By Poetic Authority: The Rhetoric of Panegyric in Gaelic Poetry of Scotland to c.1700

Pia Coira presents a comprehensive survey of medieval and early modern Scottish Gaelic poetry and studies the particular form of poetic diction in the extant corpus. Through a fixed set of literary conventions the court poets of the period gave sanction to their patrons' leadership, an essential task which served to preserve the cohesion of society. These conventions, known as the panegyric code, were in a large measure borrowed by the more demotic vernacular poets, and indeed permeate all Gaelic literary genres, including annals and chronicles. Originally established in the poetic schools of Ireland, the code adopted some distinct forms in Scotland, reflecting particular social and political developments. This book is the first detailed and systematic collection and classification of the rhetoric of leadership in Scottish Gaelic poetry, from the earliest times to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Because of its social and political function, however, this poetry also reveals much about the society in which it flourished, particularly in respect of issues of Gaelic identity and loyalties, as Gaels, as Scots, and as members of the early-modern kingdom of Britain. Particularly helpful features of the book are its careful analysis of the 'panegyric code', including its composition and employment; its divergences from the established conventions received from the schools of Ireland; its discussion of issues of sovereignty, loyalties and identities as reflected in the poetry; and a novel systematic classification of Scottish kindreds (clans) according to their own genealogical claims. The book will prove an invaluable resource for those studying Celtic, Gaelic and Scottish literature and history of the medieval and early modern periods.