BDL and later Scottish collections

The Scottish ballad tradition after 1600 differs from that in Ireland in being preserved primarily by oral means.  This does not imply that scribal activity was absent.  MSS containing Gaelic ballads were compiled in Scotland, notably that of Ewen MacLean (1690-91), comprising prose tales and romances, a substantial amount of bardic verse, and two ballads.  Two MacMhuirich MSS which contain ballads were probably compiled in the mid- or early eighteenth century; the one intermingles prose and verse, with a single ballad, while the other is a duanaire of miscellaneous type, with four ballads.  The major eighteenth-century Gaelic poet, Alexander MacDonald, included Gaelic ballads in some of his MSS. Collectors and compilers of Gaelic ballad verse were also active in the eighteenth century; Alexander Pope of Reay's collection dates to c. 1739, although the bulk of existing material was gathered after 1760, when the Ossianic Controversy stimulated great interest in the field. Several of the largest collections were made in the southern Highlands, in Argyllshire and Perthshire, by collectors such as Donald MacNicol of Lismore, Archibald Fletcher and Duncan Kennedy.  By far the most extensive gathering of ballads, running to some 9,670 lines, was made by the Rev. James McLagan of Amulree and Blair Atholl.

The eighteenth-century collections vary considerably in their contents, as a direct consequence of their oral background.  When collections correspond closely, it is often possible to trace them back to a common source.  Overall, the collections show that about 70 ballad texts were known in the Highlands in the 18th century.  This is probably only a small part of the total number of texts once circulating in the Highlands. A particularly fascinating dimension of the Scottish tradition is the rich variety of variant versions generated within oral transmission.

 

Texts common to BDL and later Scottish tradition

As happens with the later Irish MSS, there is no Scottish collection which matches BDL.  Individual poems in BDL do, however, occur frequently in Scottish tradition, and the overall pattern is very similar to that found with the later Irish texts.  The following BDL texts occur in the post-1700 Scottish collections: V, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVI (banner quatrains), XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXV,  XXVI, XXVII. Of these 15 texts, four are found only in Scottish tradition, namely XIII, XVI (banner quatrains only), XVIII, XXV and XXVII.

 

Thematic emphases in later Scottish tradition

It is only in Scottish tradition that one regularly finds all four main BDL elegies on Diarmaid, Oscar, Conlaoch and Fraoch, which can be found together in McLagan's collection. In the case of Oscar, Scottish tradition attests a further poem on Oscar's death.  BDL XXVI, lamenting the absence of Fionn, is attested only rarely in Scotland.  Lists of deceased warriors are not common, however, though the parody-poem BDL XVIII and the catalogue of the heads of Ulster warriors are found in Kennedy's collections.  Scottish tradition has also failed to preserved poems on Oisín's bondage to Patrick and his wistfulness for the old era. In Scotland, as in Ireland, the eulogy on Goll seems to be the only representative of this genre.

The bulk of Scottish tradition consists of adventure ballads, with particular prominence being given to Viking themes, notably 'Laoidh Mhánais' (beginning 'A Chléirich chanas na sailm') and the 'Lay of Airrghean', generally known as 'Teanntachd Mhór na Féinne'.  Viking poems describing the arrival of grotesque strangers were common in Scotland.  Scottish tradition includes ballads about the coming of Dearg and his son, Conn.  Versions of BDL XX, 'Eas Ruaidh', are well attested.  BDL VII, on the girl with the magic cloak, has not been preserved in Scotland.  Beyond the Viking theme, expeditions are represented by only one surviving version of BDL XIV.  Hunts are not a dominant concern in Scotland, although two versions of BDL V, 'The Chase of Slievenamon', have survived.

In the area of rivalries and debates, poems relating to the elopement of Diarmaid and Gráinne are attested.  Later  versions of BDL XIII are placed in this context by adding additional quatrains.  The poem known as 'The Chess-game beneath the Yew-tree' is found in Scotland, and so too is a lyrical piece rather similar to BDL XXIV.  As in Irish tradition, the enmity between Fionn and Tara provides the background to a number of poems.  The antipathy between Clann Baoisgne and Clann Morna is reflected in versions of BDL XXV, and in at least fiver other poems.  The Oisín/Patrick debate is represented in a long, composite poem known as 'Urnaigh Oisein' ('Oisín's Prayer') or 'The Dialogue'.  It usually consists of the opening quatrains of BDL XI, followed by verses from 'A Oisín as fada do shuan' (DF LVII).

An interest in onomastic ballads is not attested in later Scottish tradition, nor do we find any poems devoted solely to descriptions of the natural world.