ページの画像
PDF
ePub

to St. Brigid, when he wrote," nam parrochia est magna hodie S. Brigidæ in illis regionibus". Some further observations on the authorship of the Hymn will be found in the Additional Notes.

It is an alphabetical Hymn, containing, however, only the last three letters, X, Y, Z, together with what is called a first verse beginning Audite virginis laudes; which first verse, both in the Liber Hymnorum, and in the Life of Brigid published by Colgan, occurs after the three former.

It is certain that the line Christus in nostra insula was from very early times. regarded as the beginning of the Hymn, for it is so quoted in an ancient collection of hymns which has been written in the beginning of a still more ancient copy of the Greek Psalter, in Irish characters, preserved in the Library of Bâle (a. vii. 3). This remarkable MS. the Editor had the privilege of examining in the summer of 1852. The Psalter cannot be of later date than the ninth or tenth century; and the Hymns written in the first few leaves are in an Irish hand, not later than the twelfth century. The first Hymn is that beginning—

Cantemus in omni die
Concinantes varie

which is given at full length. beginning "Singularis meriti, Then the Hymn

Then follows a prayer to the B. V. Mary, sola sine exemplo, mater et Virgo Maria.”

Alta audite TA EPTA
Toto mundo micantia,

which is also given at full length; and then—

1 In illis regionibus—cap. 9. (Tr. Thaum. p. 528). Colgan remarks on this passage (n. 7, p. 543), "Unde author indicat se vetustum esse, dum dicit suo tempore illum districtum et ita amplum fuisse ut regiones ad cum pertinerent, et ad S. Brigidam spectasse ; quandoquidem a multis seculis nec tam amplus fuerit, nec ad ordinem S. Brigidæ spectaverit."

2 X, Y, Z.-The indulgence granted to the repetition of the Hymn of St. Patrick (see above, p. 33) was ultimately conceded to the last three verses of it, viz. those be

ginning with the letters X, Y, and Z; so that the repetition of these verses was equivalent to the repetition of the whole Hymn. Was it on this principle that the Hymn to St. Brigid contained only the verses beginning with the last three letters of the alphabet?

3 Greek Psalter.-Dr. Keller has given a fac-simile of the characters used in this Psalter, in his learned paper, "Bilder und Schriftzüge in den Irischen Manuscripten der Schweizerischen Bibliotheken," p. 86, and Taf. xiii. 5. (Mittheilungen der Antiq. Gesellschaft in Zurich, vii. Band.)

item, xps in Nostra insola que uocatur,

of which no more than these words are given, it being evidently then so well known that the writer did not deem it necessary to transcribe it at length. Then follows the verse:

Sancta virgo virginum Maria

Intercede pro nobis.

Incipit epistola salvatoris Domini nostri Ihu Xpi ad æ. dgarum.

Deus meus et pater et filius et spiritus sanctus

cui omnia subjecta sunt, cui omnis creatura deservit.

Over the words "sancta virgo,” in the same handwriting, occurs the word "beatissima."

The above is probably a part of an ancient office, of which the Hymn Christus in nostra insula formed a part; and it is curious that the Epistle of our Lord to Abgarus appears to have been used as a Lesson, which is a singular proof of the antiquity of the office.

In the Liber Hymnorum the following Hymn is preceded by a short Preface, in Irish, which is here printed exactly as it stands, except that the contractions of the MS. are not preserved. The Hymn is accompanied by an occasional interlineary gloss, now for the first time printed, but it has no rubrical heading or general title. In Colgan's edition it is entitled "Hymnus de Brigidâ Virgine," but whether this title was added by himself, or was found by him in the MS. from which he printed, does not appear.

The care taken to ascertain the author of every Hymn, by prefixing the curious historical prefaces which occur in the Liber Hymnorum, was probably in compliance with the 23rd Canon of the second Council of Tours (A. D. 567), or with some corresponding ecclesiastical regulation which was of force in Ireland. This canon is as follows:-"Licet hymnos Ambrosianos habeamus in canone, tamen quoniam reliquorum sunt aliqui, qui digni sunt forma cantari, volumus libenter amplecti eos præterea, quorum auctorum nomina fuerint in limine prænotata: quoniam quæ fide constiterint dicendi ratione non obstant".

1 Concil. Labb. et Cossart. tom. v. 863. The connexion between the Church of Ireland and

the Church of Tours in early times is well known.

xps in nostra. Ninnid lámidan mac echach isse do signi hunc fninum do brigit. Uel is fiac sleibte do rigne. Dicunt alii combad Ultan airdbreccan do gnet. Ar ise po teclamastar ferta brigte in oén lebor. Audite uirginis laudes ise a thossach. Ord aipgitrech fair. Tré rithim dna do rigned. Tri caibtil and, & cethri líni cech caibtil & se sillaba déc cech line. Dicunt alii combad mór intimmunsa, acht mi failet sund acht cethri caibtil de, .i. in cet caibtil, & na tri caibtil dedencha, causa breuitatis.

Ps in nostra insola que uocatur hibernia

ps

Ostensus est hominibus maximis mirabilibus que perfecit per felicem celestis uite uirginem precellentem pro merito magno in mundi circulo

mnus iste angelice summeque sancte brigite

Fari non ualet omnia uirtutum mirabilia

5

que nostris nunquam auribus si sint facta audiuimus Nisi per istam uirginem marie sancte similem

GLOSS.-7. Si sint facta.—.i. ab alia virgine. 8. Similem.—.1. ar isi brigit maire na ngoidel [i. e. for Brigid is the Mary of the Gaedhel (or Irish)].

1. Christus in nostra.--See a translation of the Preface, with some observations and illustrations, in the Additional Notes. It will be observed that there is in this Hymn a rhyme or assonance in the middle and end of each line: insola, Hibernia; hominibus, mirabilibus; felicem, virginem; merito, circulo, &c.

6. Fari non valet.-This passage is probably the authority for Ware's assertion

that St. Ultan wrote an alphabetical narrative of the miracles of St. Brigid. He says,—“ Ultanus mac Conchubhair episcopus Ardbracannensis miracula Brigidæ in unum collegit librum, ordine alphabetico"-De scriptoribus Hiberniæ, c. iii.; but the book of miracles was certainly not the same as the alphabetical hymn, and was, in all probability, in Irish.

8. Marie sancte.-See the Gloss, and

I

α

ona sancte militie sanctos lumbos precingere
consueuit diurno nocturno quoque studio
consummato certamine sumpsit palmam uictorie
refulgens magno splendore ut sol in coeli culmine

udite uirginis laudes sancta quoque merita
perfectionem quam promisit uiriliter impleuit

xpi matrem se spopondit dictis et fecit factis
brigida aut amata ueri dei regina

15

brigida sancta sedulo sit in nostro auxilio ut mereamur coronam habere ac letitiam in conspectu angelorum in secula reculorum.

GLOSS.-9. Militiæ.—.i. contra diabulum et uitia. Lumbos.—.i. carnales voluntates. 11. Certamine. -.i. mundi præsentis, ut apostolus dicit, certamen bonum certavi, cursum consummavi. Palmam.— .i. premium. Victoria.-.i. ded. . et vivis. 12. Refulgens.-.i. ut dicitur, fulgebunt justi sicut sol in regno patris eorum. 13. Laudes, vel jura ip coin [or jura is the right reading]. Sancta.— .1. Brigit and co ro recrad don merita tis [i. e. Brigid is implied in this, so as to answer to the merita below]. 14. Perfectionem.-Commadhe so coir ind line [this may be the correct form of this line]; .i. perfectionem promisit quam viriliter implebit. 15. Dictis.-Comad he so dna [it may be this, however,] dictis atque factis fecit. 16. Regina.-Vel et regina.

comp. v. 15. In the Additional Note B will be found some remarks on this title given to St. Brigid.

10. Consuevit.-This line seems imperfect, as it consists of fourteen instead of sixteen syllables; consuevit may have been read as if of four syllables, but this would still leave one syllable short. Perhaps we should read "et diurno.”

12. Ut sol in.-One of Colgan's MSS. reads "et velut cœli culmine."

13. Audite. This stanza cannot have been by the same author as the foregoing. Neither the rhythm or assonances, nor the metre or number of syllables, is exactly observed. Verses 13 and 15 consist of but fifteen syllables, and verse 16 of

fourteen only. If we adopt the reading given by Colgan, suggested also in the Gloss on ver. 15, "dictis atque factis fecit," the number of syllables in that line will be corrected. The suggestion of the scholiast's preface (see p. 63), that the Hymn originally consisted of a capitulum for every letter of the alphabet, is unnecessary. Alphabetical poems containing stanzas for the last three letters of the alphabet only were common. See an example, Irish version of Nennius, Introd. p. 1o. These three letters were selected because they were a triad, and because they began with the symbol or abbreviation for Christus.

16. Aut amata.-Colgan reads "automata," and he has appended to the word the

10

[ocr errors]

following note: Brigida autumata.-In Codice Hibernico [i. e., I presume, the MS. of the Tertia Vita, which he had obtained from the monastery in the county of Longford] Antomata: rectius forte automata, quæ vox significat instrumenta mechanica ita subtiliter et artificiose fabricata, ut sua sponte, seu se ipsis nullaque apparente causa vel motore moveantur; αὐτουματον enim idem est quod ultroneum, seu suæ spontis" (Tr. Thaum., p. 545). He does not, however, explain what the meaning of the verse will be if we adopt this reading "Brigid of her own will the Queen of the true God," seems strange theology, if, indeed, it have any meaning. But it is singular that Colgan (apparently without knowing it) gives, as if it had been in his text, what is unquestionably the true reading, Brigida autumata: of

which "aut amata" is evidently a corruption:-"Brigid, who is esteemed, or believed to be, the Queen of the true God." In Colgan's copy there is a reference from the word Dei to the words "al. Call," in the margin. This is, no doubt, an error of the press for Cali: but veri is inconsistent with this reading, as we can scarcely suppose the author to have written "veri cœli regina." We must therefore regard cali as the suggestion of some transcriber or scholiast, who did not feel quite satisfied with the phrase "veri Dei Regina."

Brigida sancta.-These words seem to be the substance of a Collect, or Antiphon, in an ancient office of St. Brigid. Colgan evidently took them for a distich of the Hymn, and has printed them as such (see Add. Notes, p. 63).

« 前へ次へ »