Blair Collection > Popular tales of the West Highlands > Volume 4

PUBLISHED AXD TRADITIOXAL. 205
An old war song exists, styled, " Prosmacha catlia
Chloinn Domhnnill le Lachimn nior MacMhuiricli
Albanaicli, la Catlia Harla," "Battle incitement of
tlie ]\racDonalds, by big Lachunn, son of Albanian
]\Iuireach." MacMhuiricli or Currie was Clanranald's
bard, and tliis song is said to have been sung by
him at the battle of Harlaw. It consists of seventeen
stanzas of unequal length, and every word in each
stanza begins with the same letter of the GaeHc
alphabet, which has but seventeen letters. The particle
gu is prefixed to every word, which makes them all ad-
verbs, and so every line of the song begins with g.
The Eoman order of the letters is followed ; that is, a,
b, c, etc., which is not the same as the Oghum, or old
Gaehc alphabet. The whole is a Kst of adverbs, ex-
cepting two lines at the beginning, and eleven at the
end, expressive of various miHtary virtues, all set to a
lÌA^ely quick measure.* The number of Hnes is 336.
The following is the last stanza of this cmious old
song : —
Gu uiiamliach, gu urmliaiseach,
Gu urranta, gu lu-aluinn,
Gu urchleasach, gu uaibhreach,
Gu uilfheargach, gu uaillfheartach,
Gu urchoideach, gu uabhasach,
Gu urrasach, gu urramach,
Gu urloisgeach, gu uaimhshlochdach,
Gu uachdarach, gu uallach,
* The measure is exactly that of the quick part of a piobair-
eachd, or pipering, called " pibroch" in English. The conclusion
fits the slow ending of such pieces.