Читать книгу Literature of the Gaelic Landscape онлайн
42 страница из 54
The Lay of Fraoch – Laoidh Fhraoich
Unlike the exploits of Fionn and the Fianna, the ballads celebrating them, can be dated. Those which circulated orally in the Highlands after 1600, were in most cases, composed between the 12th and 16th centuries (Meek 1991). Most Gaelic ballads of that period are linked with Fianlore. This canon of work is characterised by outdoor adventures, an engagement of story with landscape and the use of local place-names in narrative action.
The Lay of Fraoch, where Fraoch means heather, but is also the name of the hero involved, involves the healing properties of rowanberries, gathered from a heathery island in a loch. In the 18th century the legend was associated with an island in (ssss1) two miles west of Amulree (NN864376) in Perthshire. It is believed that, before it was named after Fraoch, who came from Connacht in Ireland, the loch was called after the Glen where it lies, Glen Quaich - Gleann Cuaich (NN797396), which runs west from Amulree. Both names were known in the 18th century. It is thought that the Lay of Fraoch was an early Irish legend, probably composed in Roscommon (ibid). It was transferred to this location in the Perthshire Highlands, because it was similar enough topographically to be able to support the storyline, or the landscape included place-names comparable to those found in the original setting. In summary, the tale is as follows.