There is certainly some such evidence, and we shall proceed to examine it.
In the Leabhar na h-Uidhre [Lowar na Heera], or Book of the Dun Cow, the existing manuscript of which was transcribed2 about the year 1100, in the Book of Leinster, transcribed about fifty years later, in the Book of Ballymote and in the Book of Lecan, frequent reference is made to an ancient book now lost called the Cin or Codex of Drom-sneachta. This book, or a copy of it, existed down to the beginning of the seventeenth century, for Keating quotes from it in his history, and remarks at the same time, "and it was before the coming of Patrick to Ireland the author of that book existed."[1] This evidence of Keating might be brushed aside as an exaggeration did it stand alone, but it does not, for in a partially3 effaced4 memorandum5 in the Book of Leinster, transcribed from older books about the year 1150, we read: "[Ernin, son of][Pg 71] Duach,[2] son of the king of Connacht, an ollav and a prophet and a professor in history and a professor in wisdom; it was he that collected the genealogies and histories of the men of Erin into one, and that is the Cin Droma-sneachta." Now there were only two Duachs according to our annals, one of these was great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and of course a pagan, who died in 379; the other, who was an ancestor of the O'Flaherties, died one hundred and twenty years later. It was Duach the pagan, whose second son was Ernin; the other had only one son, whose name was Senach. If O'Curry has read the half-effaced word correctly, then the book may have been, as Keating says it was, written before St. Patrick's coming, and it contained, as the various references to it show, a repertoire6 of genealogies collected by the son of a man who died in 379; this man, too, being great-grandson of that Niall of the Nine Hostages in whose son so large a number of the Eremonian genealogies converge7.[3]
There are many considerations which lead me to believe that Irish genealogical books were kept from the earliest introduction of the art of writing, and kept with greater accuracy, perhaps, than any other records of the past whatsoever8. The chiefest of these is the well-known fact that, under the tribal9 system, no one possessed10 lawfully11 any portion of the soil inhabited by his tribe if he were not of the same race with his chief. Consequently even those of lowest rank in the tribe traced and recorded their pedigree with as much care as did the highest, for "it was from his own genealogy12 each man of the tribe, poor as well as rich, held the charter of his civil state, his right of property in the cantred in which he was[Pg 72] born."[4] All these genealogies were entered in the local books of each tribe and were preserved in the verses of the hereditary13 poets. There was no incentive14 to action among the early Irish so stimulative15 as a remembrance of their pedigree. It was the same among the Welsh, and probably among all tribes of Celtic blood. We find the witty16 but unscrupulous Giraldus, in the twelfth century, saying of his Welsh countrymen that every one of them, even of the common people, observes the genealogy of his race, and not only knows by heart his grandfathers and great-grandfathers, but knows all his ancestors up to the sixth or seventh generation,[5] or even still further, and promptly17 repeats his genealogy as Rhys, son of Griffith, son of Rhys, son of Teudor, etc.[6]
The poet, Cuan O'Lochain, who died in the year 1024, gives a long account of the Saltair of Tara now lost, the compilation18 of which he ascribes to Cormac mac Art, who came to the throne in 227,[7] and in which he says the synchronisms and chronology of all the kings were written. The Book of Ballymote too quotes from an ancient book, now lost, called the Book of the Uachongbhail, to the effect that "the synchronisms and genealogies and succession of their kings and monarchs19, their battles, their contests, and their antiquities[Pg 73] from the world's beginning down to that time were written in it, and this is the Saltair of Tara, which is the origin and fountain of the historians of Erin from that period down to this time." This may not be convincing proof that Cormac mac Art wrote the Saltair, but it is convincing proof that what were counted as the very earliest books were filled with genealogies.
The subject of tribal genealogy upon which the whole social fabric20 depended was far too important to be left without a check in the hands of tribal historians, however well-intentioned. And this check was afforded by the great convention or Féis, which took place triennially at Tara,[8] whither the historians had to bring their books that under the scrutiny21 of the jealous eyes of rivals they might be purged22 of whatever could not be substantiated23, "and neither law nor usage nor historic record was ever held as genuine until it had received such approval, and nothing that disagreed with the Roll of Tara could be respected as truth."[9]
"It was," says Duald Mac Firbis[10]—himself the author of probably the greatest book of genealogies ever written, speaking about the chief tribal historians of Ireland, "obligatory24 on every one of them who followed it to purify the profession"; and he adds very significantly, "Along with these [historians] the judges of Banba [Ireland] used to be in like manner preserving the history, for a man could not be a judge without being a historian, and he is not a historian who is not a judge in the BRETHADH NIMHEDH,[11] that is the last book in the study of the Shanachies and of the judges themselves."
[Pg 74]
The poets and historians "were obliged to be free from theft, and killing25, and satirising, and adultery, and everything that would be a reproach to their learning." Mac Firbis, who was the last working historian of a great professional family, puts the matter nobly and well.
"Any Shanachie," he says, "whether an ollav or the next in rank, or belonging to the order at all, who did not preserve these rules, lost half his income and his dignity according to law, and was subject to heavy penalties besides, so that it is not to be supposed that there is in the world a person who would not prefer to tell the truth, if he had no other reason than the fear of God and the loss of his dignity and his income: and it is not becoming to charge partiality upon these elected historians [of the nation]. However, if unworthy people did write falsehood, and attributed it to a historian, it might become a reproach to the order of historians if they were not on their guard, and did not look to see whether it was out of their prime books of authority that those writers obtained their knowledge. And that is what should be done by every one, both by the lay scholar and the professional historian—everything of which they have a suspicion, to look for it, and if they do not find it confirmed in good books, to note down its doubtfulness,[12] along with it, as I myself do to certain races hereafter in this book, and it is thus that the historians are freed from the errors of others, should these errors be attributed to them, which God forbid."
I consider it next to impossible for any Gaelic pedigree to have been materially tampered26 with from the introduction of the art of writing, because tribal jealousies27 alone would have prevented it, and because each stem of the four races was connected at some point with every other stem, the whole clan28 system being inextricably intertwined, and it was necessary for all the various tribal genealogies to agree, in order that each branch, sub-branch, and family might fit, each in its own place.
I have little doubt that the genealogy of O'Neill, for instance, which traces him back to the father of Niall of the[Pg 75] Nine Hostages who came to the throne in 356 is substantially correct. Niall, it must be remembered, was father of Laoghaire [Leary], who was king when St. Patrick arrived, by which time, if not before, the art of writing was known in Ireland. à fortiori, then, we may trust the pedigrees of the O'Donnells and the rest who join that stem a little later on.
If this be acknowledged we may make a cautious step or two backwards29. No one, so far as I know, has much hesitation30 in acknowledging the historic character of that King Laoghaire whom St. Patrick confronted, nor of his father Niall of the Nine Hostages. But if we go so far, it wants very little to bring us in among the Fenians themselves, and the scenes connected with them and with Conn of the Hundred Battles; for Niall's great-grandfather was that Fiachaidh who was slain31 by the Three Collas—those who burnt Emania and destroyed the Red Branch—and his father is Cairbré of the Liffey, who overthrew32 the Fenians, and his father again is the great Cormac son of Art, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles who divided the kingdom with Owen Mór. But it is from the three grandsons of this Owen Mór the Eberians come, and from their half-brother come the Ithians, so that up to this point I think Irish genealogies may be in the main accepted. Even the O'Kavanaghs and their other correlations33, who do not join the stem of Eremon till between 500 or 600 years before Christ, yet pass through Enna Cennsalach, king of Leinster, a perfectly34 historical character mentioned several times in the Book of Armagh,[13] who slew35 the father of Niall of the Nine Hostages; and I believe that, however we may account for the strange fact that these septs join the Eremonian stem so many hundreds of years before the O'Neills and the others, that up to this point their genealogy too may be trusted.
[Pg 76]
If this is the case, and if it is true that every Gael belonging to the Free Clans36 of Ireland could trace his pedigree with accuracy back to the fourth, third, or even second century, it affords a strong support to Irish history, and in my opinion considerably37 heightens the credibility of our early annals, and renders the probability that Finn mac Cool and the Red Branch heroes were real flesh and blood, enormously greater than before. It will also put us on our guard against quite accepting such sweeping38 generalisations as those of Skene, when he says that the entire legendary39 history of Ireland prior to the establishment of Christianity in the fifth century partakes largely of a purely40 artificial character. We must not forget that while no Irish genealogy is traced to the De Danann tribes, who were undoubtedly41 gods, yet the ancestor of the Dalcassians—Cormac Cas, Oilioll Olum's son—is said to have married Ossian's daughter.
********
[1] See Haliday's "Keating," p. 215.
[2] See p. 15 of O'Curry's MS. Materials. There was some doubt in his mind about the words in brackets, but as the sheets of his book were passing through the press he took out the MS. for another look on a particularly bright day, the result of which left him no doubt that he had read the name correctly.
[3] For a typical citation42 of this book see p. 28 of O'Donovan's "Genealogy of the Corca Laidh," in the "Miscellany of the Celtic Society."
[4] See "Celtic Miscellany," p. 144, O'Donovan's tract43 on Corca Laidh.
[5] "Generositatem vero et generis nobilitatem pr? rebus44 omnibus magis appetunt. Unde et generosa conjugia plus longe capiunt quam sumptuosa vel opima. Genealogiam quoque generis sui etiam de populo quilibet observat, et non solum, avos, atavos, sed usque ad sextam vel septimam et ultra procul generationem, memoriter et prompte genus enarrat in hunc modum Resus filius Griffini filii Resi filii Theodori, filii Aene?, filii Hoeli filii Cadelli filii Roderici magni et sic deinceps.
"Genus itaque super omnia diligunt, et damna sanguinis atque dedecoris ulciscuntur. Vindicis enim animi sunt et ir? cruent? nec solum novas et recentes injurias verum etiam veteres et antiquas velut instanter vindicare parati" ("Cambri? Descriptio," Cap. XVII.).
[6] O'Donovan says—I forget where—that he had tested in every part of Ireland how far the popular memory could carry back its ancestors, and found that it did not reach beyond the seventh generation.
[7] According to the "Four Masters"; in 213, according to Keating.
[8] But see O'Donovan's introduction to "The Book of Rights," where he adduces some reasons for believing that it may have been a septennial not a triennial convocation.
[9] See Keating's History under the reign45 of Tuathal Teachtmhar.
[10] In the seventeenth century. His book on genealogies would, O'Curry computed46, fill 1,300 pages of the size of O'Donovan's "Four Masters."
[11] This was a very ancient law book, which is quoted at least a dozen times in Cormac's Glossary47, made in the ninth or tenth century.
[12] Thus quaintly48 expressed in the original, for which see O'Curry's MS. Materials, p. 576: "muna ffaghuid dearbhtha iar ndeghleabhraibh é, a chuntabhairt fén do chur re a chois."
[13] See pp. 102, 113 of Father Hogan's "Documenta de S. Patricio ex Libro Armachano," where he is called Endae. He persecuted49 Cuthbad's three sons, "fosocart endae cennsalach fub?thin creitme riacach," but Patrick is said to have baptized his son, "Luid iarsuidiu cucrimthan maccnêndi ceinnselich et ipse creditit."
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1
genealogies
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| n.系谱，家系，宗谱( genealogy的名词复数 ) | |
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transcribed
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| （用不同的录音手段）转录( transcribe的过去式和过去分词 )； 改编（乐曲）（以适应他种乐器或声部）； 抄写； 用音标标出（声音） | |
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3
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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4
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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5
memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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repertoire
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| n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表 | |
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converge
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| vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近 | |
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8
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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9
tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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10
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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11
lawfully
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| adv.守法地，合法地；合理地 | |
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12
genealogy
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| n.家系，宗谱 | |
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13
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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incentive
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| n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机 | |
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stimulative
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| n.刺激，促进因素adj.刺激的，激励的，促进的 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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compilation
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| n.编译，编辑 | |
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monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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22
purged
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| 清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响 | |
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23
substantiated
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| v.用事实支持（某主张、说法等），证明，证实( substantiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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obligatory
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| adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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tampered
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| v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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32
overthrew
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| overthrow的过去式 | |
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correlations
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| 相互的关系( correlation的名词复数 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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38
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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39
legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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40
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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41
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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42
citation
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| n.引用，引证，引用文；传票 | |
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43
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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44
rebus
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| n.谜,画谜 | |
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45
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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46
computed
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| adj.[医]计算的，使用计算机的v.计算，估算( compute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
glossary
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| n.注释词表；术语汇编 | |
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48
quaintly
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| adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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49
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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