An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volume 28, October 1932--September 1933

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shoilleir le an cuid bardachd, gu’n robh an
t-sealg ’n a cleachdadh anns a robh uaislean
is islean na tire le cheile a’ cur suim is indh.
Is e Domhnall Mac Fhionnlaigh nan Dan,
a bha an Lochabarmu dheireadhnasiathamh
linn deug a thuirt “Is aoibhinn an obair an
t-sealg.’’ Tha bardachd na seilge pailt, bho
latha Mairi Ni’n Alasdair Euaidh, gu
Donnachadh Ban is a nuas gu Ailean Dali.
Ach an deidh bliadhna Thearlaich thainig
tilleadh air an t-seilg, gus mu’n bhliadhna
1770 chaidh moran de na frithean a chur fo
chaoirich. Tha © coltach gu’n robh caoirich na
bu bhuannachdail© do na h-uachdarain na na
feidh. Ach mar thoisich cloimh ri tighinn
a duthchanan eile gu trkth anns an
naqdhamh linn deug chaidh na caoirich air
ais am prls; agus aig an am cheudna
thoisich coigrich aig an robh beairteas air mal
trom a thairgsinn airson frithean nam fiadh.
Cha bu luaithe a thachair sin na thainig na
feidh a rithist gu bhi measail air sgath
buannachd. Einneadh fasachadh air
cuid de na glinn. Dh’fhas cuid de luchd
seilbh an fhearainn saibhir mar thoradh air
a chleachdadh ur, an uair a thigeadh
sealgairean cothromach airson beagan
sheachdainean gus na frithean a shealg an
fhdidh. Ach tha sin a nis a’ slor dhol as an
t-sealladh. Tha feidh is caoirich a’ call an
luach anns a’ Ghaidhealtachd. Agus is e an
ath cheum gu faigh Gaidheil a tha deidheal
air dol air an ais gus an fhearann, cothrom
gu sin a dheanamh. Faodaidh nach fada an
uine gus am faicear a rithist tuath anns na
glinn.
O
DR. D. J. MACLEOD, O.B.E.
We extend hearty congratulations to Dr.
Macleod on the honour conferred upon him
by His Majesty the King. The granting of
the honour has given great satisfaction to
Highlanders both at home and abroad. Dr.
Macleod’s work in the Gaelic field is well
known. As Inspector of Schools he has
done much to lead the youthful minds of
the school population in the Highlands to
think highly, and nobly, of the Gaelic
language. All this personal and direct
influence is in addition to his many
scholarly contributions to Gaelic studies, and
it is a very fitting thing that one who has
rendered such services should have been hon¬
oured with the distinction of an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire.
An Gearran, 19S8.
THE ROMANCE OF THE MOUNTAINS.
An Address Delivered to the Gaelic Society
of London.
By Dr. Lachlan Grant.
II.
Geology.
The natural history of mountains — their
aetiology or causation, phenomena, and
various constituents—is bound up with the
physical history of the whole earth. Their
scientific elucidation is practically the result
of less than a century’s work, and forms
one of the great triumphs of modem science
and one of its youngest branches, Geology.
It was just in its infancy when Hugh
Miller, Sir Charles Lyell, Sir Eoderick
Murchison, and others, took it up, and by
life-long investigation and study, set it on
a firm basis as an exact science worthy of
the dignity of a University Chair. One of
the earliest students of the rocks was
Eichard Hutton, another Scotsman, who
gav© particular attention to mountains; and
since his time there has been a long
succession of Scottish geologists who have
done great work in adding to our knowledge
of the earth’s crust and the formation of
its external qualities.
Before geology laid bare the testimony of
the rocks, many queer notions and far¬
fetched theories were in vogue as to the
origin of the earth’s contour and the nature
of mountains. It was generally thought
that tha main lines of the earth’s
configuration were pretty much the same
from the creation until the present time, and
that the hills and mountains were “ever¬
lasting,” a typical example of permanence
and eternity. But now we know the
processes of evolution, of building up and
breaking down, of change and trans¬
formation, have been and still are constantly
at work as much on the mountain tops as
on the surge-swept shore or in the depths
of the sea. Nature is full of compensations,
and if the mountain tops and coast lines are
being worn away slowly but surely, just as
slowly and surely are new coast lines being
built up and the foundations of great new
continents are being firmly laid in the
ocean’s bottom. In the depths of the
Atlantic ocean great deposits of a white ooze
are in course of formation, and in course of
ages the accumulations of these microscopic
shells will be converted into chalk, lime¬
stone, or marble—like the cliffs of Dover,
AN GAiDHEAL.