and to some extent Welsh —
use it to this day ; as did also the Cornish
to the last. As a linguistic fossil, in various
stages of development or degradation, and
very variously preserved, it is firmly bedded
in the substance of every language that I
know. But in the living Gaelic it displays,
in wondrous volume and variety, all the
plastic vitality of a living organism. And
what now is the philological significance
of this fact ? That I may overrate the
value of what I am about to lay before the
there is one definite dominating idea, pre-
sently to be illustrated. That underlying
idea is undoubtedly of high linguistic anti-
quity. Some little knowledge of languages
so far apart as Sanskrit and Archaic French,
as well as my special reading in the Celtic
tongues, has enabled me to trace its ana-
logue, more or less obvious, along the
whole front of that wide lingfuistic sfamut.
The common mother of the Gadhelic and
Cymric families of speech must have used
it ; for all her living descendants — Gaelic,
Irish, Breton, and to some extent Welsh —
use it to this day ; as did also the Cornish
to the last. As a linguistic fossil, in various
stages of development or degradation, and
very variously preserved, it is firmly bedded
in the substance of every language that I
know. But in the living Gaelic it displays,
in wondrous volume and variety, all the
plastic vitality of a living organism. And
what now is the philological significance
of this fact ? That I may overrate the
value of what I am about to lay before the
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Blair Collection > Vestigia celtica > (18) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/75800613 |
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Description | Celtic footprints in philology ethics and religion. |
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Shelfmark | Blair.1 |
Additional NLS resources: | |
Attribution and copyright: |
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More information |
Description | A selection of books from a collection of more than 500 titles, mostly on religious and literary topics. Also includes some material dealing with other Celtic languages and societies. Collection created towards the end of the 19th century by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray. |
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Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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