Page 31 - A Gaelic Tale of the Milky Way - Sgriob Chlann Uisnich

ISSUE : Issue 19

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1978/6/1

A Gaelic Tale of the Milky V feiy Sgnob Chlann Uisnich The Track of the Children of Uisneach Tha ml a' dol a dh'innse dhuibh sgeul beag raar a chuala mi neo mar a leubh mi air Sgriob Chlann Uisnich. Tha e coltach gu robh iad ann an droch-chath agus bha Deir- dire • bha i ann am m'r-ghaol air fear de Chlann Uisnich, fear air an robh Naois. Agus'anns a* chath a bh'ann chaidh an cur gu bas agus thuit i'e sios anns an ualgh comhla riu* agus bhasaich i fhein. Ach chaidh an togail agus chaidh tiodhlac- adh a dheanamh orra air gach taobh dhe'n chiadh. Ach a r'ir an t-seanachais dh'fh's craobh bho gach uaigh agus gus an d'thain? ig iad gu cheile. '3 bha gamhlas mor aig an righ ris an seo agus thug e ordan na craobhan a ghearradh, agus dh'fhas iad as ur. Thachair sin caochladh thuruis agus mu dheireadh chunnaic an righ iomchaidh an cur agus an tiodhlacadh air gach taobh dhe'n loch; cha'n fhasadh na craobhan air an astar sin gu br'ch. Ach tha e anns an t~seanachas gur ann as an sin a thainig am meall le sgriob bhain a tha fo'n iarmailt de rionnagan neo reul- tan a chi thu as iomadh oidhche ris an can iad Sgriob Chlann Uisnich, agus sin an naidheachd mar a fhuair mise i. I'm going to tell you a little story, just as I heard it or read it, about the Track of the Children of Uisneach (The Milky Way). It seems that they were in a disas? trous battle and (a woman called) Deirdire was greatly in love with one of the Chil- . dren of Uisneach • a man by the name of Naois. In that battle the Children of Uis? neach were put to death and she fell down into the grave with them and died there. But the two of them were raised and given a burial on either side of the burial- ground, and according to tradition, a tree grew from each grave until they joined. This aroused a great deal of vengeful mal? ice in the king, and he ordered that the trees be cut down, but they grew once more. This happened various times until at last the king decided to place them and bury them on different sides of the loch; the trees could never grow across that distance. And it is told traditionally that this is the origin of the cluster of stars, going across the sky in a light trail and called the Track of the Children of Uisneach, that you can see on many nights. And there is the story as I was given it. John Shaw of Kin'sville, Cape Breton, recorded, transcribed and translated this short piece recited by Joe Neil MacNeil of Sydney. In a letter John added; "The legend here of the oriiS:in of the Milky Way is the first item of Gaelic cosmology that I've ever heard, though the tradition must be a strong oral one, since I've had the Gaelic name from more than one source. There are hints of a Celtic cosmology in some of the Im- ramma or voyage tales from the Middle Ages but nothing (to my knowledge) this ex-" pliciF. This little story' is attached to a much larger tale called Deirdire (Scot? tish Gaelic) or Oidheadh Chloinne hUisneach (Early Modem Irish), which in turn des? cends from an Old Irish (8th or 9th cent.) forerunner called Longes Mac nUislenn, 'The Sxlle of the Sons of Uisliu.'" 'Se seillean a'phosas daoine ri lusan Flemtning's Honey Truro and Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Je offer Septic Tank Pumping Service Ken-Mac Plumbing &HEATING; Phone 929-2214 and if no answer 929-2326 Englishtown For an extraordinary display JOY Gift and Jewell Ltd. SPODE China AYNSLEY China ROYAL DOULTON China RYEDEL Crystal from Austria LIMOGES Miniatures from France BOHEMIA Czechoslovakian Crystal Handmade LLADRO Figurines from Spain Look for J 0 Y in the Wooico Shopping Plaza, Sydney River yimo) CAPE BRETON SHOPPING PLAZA STDNCT RIVBR • OIBN DAILT 'TIL 10 P. M. A Diyision of tbe F.W.WOolwoxtb Co. Liaited BUY WITH GONRDENCE SATISmON GUARANTEED lmmAkHdIi OR iwM IMKt RvN'9 THE THIRD COLLECTORS' EDITION of Cape Breton's Magazine issues 13 thru 18 reprinted and bound in one book • 280 pages • $5.SO where you buy Cape Breton's Magazine or by mail from Wreck Cove, C.B., N.S.

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