Matheson Collection > Bardachd Ghaidhlig

:xliv. Iiitroduction.
(30) P. 221, Sgeida lcat, a ghaoth a deas.
There is internal rhyme in the second coui^let of
•each rann, e.g., in r. 1, fUuaim: chuan, sìthc: Sgìthc;
lout there is no regular alhteration.
(31) P. 236, Shaoghail, is diomhnan do mhuirn.
The first rauìi; the rest is in a different metre. The
iollowing well-wrought quatrain is from an elegy by a
j)rofessional poet on Sir Norman Macleod (d. 1705): —
lai'bhua Chonuire agus Ch«m7i,
lia Maghnuis ò mhur 'Manuinn :
fada a èag a ecuim.hne chàigh,
hcad 6s gach duilghe a dhioghbhfl/L^
-Alliteration— C/i : Ch; M : mh: M; cc: ch; d: dh.
(32) P. 29, An uair a chaillcas ncacli a mhaoin.
This poem is a conglomei'ate, or possibly a mosaic,
of quatrains in different metres: —
71 + 71: stanzas 1, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16 (irregular), 25,
29, 31, 32, 34, 41, 42.
82 + 82: stanzas 2, 8, 13, 15, 20, 28, 38, 39. 43.
72 + 72: stanzas 21, 26, 37.
61 + 62: stanza 22.
62 + 62: stanza 27.
81 + 72: stanza 30.
71 + 72: stanza 35 (not Deibhidhe).
Sèadna: stanzas 3, 4, 5, 6. 10, 12, 23, 36, 40.
Irregular: stanzas 17, 18, 19, 24, 33.
IX.— THE METRES: (h) STROPHIC MEASURES.
Besides the ordinary four-line rann, the old poetry
has another kind of metrical structure, which we shall
1 Descendant of Conaire and of Conn (early kings of Ireland),
scion of Magnus from the rampart of ]\Ian, long is his death in
all men's minds, a misfortune surpassing every grief is the loss of
him.~A(h: Lib. MS.