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352 Gaelic Society of Inverness.
differences in pronunciation, diction, and idiom which prevail
within the resj^ective bounds of these two divisions are very
marked, thougli in particular localities they shade into each other.
The boundary between the two is a waving line, but, i-oughly
speaking, it may be described as ))assing up the Firth of Lorn to
LodIi Leven, then across country from Ballachulish to the Grampians,
thereafter the line of the Grampians l^he country covered
by the Northern dialect was of old the country of the Northern
Picts. The portion of Argyleshire south of the Ijoundary line,
with Bute and Arran, formed the Kingdom of Dalriada. The
Gaelic district south of the Grampians belonged to the Southern
Picts. This two-fold division has very prol)ably an historical basis,
as well as a very distinct geographical boundary. It owes its
origin to the settlement of the Dalriadic Colony in South Argyll ;
and its continuance to the gi-eater influence of Irish literature
within the Southern district.
By the aid of a few examples, for in a single paper one can
only glance over such a wide field, I shall endeavour to show how
a study of the sounds, forms, words, and idioms preserved in our
dialects can be turned to profitable use in throwing some light on
the past history of our people; in supplying additional and reliable
material to the science of Celtic Philology ; and in providing valu-
able assistance to the student who desires to master Scottish Gaelic.
I. Sounds—Turn for a moment to our sounds. Irish scholars
are placed under a great disadvantage in studying the sounds of
their language in the far past, because their magnificent literature
has been written now for well nigh a thousand years upon a pretty
uniform orthographical system, which, unfortunately, is very far
from being phonetic. The great mass of Gaelic Manuscrij)ts, and
almost all our printed literature, are written more or less uniformly
in the Irish orthography. But hajijjily there have been preserved
two MSS. of considerable size, written phonetically. One of these
was written in the Northern dialect by Duncan Macrae in 1G8S-
1G93* ; the other and nmch larger and better known is the Dean
of Lismore's MS., which was written in the Southern dialect in
1512-153C. We have thus a reliable record of Gaelic pronunciation
for 370 years. By the aid of some deviations from orthodox
Irish oithograpliy observed in the Book of Deer, and some words
and names borrowed into the Icelandic literature, we get a glimpse
at the pronunciation of our ancestors 700 years ago.
Tiic most marked distinction in sound between the Northern
* .See "The Fcrnaig Manusciiijt " in the Traiisautioiis of tlic (Jaeliu
Society of luveruess, vohune xi.