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Sensational new discoveries have been made at an archaeological dig at the
site of a Roman army camp near Hadrian's Wall.  When the legions were
evacuated, orders were sent out to destroy all valuable military
records.  However, in the far-flung camps, lazy army bureaucrats simply
pitched all the files into the nearest bog.  Now archaeologists are
recovering all the records, preserved in the highly tannic bog water.

Among the latest discoveries is what appears to be a Latin translation of a
Pictish folk-song.  No doubt the lonely legionaries on sentry duty on the
wall heard the melodic strains drifting on the wind from the Pictish
encampments to the north.  Roman soldiers must have learned this
traditional Pictish melody, which is the earliest folksong recorded in the
British Isles.

Of particular interest is the chorus of syllabic vocables, remarkably
similar to the Gaelic walking song which is not found in written records
until almost 1000 years later. In fact, a remarkable similar chorus of
vocables: I\ aigh i\ aigh o\ can be found in a walking song from Skye, "Tha
baile aig sean-Mhac a' Domhnuill", in the Frances Tolmie collection.

Following is a transcription of the original manuscript:

   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
   Et in ille fundum habebat porces, EIEIO
   Cum oink oink hic, oink oink hoc
   Oink hic, oink hoc, ubique oink oink
   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO

   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
   Et in ille fundum habebat boves, EIEIO
   Cum moo moo hic, moo moo hoc
   Moo hic, moo hoc, ubique moo moo
   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO

   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
   Et in ille fundum habebat oves, EIEIO
   Cum baa baa hic, baa baa hoc
   Baa hic, baa hoc, ubique baa baa
   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO

   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO
   Et in ille fundum habebat anates, EIEIO
   Cum quack quack hic, quack quack hoc
   Quack hic, quack hoc, ubique quack quack
   Senex Macdonaldus habebat fundum, EIEIO

   etc.



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