| Reference Number | 318 |
| Title | Sgeul gu Latha / Tales until Dawn: the world of a Cape Breton Gaelic story-teller Joe Neil MacNeil |
| Author | MacNeil, Joe Neil |
| Editor | Shaw, John |
| Date Of Edition | 1987 |
| Date Of Language | late 20c |
| Date Of Language Ed | 1950-1999 |
| DateMacro | Late 20th c. |
| Date Of Language Notes | |
| Publisher | McGill-Queen’s University Press |
| Place Published | Kingston, Ont. |
| Volume | N/A |
| Location | National, academic, and local libraries |
| Geographical Origins | Cape Breton, Canada |
| Geographical Origins Ed | Canada |
| GeoMacro | Canada |
| GeoX | -62.0151 |
| GeoY | 45.6219 |
| Geographical Origins Notes | |
| Register | Literature, Prose (Oral) |
| Register Ed | Literature, Prose |
| Genre | Literature |
| Medium | Prose |
| Rating | B (TBC)
A collection of tales transcribed from oral recordings from a Cape Breton reciter.
The tales cover a range of story-telling types from heroic tales to numbskull stories.
A good example of Cape Breton Gaelic from the late twentieth century. |
| Alternative Author Name | Eòs MacNìll (Eòs Nìll Bhig) |
| Manuscript Or Edition | Ed. |
| Size And Condition | 2.5cm x 16cm |
| Short Title | Sgeul gu Latha |
| Reference Details | NLS: HP2.87.5191 |
| Number Of Pages | xliv, 484 |
| Gaelic Text By | N/A |
| Illustrator | N/A |
| Social Context | Joe Neil MacNeil (Eòs Nìll Bhig) was born 23 February 1908 at Reserve Mines, Cape Breton County, and was adopted and raised by Neil (Niall Beag) MacNeil and his wife, both of Barra descent, in a rural Gaelic-speaking community. MacNeil was recognised internationally as one of the finest then-living Nova Scotian exponents of storytelling. He was a tradition bearer representative of those who had settled in Cape Breton some five or six generations previously and this linked him with the oral literature of Gaelic Scotland and Ireland. He acquired English at school at the age of seven, but his primary concern had always been with the rich Gaelic culture of the region. Joe Neil’s working life as a carpenter, electrician, mechanic and sawmill operator was in no way extraordinary, but from an early age he was able to absorb and recite the songs, anecdotes and long elaborate folk tales of Gaeldom’s extensive oral literature. Since 1975, he has recorded these materials, which are a contribution to Gaelic culture and scholarship that is remarkable for a man with such little access to formal education. Joe Neil MacNeil died in October 1996. |
| Contents | The text begins with ‘Clàr-Innsidh/Contents’ (pp. vi-xiii), ‘Facal o’n Ùghdar/Author’s Preface’ (pp. xiv-xv), ‘Acknowledgements’ (p. xvi), ‘Introduction’ (pp. xvii-xli), two maps and then the main text is divided into 3 sections: Part 1: ‘Saoghal an Sgeulaiche/The World of the Story-Teller’ which consists of 2 sub-headings containing 2 items (pp. 2-37); Part II: ‘Sgeulachdan ’Sa Choimhearsnachd/The Reciters and the Tales’ which consists of 12 sub-headings containing 52 items (pp. 40-357); Part III: ‘Briathran Beòil, Spòrs is Eòlas/Wit, Lore, and Pastimes’ which consists of 8 sub-headings containing 22 items (pp. 360-441); ‘Notes’ (pp. 443-77); ‘Select Bibliography’ (pp. 479-83); and finally ‘Aarne-Thompson International Folklore Types’ (p. 484). In the Introduction (p. xl) the editor states that ‘The Gaelic text has been selected from over four hundred items recorded between February 1976 and October 1980. Part 1, which consists of Joe Neil’s reminiscences of Middle Cape and of the stories and story-tellers, contains the greatest number of collations. Tapes numbers and dates are given in the notes. The tales in Part 2 have not required collating; the only changes made are in the rare instances where Joe Neil has corrected himself, and this is usually a matter of one or two words. The first five sections of Part 3, those dealing with repartee, proverbs, expressions, children’s rhymes, and games contain the greater part of Joe Neil’s recordings on these topics. The sections on marriage divinations, signs, superstitions and second sight, and apparitions comprise only a small number of selections from Joe Neil’s contributions. The concluding section on music and dance, except for traditions associated with particular tunes, comprises everything recorded from Joe Neil on these topics.’ |
| Sources | The text is based upon recordings made by John Shaw from the contributor Joe Neil MacNeil (Eòs Nìll Bhig, 1908-1996) from Middle Cape, Cape Breton. The majority of the texts consist of narrative tales, a familiar part of the repertoire of story-tellers during and before the early part of the twentieth century. The ‘Notes’ section (pp. 443-77) provides archival references to the sound recordings from which the printed transcriptions have been generated. Information is also provided on the tradition-bearers from whom the contributor originally heard the tales. |
| Language | In general the language strongly reflects a story-telling register, representative of the ceilidh house in which stories were told at gatherings, mainly but not exclusively throughout the winter period. Important incidents are represented in direct speech, and occasionally in verse, which lends an immediacy to any given narrative.
There are some rather idiosyncratic spellings, e.g.: cuideiginn (p. 2) and cudeiginn (p. 208), a’ gràidhinn (p. 2), rudeiginn (p. 4), a’ chànail (p. 6), air choireiginn (p. 6).
Occasionally there appear inconsistencies in spelling, e.g.: na b’aosta (p. 4) and a b’aosda (p. 6), Bhiomaid (p. 20) and bhitheamaid (p. 24), uileag (p. 12) and uileadh (p. 208), neo-air-thaing (p. 214) and neo-ar-thaing (p. 232), òrdadh (p. 244) and òrdugh (p. 290), an raoir and a raoir (p. 206), gur e and also gura h-e (both p. 256).
Runs appear, pp. 50, 52, 53-54, 56, 58, 59-60 in Fenian material and international tales.
Dialectic forms of genitives appear throughout the text, e.g.: machair na coilleadh (p. 8), fad na h-oidhcheadh (p. 30), na muiceadh and na sròineadh (p. 72). Sometimes the genitive case appears to be inconsistent but more than likely reflects the actual reciter’s actual words, e.g.: air feadh na dùthchadh (p. 32) and air feadh na dùthaich (p. 34).
Loan-words appear throughout the text, e.g.: peddler (p. 2), glasses (p. 2), television (p. 12), radio (p. 12), calico (p. 14), sogsaichean (p. 32), sac (p. 130), reusair (p. 162), raifeill (p. 438).
Rare words (oftentimes glossed) appear now and again, e.g.: craolan ‘radio’ (p. 12), cagar-céin ‘telephone’ (p. 14), feart-dealain ‘electricity’ (p. 20), citheach ‘jaw’ (p. 66), bùl ‘handle’ (p. 128), gròlan ‘piece’ (p. 222), preathaill ‘delirious’ (p. 224).
The text may reflect the Gaelic dialect of Barra in a New World setting. |
| Orthography | The orthography conforms to the mid-twentieth century, where the grave and acute accents are retained. Accents are shown on capital letters. There is little indication given in the Introduction as to how the text represents pronunciation, but presumably the transcription reflects the dialect of the reciter. |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Other Sources | |
| Further Reading | MacNeil, Joe Neil, ‘Joe Neil MacNeil: Gaelic Storyteller’, Cape Breton Magazine, no. 44 (Jan., 1987), 65-69. |
| Credits | |
| Link Label | |
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| Download File | |
| NumWords | 93648 |
