No one can say when or by whom, the Gaelic originals were composed; they were handed down by oral tradition to the men and women from whom Alexander Carmichael received them during his long life (1832-1912). Those who made and used these verses felt the presence of God and his messengers in all concerns of their lives : in their human relationships, in birth and death, in waking and sleeping, in their work, at home, in the fields, and on the sea.