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influential. But the alphabetical arrangement was
decided on from the beginning, as the most useful
and feasible; and some of the best additions came at
the very last.^
It is fair also to state, that the most of these valu-
able new materials were received without translations,
in most cases without note or comment, and not always
in the most legible handwriting. Nor will it be new
to any one who has meddled with Proverbs to hear,
that the most diverse interpretations of the same saying
are sometimes given, by persons of the most competent
qualifications as judges of Folk-Lore. Tliis fact consoles
one somewhat under the certainty that all the transla-
tions and explanations will not please everybody.
We have as yet no absolute standard of Gaelic ortho-
graphy, and it is no disgrace, considering that William
Shakespeare speUed his own great name in several
ways, and that even Samuel Johnson's English spellings
are not all followed now. Our Gaelic version of the
Bible is generally accepted by all reasonable persons as
our grammatical standard, but being a human produc-
tion it cannot claim infallibility, and it was from the
beginning too much regulated by deference to the
practice of Irish gi^ammarians, and a slight dread of
anything too vernacular and simple. The latest edition
of it, an admirable one,^ proves that it is possible to get
three Gaelic scholars to agree in orthography. But
^ There are still a good many Gaelic sayings which have
never got into print. The present Editor will be glad to get
any such.
* Published for the Edinburgh National Bible Society, 1880.
decided on from the beginning, as the most useful
and feasible; and some of the best additions came at
the very last.^
It is fair also to state, that the most of these valu-
able new materials were received without translations,
in most cases without note or comment, and not always
in the most legible handwriting. Nor will it be new
to any one who has meddled with Proverbs to hear,
that the most diverse interpretations of the same saying
are sometimes given, by persons of the most competent
qualifications as judges of Folk-Lore. Tliis fact consoles
one somewhat under the certainty that all the transla-
tions and explanations will not please everybody.
We have as yet no absolute standard of Gaelic ortho-
graphy, and it is no disgrace, considering that William
Shakespeare speUed his own great name in several
ways, and that even Samuel Johnson's English spellings
are not all followed now. Our Gaelic version of the
Bible is generally accepted by all reasonable persons as
our grammatical standard, but being a human produc-
tion it cannot claim infallibility, and it was from the
beginning too much regulated by deference to the
practice of Irish gi^ammarians, and a slight dread of
anything too vernacular and simple. The latest edition
of it, an admirable one,^ proves that it is possible to get
three Gaelic scholars to agree in orthography. But
^ There are still a good many Gaelic sayings which have
never got into print. The present Editor will be glad to get
any such.
* Published for the Edinburgh National Bible Society, 1880.
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Matheson Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases > (14) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/76559267 |
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Description | Items from a collection of 170 volumes relating to Gaelic matters. Mainly philological works in the Celtic and some non-Celtic languages. Some books extensively annotated by Angus Matheson, the first Professor of Celtic at Glasgow University. |
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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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