Friday, June 24, 2011

The Carmichael Watson Project

The Carmina Gadelica is a collection of Hebridean charms, hymns, and songs that serve as a wonderful source of liturgy and traditions for us Gaelic Polytheists. The four-volume collection that was released was an edited version which cut out a lot of what Carmichael collected but thanks to a new project from Edinburgh University Library, we may learn what some of that cut information was as Carmichael's notebooks are being made available:
"The Carmichael Watson collection in Edinburgh University Library, centred on the papers of the pioneering folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912), is the foremost collection of its kind in the country, a treasure-chest of stories, songs, customs, and beliefs from the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland. It offers us fundamental insights into the creation of Carmichael's greatest work Carmina Gadelica, an anthology of Hebridean charms, hymns, and songs, and a key text in the 'Celtic Twilight' movement."

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