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On the Dialects of Scottish Gaelic. ••^r)l
pronounced in Argyll and Perth, tliure is no oorrcspondini,' sound
in English, is in Arrau that of a in "Mayor" iiuior uniX saor
are maer and saer. These words wore written maer, saei; in
Middle Irish, the spelling of the Zeussian MSS., and of the older
Irish inscriptions being ai, oi, oe. As we proceed North this
sound becomes attenuated to aoi. INIacrae in 1688 wrote sdoyhal,
sivill, a form which fairly represents the pronunciation of Lewis
to-day. In some parts of Ireland and iii the Isle of Man tlie
sound is not unlike that heard in the North Higldands. O'JJonovan
(Gram. p. IG) re])resents it by uee as in queen for Connaught,
and by ueM for Ulster and Meath.
To the philologist a knowledge of the dialects is essential,
and this is now universally admitted. The method of the science
is the comparative method ; and while for the so-called dead languages
we are content to take the warrant of grammars and dic-
tionaries for lost words and vanished forms, the final a})peal for
the meaning of a word, and especially for its sound, must be, in
the case of a living tongue, to the lips of the people. Dialects
are accordingly studied of recent years with a genuine scientitic
purpose. On the Continent not a language but has had its most
ol)Scure sub-dialects investigated by competent men. At home
good work has also been done. The North-eastern Scottish dialects
have been examined by Mr Gregor {The Dialects oi Banffshire,