Note 90 — THE BOOK OF THE DEAN OF LISMORE.

This Poet is obviously a Scotchman; but judging from another of his compositions in this volume, he was, like the Scottish bards of his time, well acquainted with the bardic literature of Ireland. This arose from the frequent intercourse between the two countries during their early history, and the number of Scotchmen educated both in the Medical and Bardic Schools of Ireland. This is one of the circumstances which renders it so difficult now, in the absence of authentic historical documents, to extricate much of the social history of the two countries. Hence the rival Scottish and Irish claims to many of our Celtic literary remains. There is no doubt that the poets of both countries interwove with their compositions the traditions of the race, without much regard to whether these were Scotch or Irish. The Irish trace this common literature to the fact of the Irish colonization of Scotland, which they maintain was the origin of the Celtic population of the latter country; but it is by no means necessary to go so far back in order to find sufficient cause for the fact. Christianity seems to have formed the first solid basis of union between the two countries, and a common Christianity was without doubt the means of long maintaining it. This composition is usually called “Bàs Dhiarmaid,” The death of Diarmad.