Gadelica can properly be assessed. Legacy Although Carmina Gadelica remains a controversial text, its volumes have to be read in the context of Carmichael's own times, a period of widespread political strife in the Highlands, when habitual contempt of Gaels, their language and their culture was widespread and publicly expressed. In the words of Gaelic scholar Dr John MacInnes, Carmina Gadelica is not a monumental exercise in literary fabrication nor, on the other hand, is it a transcript of ancient poems and spells reproduced exactly in the form in which they survived in oral tradition.' Despite its flaws, Carmina Gadelica remains an indispensable source for the popular culture, customs, beliefs, and way of life of Scottish Gaels in the nineteenth century. References Further reading External links Carmina Gadelica vol. i (1900 edition) Carmina Gadelica vol. ii (1900 edition) Carmina Gadelica vol. i (1928 edition) Carmina Gadelica vol. ii (1928 edition) Carmina Gadelica vol. iii Carmichael Watson Project 1900 anthologies 1940 anthologies 1941 anthologies 1954 anthologies 1971 anthologies 1992 anthologies British poetry anthologies Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish folklore