I had a useful meeting yesterday with George Patton, ceo of the Boaod of Ulster-Scotch/Ulster-Scots Agency which is an all-island body set up under the auspices of the Good Friday Agreement.
The members of the Boord come almost exclusively from a Protestant background (certainly, Sinn Féin doesn't take up its right to make appointments to the Boord) which is a pity since more than a few of the republicans I know have roots in the Plantation and, presumably, with the men and women of '98.
But if republicans remain proud of the political legacy of the Presbyterians of Planter stock who led the United Irishmen, why has there not been a simliar interest in the language they spoke?
One republican who crossed that bridge between Irish republicanism and the "Scottish dialect" of Ulster was Joseph Campbell/Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil (pictured). Among other things, Joseph, born on the Castlereagh Road, introduced Irish studies to the US — quite a boast.
He wrote in Irish and English but also penned poems in what his biographers describe as "the peculiar Scottish dialect of Co Down" and what we would call Ulster-Scots (not the artificial tongue promoted by a small cadre of extremists interested only in blocking promotion of the Irish language in the North). Here's a rendering which pays tribute to the beauty of the Lagan and Malone — where I was on the run through packed snow this morning and spotted the male and female bullfinch (that's the fine-looking male pictured, the female is more demure), but as yet no sign of the waxwing which is reported to have been blown south to Ireland by the arctic weather conditions.
'Tis pretty tae be in Baile-liosan,
'Tis pretty tae be in gree Magh-luan;
'Tis prettier tae be in Newtownbreda,
Beeking under the eaves of June.
The cummers are out wi' their knitting and spinning,
The thrush sings frae his crib on the wa'
And o'er the white road and the clachan caddies
Play at their marlies and goaling-ba'
Could Joseph Campbell, a republican prisoner in Cork Jail after the Civil War, be the figure who, 130 years after his birth, helps bring the nationalists and republicans of the North to a new recognition of this wonderful part of their Irish heritage?
2 comments:
I note today for the first time a gentleman of the highest reknown in Irish language and other circles, Cathal O'Donnghaile, has a posting on one of your other commentaries.
Mr. O'Donnghaile and some of his colleagues that worked with him in years gone by have something that none of the rest of you do, massive credibility and respect on the Shankill and in Scotland. The good word travels.
He and others walked the walk. They did not just talk the talk. They were genuine. We are not fools to all the republican jibberish and secret hidden agendas. Everyone knows what happened to Mr. O'Donnghaile and his pioneering group.
Your question on "Who will lead us across the divide?" is rhetorical, with all due respect.
Your republican leadership and your Catholic Church deliberately chose to destroy such leadership.
The bridge is through Scotland, not the bank and political criminals in Dublin who care nothing about Ulster other than keeping people on their knees in the name of profit and greed.
It is good to hear a worthy name from the not so distant past reappearing. I am glad that Mr. O'Donnghaile is still about and is still speaking the truth. That naturally comes with courage, and we respect courage.
We welcome his reappearance.
Perhaps this is a good time, if there ever was one, to begin to reestablish the ancient Kingdom of Dál Riata, as one excellent way to move forward for everyone.
Almost 11 years on from the GFA there is still plenty of inequity save for those ones in power.
The anti-social behavour rampant throughout so many communities is systemic of underpining issues that no one dares to even acknowledge, and it gets worse and worse by the year.
Both Sinn Fein and the DUP play deaf and dumb, always. Both have become effectively irrelevant at community level. Both care only about control and nothing else. Both are into the enrichment of their friends and the corruption of power.
We have largely become a failed society in denial of the world around, save for holding out our tin begging cups to the Yanks and the EU which never seems to end.
We wore out our welcome with both long ago and have become an unwelcome house guest who has overstayed their visit and does not have the decency nor the good sense to leave.
We have become parasites of the worst kind.
We have just about lost all pride. That is not the natural way God intended each and everyone of us to be created in his/her image.
Perhaps, just perhaps, Dal Riata could be the way into the future.
We all need inspiration and vision and something to put our shoulders to in a common effort.
We could even share a common language on common ground.
Dál Riatans unite for the future!
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