A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S
FO LIA L ITTER A R IA 36, 1994
Piotr Stalm aszczyk
A N O T E O N T H E F U N C T IO N O F G E O G R A P H IC A L N A M E S IN G A E L IC P O E T R Y
Irish G aelic literature is unique in possessing an extensive collection o f verse dealing w ith the history and origin o f hundreds o f places - lakes, rivers, m o un tains, etc. T h e collection is know n as the M etrical Dinnshenchas o r H istory o f Places (Ir. dinn - ‘any n otew orth y place, m o u n tain , lake, river, o r island ’, and senchas - ‘history, sto ry’). I t is associated w ith the M iddle Irish period, and is dated from 887 to 10791. T he stan za q uo ted below is one o f the m an y devoted to lakes (Ir. loch) and their nam es2:
Loch ind Eich, loch ind Aige, (1)
loch n a nD rûad, loch n a D âime, loch Lâig, loch na F er Fuinid, loch Nechtain, loch nA thguinig.
(Sliab N-Echtga II)
R o bin F lo w er called this collection an “ Irish D iction ary o f N atio na l T o p o g ra p h y ” , w hereas P atrick Sheeran com m enting upo n this type o f top og raph ical poetry stated that: “ H ow ever m uch an ability to tolerate - even enjoy - lists o f things in po etry m ay be regarded as a sign o f true devo tion to the a rt, the to p o m an ia o f the seanachies surely stretched th a t tolerance to the lim it” 3. T here is som e tru th in b oth these statem ents:
M etrical Dinnshenchas are d e v o te d 'to m eticulous descriptions o f places, their
histories and folk etym ologies, and no t seldom the presentations o f places confine themselves to long lists, as in the stan za above.
1 E. G w y n n , The M etrical Dindshenchas. Part III, H odges, Figgis, and Co., D ublin 1913. 2 Ibid., p. 306.
3 R. F l o w e r , The Irish Tradition, Oxford 1947, p. 1; P. S h e e r a n , Genius Fahulae:
O n the o th er ha n d , how ever, even for som ebody unacqu ainted w ith C eltic literature, it m ust seem obvious th a t “ Place and P ast ha u n t the Irish P oetic m in d ” 4. A nd this is equally tru e o f ancient Irish poetry an d the fam o u s sagas, m o d e rn S cottish G aelic po etry , as well as A n glo -Irish literature (cf. the con cern w ith places and placc-nam es in W illiam B utler Y eats, Jam es Joyce and Seam us H eaney, to m ention only th e m ost prom in en t n am es)5. U nsu rp rising ly, Irish and S cottish G aelic litera tu re , especially po etry , ab ou nd s in texts w hich m ake extensive use o f topo grap hical nam es, as illustrated by th e follow ing fragm ents (place-nam cs underlined) from three different Irish poems:
Ionm huin Dun Fiodhaigh is Dun Fionn (2)
Ionm huin is D u n os a gcionn Ionm huin Inis D roighneach de Is ionmhuin Dun Suibnc.
(Deirdre and the Sons o f Usna/
[Lovable are D un Fidga and D un Finn Lovable the fortresses above them Lovable the island o f D riagende A nd lovable the fort o f Sweeney.]
Coire dha Ruadh, a ri Tuama, (3)
atà eadroinn, eagail linn,
Coire B hreacin blagh dar gconair, do ghabh creatân omhain inn.
(A n Address to Aonghus o f Islay)1
[Between us, О K ing of T uaim , is Coire dhâ R uadh, I fear it: Coire Bhreacäin is p a rt o f our path, trembling terror has laid hold o f me.]
Bóinn is Siuir is Sein-Leamhain (4)
agus Suca nach sriobhmall, adeirt n a deighleabhair gurab uasile tù a Shionann.
(T he Shannon)*
4 K . E. H i r s t D é s i r é e , The Southern Irish Poets o f the Late 20th c., [in:] Anglo-Irish
Literature. Aspects o f Language and Culture , eds B. Bramsbäck, M . C roghan, Vol. 2, U ppsala
1988, p. 208.
5 Cf. a comm ent by one of the characters in Brian F riel’s Faith Healer: “I ’d recite the nam es to myself ju s t for the mesmerism, the sedation of the incantation - K inlochbervie, Inverbervie, Inverdruie, Invergordon, B adachroo, K inlochewe, B allantrae, Inverkeithing, Caw dor, K irkconnel, Plaidy, K irkinner [...]” ; B. F r i e l , Selected Plays, F ab er and F aber, London 1984, p. 332.
6 Source: E. N e e s o n , Poems fro m the Irish, W ard River Press, D ublin 1985, p. 136. 7 Source: О. В e r g i n , Irish Bardic Poetry, D ublin Institute for A dvanced Studies, 1970, p. 171; the English translation comes from ibid., p. 292.
(The Boyne and the Suir and the ancient Laune, and swift-streamed Suca,
good books declare th at art nobler than they, О Shannon.]
T h is rem ark able feature o f G aelic literatu re has to be seen against a very close relation betw een people and places: “T hose O ’C onnells, O ’C o nno rs, O ’C allaghans, O ’D o noghues - all the G aels were one, it m ay be m ain tained , w ith the very landscape itself [...] to tu rn o(T the fam ily nam es connected w ith one o f those houses w as to call to vision certain districts - hills, rivers an d plains; w hile contrariw ise, to recollect the place-nam es in certain regions was to rem em ber the ancient times and their m em orable deed s” 9.
A cc ord in g to E . E styn E vans th ere w as alw ays a stro n g sense o f geographical personality in the old er Irish literature connected w ith a sense o f the harm on y and m ystery o f m a n ’s place in n a tu re 10; sim ilar rem ark s were also m ad e by the h istorian J. C. B eckett in connectio n w ith Irish history and the study o f the relationships betw een th e lan d and the peop le11.
T h o u g h an im p o rtan t fe ature o f o lder poetry, the usage o f geographical nam es is preserved also in contem porary verse, n o t only in Irish, b u t also in Scottish G aelic, as illustrated by the follow ing fragm ent:
Mùirncag an toiseach Og-mhios, (5)
is Mèalaiscal is Móinteach Shuardail, is Loch nan Ruighcannan a’ sniomh a ghàirdeanan mu mo chom.
(Leannan m 'o igej12
[Mùirneag in early June,
and Méalaiseal and Swordale M oor, and Loch nan Ruigheannan with its arms clasped round me.]
A ccording to D on a ld M acA ulay: “ In the G aelic trad itio n there are m an y poem s and songs ab o u t places. T hese a p p ear also in m o dern verse, th o u gh n o t in such a high p ro p o rtio n and certainly to a different p urp ose [...]. T here is local loyalty often expressed in poem s a b o u t the p o e t’s native place” 13. T h e sense o f loyalty very often expresses itself in poem s n o t only ab o u t th e p o e t’s native place, but ab o u t the whole G aeldo m , as exemplified by this recent poem :
9 D . C o r k e r y , The Hidden Ireland, Gill and Co., D ublin 1925, p. 56.
]0 E. E v a n s E s t y n , The Personality o f Ireland, CUP, Cambridge 1973, p. 66.
11 Cf. J. C. B e c k e t t , The Study o f Irish History, Belfast 1963, p. 17.
12 A poem by D. S. Thom son, from Nua-Bhardachd Ghaidhlig / Modern Scottish Gaelic
Poems, ed. D. M a c A u l a y , Canongate, Edinburgh 1976, p. 163; English version by the poet
himself, p. 162. 13 Ibid., p. 49.
IJrnaigheann aig a ’ bhôrd ann an Scalpaigh (6) O rain is bàrdachd anns an t-Ob
D an nsa is deoch air an T airbeart
Réidio nan G àidhcal ann an Steórnabhagh Deasbad ann an Taigh-O sda Chrois
Cuim hneachadh ann an U ibhist-a-Tualh Fealla-dhà ann an G riom asaigh
Ceanglaichean-teaghlaich ann an U ibhist-a-I)cas A oigheachd ann an iom adh àite
agus R unR ig n a m o chluasan air feadh an turais.
(A ' Ghaidhealtachd)u
[Prayers at the table in Scalpay Songs and poetry in Leverbugh D ance and drink in T arbert
Réidio n an G àidheal in Stornow ay D iscussion in the Cross Inn
M emories in N orth Uist S port in G rim say
Fam ily connections in South U ist H ospitality in many places
and R unR ig in my ears throughout the journey.]
D iscussing related issues S heeran stresses the im portance o f the Irish sense o f place, w hich ac cording to him is “ a) a p ro d uc t o f the native trad itio n ; b) it is a verbal o r nominal preoccupation and has little to d o w ith any actual cultiv ation o f things; c) it relates to d ea th ra th e r th a n to life” . F u rth e r, he goes on observing th at: “ B oth ancient an d m o de rn exam ples o f to p o m a n ia in o u r literature clearly d em on strate th a t placc nam es held m agical potency and were invoked a t times o f crisis” 15. T h e invocative n atu re o f places and their nam es is also stressed by B enedict K iely - “ Places so loved, nam es so often repeated as if they w ere charm s and w ords o f pow er and invocations o f the very spirit o f place, gathered ab o u t them their ow n sanctities and m ythological significance” 16. T hese rem arks are confirm ed by E styn Evans, w ho talking ab o u t Irish h ab itat, heritage and history, m entions the existence o f a pagan sense o f com m u nion w ith all n atu re run ning th ro u g h th e ancient tales and inspiring ou tstand in g lyrical p o etry 17.
14 A poem by C oinneach M acM hanais, in: Somhairle (A Celebration on the 80th Birthday
o f Sorley M acLean), cd. A. P. Campbell, Stornoway 1991, p. 85. The places m entioned in
this poem are connected with the G àidhealtahd, i.e. the area o f traditional Gaelic culture and language.
15 P. S h e e r a n , op. cit., p. 201.
16 B. K i e l y , A Sense o f Place, [in:] The Pleasures o f Gaelic Poetry, ed. S. M ac Réam oinn, Allen Lane, London 1982, p. 104.
It follows from the above th at the use o f top ographical nam es in Irish and S cottish G aelic poetry fulfills n o t only an aesthetic function, but it is also deeply rooted in the traditio n , expresses the poets local loyalty, and it perform s an invocative function.
Institute o f English Studies U niversity o f Łódź
Piotr Stalmaszczyk
UWAGI NA TEM AT F U N K C JI NA ZW G EO G R A FIC ZN Y CH W P O E Z J I IR LA N D ZK O JĘZ Y C Z N E J
L iteratura irlandzkojęzyczna, a zwłaszcza poezja, obfituje w utw ory poświęcone różnym elementom krajobrazu, np.: wzgórzom, rzekom, strumieniom czy jeziorom . N ajbardziej znanym przykładem jest zbiór średnioirlandzkich utworów M etrical Dinnshenchas. W prow adzanie nazw geograficznych do irlandzkich utw orów literackich zawsze spełniało funkcje estetyczne oraz inwokacyjne. Również współczesna poezja irlandzka, a także gaelicka, posługuje się tym środkiem.
O prócz funkcji estetycznych użycie nazw geograficznych bardzo często zw iązane jest z lokalną tradycją, poczuciem lojalności i przyw iązania do miejsc, a także swoistym irlandzkim „poczuciem miejsca” .
