A REVIEW: “BUCHANAN, THE SACRED BARD.”
THIS is a new book on Dugald Buchanan, the famous school-master, catechist, and sacred Gaelic poet, and we have great pleasure indeed in directing the attention of our readers to its merits. We are living in an age when literature of this sound kind is scarce and very little valued, and we welcome with sincere joy such an excellent contribution to religious literature as this book undoubtedly is. The book professes to be a complete edition of Buchanan for the English reader. The author is Mr. Lachlan Macbean, Kirkcaldy. Mr. Macbean was born near Beauly about sixty-six years ago. It is said that he could read the Gaelic Bible before he was five years old. He is a born translator of Gaelic poetry, and some of his translations appeared when he was only eighteen years of age. He went to Kirkcaldy about 1877 as a journalist, and in 1899 he became proprietor of the Fifeshire Advertiser. Mr. Macbean has made several translations into English verse from the leading Gaelic hymn-writers, such as Peter Grant, etc., but he has made Buchanan a special study from his youth. In 1885 he published a complete edition of “Buchanan’s Spiritual Songs,” rendered by himself into English verse. This edition, of which we possess a copy, has been long out of print, so he has now given to the public this early edition recast and revised, we consider, very successfully. To this he adds an interesting sketch of Buchanan’s life, together with the Bard’s Diary in an abridged form, also two of his letters, one of which is published for the first time.
We cannot, owing to space, enter, as we would like, in a brief
* “Buchanan, The Sacred Bard.” By Lachlan Macbean. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., 4 Stationers’ Hall Court, London, E.C.
review, into this delightful study of Buchanan further than to make, first, a few remarks on the translations of the Spiritual Songs, and, secondly, a few comments on the Diary.
First, with regard to the translations into English verse, we think that they are truly admirable. The translator is himself a poet, and he not only gives the sense of the Gaelic, but also the spirit and poetry of Buchanan. A sample, taken, not as an isolated instance of the translator’s genius, but as a specimen of the whole, will let those who understand Gaelic see this for themselves.
The following is taken from “The Day of Judgment :—
Buchanan says:
“Ged àir’mhinn uile reulta réimh,
Gach feur is duilleach riamh a dh’fhàs,
Mar ris gach braon a ta sa’chuan,
‘S gach gaineamh chuartaicheas an tràigh.
“Ged chuirinn mile bhiadhna seach,
As leth gach aon diubh sud gu leir,
Cha d’imich seach de’n t-siorruidh’chd mhoir,
Ach mar gu’n tòisicheadh i ‘n dé.”
Macbean translates:
“If I should count each glimmering star,
Each leaf and blade that ever grew,
All drops in ocean’s store that are,
And sands that ocean’s shore bestrew.
“And if for each I counted so,
A thousand years had passed away,
Eternity would be as though
It had begun but yesterday.”
It will be seen at once that the above is a most felicitous rendering, and that the overwhelming greatness of the original picture is reproduced intact.
Secondly, a few remarks on the Diary. Buchanan’s Diary was written in English by the Bard himself, and left among his papers, where it was found after his death. It was published separately with a Memoir of Buchanan at Edinburgh in 1836. A Gaelic translation which has passed through many editions was made by the late Mr. John Mackenzie—as the late Professor Mackinnon thought. The Gaelic Diary has been widely circulated and is easily procured. It is, however, mutilated in the sense that large portions of the original are entirely omitted. This Diary appeared in our Magazine in full in the original English of Buchanan, beginning in the May issue, 1914.
The Diary, as given by Mr. Macbean, is also unfortunately only extracts of this very precious work. These extracts, however, reveal to us much of the spiritual history of this excellent Christian, and prince among the Gaelic poets. We would heartily recommend this new book, as we consider that no better book could be put into the hands of young and old. Its price is five shillings, and may be obtained through any good bookseller.
We hope a second edition may be soon called for, and then we shall expect Mr. Macbean to reprint the Diary in full. The book would then be complete. A. M’K.