High Middle Ages
Gaelic has a rich oral (beul-aithris) and written tradition, having been the language of the bardic culture of the Highland clans. However, according to Peter Berresford Ellis, the only extant manuscripts preceding the Book of the Dean of Lismore from 16th century are some notes in the Book of Deer, one 11th century poem and the Islay Charter of 1408, presumably due to the rest having been "destroyed by the anti-Gaelic administrators of the country".
It is clear from John Barbour (d. 1395), and a plethora of other evidence, that the Fenian Cycle flourished in Scotland. There are allusions to Gaelic legendary characters in later Anglo-Scottish literature (oral and written).
Read more about this topic: Scottish Gaelic Literature
Famous quotes containing the words middle ages, high, middle and/or ages:
“People who are always praising the past
And especially the times of faith as best
Ought to go and live in the Middle Ages
And be burnt at the stake as witches and sages.”
—Stevie Smith (1902–1971)
“The way to go to the circus, however, is with someone who has seen perhaps one theatrical performance before in his life and that in the High School hall.... The scales of sophistication are struck from your eyes and you see in the circus a gathering of men and women who are able to do things as a matter of course which you couldn’t do if your life depended on it.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“There is a time of life somewhere between the sullen fugues of adolescence and the retrenchments of middle age when human nature becomes so absolutely absorbing one wants to be in the city constantly, even at the height of summer.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Minerva House ... was “a finishing establishment for young ladies,” where some twenty girls of the ages from thirteen to nineteen inclusive, acquired a smattering of everything and a knowledge of nothing.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)