TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE. BY THOMAS TRAVERS BURKE, ESQ. H. P. llth Light Dragoons. " Proceed in forceful sounds, and colour bold, " The native legends of thy land rehearse." COLLINS. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, OH ME, AND BROWN : CONSTABLE, AND CO. EDINBURGH; AXD RICHARD MILLIKEN, GRAFTON-STREET, DUBLIN. 1820. NOI/AN, Printer, 3, SufiUk-itreet, Dublin. TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT STUART, THE FOLLOWING POEM IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY HIS OBLIGED AND MOST DEVOTED SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. 2061946 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IN an age like the present when the public mind appears ardently to thirst after works of taste and genius that so rich a collection of poetic treasure as the poems of Ossian, should be neglected, and even viewed with decided apathy by the generality of the British public, is indeed a circumstance which can- not fail to create surprise in every mind alive to the numerous, and unrivalled beauties of these inestimable remnants of Celtic poetry. If any proof could be re- quired of the little interest they excite, a most unequi- vocal one may be had, in the coldness and indifference with which the literary world received the report of the Highland Society's patriotic exertions, to rescue the venerable bard from the obloquy and contempt, that prejudice and scepticism had endeavoured to heap upon him. B VI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. With respect to the intrinsic merit of these poems, I fancy that they will, if brought to the bar of criticism, be found amply to possess all the qualities which can entitle a work to immortality, even were we to keep their claim to being genuine records of the transactions and manners of our ancestors altogether out of the ques- tion. In tenderness, in pathos, in sublimity, in just de- lineation of character, in display of the most interesting emotions of the human mind ; and above all, in being admirably calculated to inspire us with a disgust at vice, in whatever form it may present itself, and a love of virtue and heroism ; what poems can produce more brilliant specimens of excellence? Nor are they defi- cient in systematic arrangement ; nor in any thing that could tend to exalt the character of those whom the poet has chosen to celebrate : a proof of which will be had in the little piece now before us. It is true we are not amused with those monstrosities, which (from early prejudice in favour of the eminent authors, who, in compliance with the absurd notions of their times, were under the necessity of introducing them in their works) some have been led to consider almost as the ground- work of poetry. We have no Gods, with human pas- sions, becoming actors in the different scenes, and despoiling the heroes of almost every particle of that merit which they might otherwise have had in our PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Vll eyes, making them worse than puppets. No : Ossian knew the human heart too well to be ignorant, that every artificial aid afforded must proportionally dimi- nish our admiration of the individual: and therefore we do not find even a ghost called in to the assis- tance of his conflicting friends : although we perceive from some passages in the poems, that it was not un- usual in his day for others to invoke the vengeance of supernatural powers against their enemies.* And I would, by the way, call the reader's attention to the above mentioned circumstance, as affording no trifling testimony that the poems are of a remote an- tiquity. For it is well known that a kind of mania ex- isted, in favour of what is termed machinery in poetry, even down to the period in which Macpherson wrote ; and we must be aware how easy it would have been for a person of any ingenuity to introduce a ghostly agency, agreeable to the notions which then prevailed, and which are not yet extinct in the Highlands of Scot- land. Besides, if we go farther back, even for centu- ries previous to that period, we shall find almost every ballad interlarded with the terrible effects of ghosts, witches, incantations, and such like foolery. So that, in my opinion, consistency would lead us to refer these * See Suilnmlla of Lumon. Vlll PREFATORY DISCOURSE. poems to the aera to which they are assigned, in pre- ference to any other whatsoever. There can be no doubt that the strong prejudice which has existed, ever since their first publication, against the authenticity of these poems, must in a very great degree have damped the public zeal for them. But I imagine that even this circumstance could not long have kept them back from becoming general favourites, had they been given to the world in an inviting form. In this opinion I am confirmed, by the reception which they have met with on the continent, especially in Italy: There, as I am informed, they are even held in more estimation than the works of the immortal Homer ; although translated by the very same hand.* It is highly probable that Mr. Macpherson adopted the abrupt and unconnected style, which we find to pervade the greater part of his translation, from an idea that it would give it an air of genuineness, and help to obviate the objections which existing prejudices would be likely to urge against the originality of these poems, had they been put into a strain of elegance and ^eloquence, corresponding with the sentiments and the * CRSAROTTI has given a translation, in Italian verse, both of Homer, and Ossian : but the latter is far more admired than the former. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IX talents which they develope. For no one can be igno- rant of the light in which the Highlanders were view- ed at the time when Macpherson published ; that they were looked upon, by the great majority of the British nation, as the descendants of a refractory and barba- rous race, living almost in a state of nature: and Macpherson could hardly have been blind to the diffi- culty of persuading those who held such an opinion, that any thing like regular and systematic poetry could have sprung up among the ancestors of this people ; although they would naturally expect in their compo- sitions much fire, blended with incoherence. There- fore he might have imagined, that the singularity of the style which he employed would tend to quiet such objections against the authenticity of the poems, arrest attention, and gain his translation a reading, even among those who were prejudiced against his country : who would exclaim, * this is just what we should expect from a powerful but uncultivated genius, pregnant with ideas, but struggling for words to ex- press himself, from the barrenness of his language.' In this opinion I am much strengthened by com- paring his translation of the poem of Fingal (which, if I mistake not, was the first that made its appearance,) with his Temora, or indeed with almost any other of the poems: in it we find a degree of finish, and care- X PREFATORY DISCOURSE. fullness in the phraseology, which few of the rest can boast of. And I fancy it was in consequence of his having witnessed the objection above alluded to, or, possibly, from its being hinted to him by some of his acquaintances, that he was induced to vary his method. Though it is not improbable that the impa- tient and capricious temper attributed to him,* might have hurried him into a slovenly execution, when he found that the public curiosity was likely to insure him a favourable reception. Thus, in all probability, self-interest, carelessness, and caprice, led him to introduce the anomaly, of an exquisitely tender and refined poet whose composi- tions display a most extensive experience, and a most Mr. David Hume, in a letter to Dr. Blair, thus speaks of Macpherson : " The absurd pride and caprice of Macpherson himself, who scorns, as he pretends, to satisfy any body that doubts his veracity, has tended much to confirm this general scepticism." Again, in a letter addressed to the same gentleman, dated 6th of October, 1763, Mr. Hume says, " I am glad that you have undertaken the task which I used the freedom to recommend to you, (to make enquiries in the Highlands, and bring some proof of the authenticity of the poems before the world.) Nothing less than what you propose will serve the purpose. You need expect no assistance from Macpherson, who flew into a passion when I told him of the letter I wrote to you. But you must not mind so strange and heteroclite a mortal, than whom I have scarce ever known a man more perverse and nnamiable. He will probably depart for Florida with Governor Johnstone : and I would advise him to travel among the Chickishaws or Cherokees, in order to tame and cirilize him." PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XI intimate acquaintance with the human heart whose impetuosity had been tempered by age, and in whom maturity of judgment must be supposed to have predo- minated, and to have given him a command and con- nexion of ideas often expressing himself with all the abruptness and irregularity of an impatient boy who spoke without reflection ! Fortunately lyir. Macpherson has furnished us with a proof that this was all his own doing not the style of the amiable Ossian. By publishing the original of the seventh C^nto of Temora, that very original from which he professes to have translated, he has enabled us to discover the difference between the diction of Ossian himself, and that of Ossian a la Macpherson. It is proper for me to inform the reader, that the can- to of Temora above mentioned was given as a specimen of the original Celtic poetry ; and a promise held out, that the originals of all the poems should be put to press, when a sufficient number of subscribers could be procured. Becket, a London bookseller who was in the habit of publishing for Mr. Macpherson, declared* that manuscripts of the Gaelic originals were even lodg- *See AN ESSAY ox THE AUTHENTICITY OF OSSIAN'S POEMS, by (he Rev. Dr. Graham : published in 180T. Towards the latter end of the volume n literal translation from the original is given. I have annexed several of Dr. Graham's notes, to my versification of the VII Canto of TEMOHA. Xll PREFATORY DISCOURSE. cd with him for the purpose of being published ; but that Macpherson withdrew them, assigning for reason, ' that a sufficient number of subscribers had not com,e forward to remunerate him.' I am mistaken, however, if there was not another, and a more weighty reason for the originals not making their appearance Some had taken the liberty to criti- cise Macpherson's translation, and to compare it with what of the Gaelic he had published : and from this I fancy, he took the alarm ; as he must have been conscious that he was not the best Celtic scholar in the world ;* and obviously had to expect, if he were to give the originals to the public, that some competitor might arise, perhaps better qualified than himself, and eclipse the translation which he had given. Thus should he be deprived of a rich source of emolument. But of this he could run no risk as long as he kept the originals in his own hands : for there was no great prospect that any one would undertake the toilsome task of col- lecting them as he had done. Every one who considers the circumstances in which Mr. Macpherson was placed, must acknowledge that it would have been an enormous sacrifice in him to have published the originals a sacrifice which could not * See Dr. Graham's Essay. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Xlll have been expected from any but a most liberal and in- dependent person. But it certainly was incumbent on him, at least, to have made some provision that they should come into the hands of the public, after the copy-right of his translation expired. Perhaps what I have now mentioned may likewise furnish a clue to all that impatience and irrascibility, which Macpherson shewed, when called upon to give the public a satisfactory proof of the authenticity of the poems, or even when another person took any steps to investigate the subject. It may also account for his appearing indirectly to favour the suspicion of his being himself the original author:* as this was the surest way to stop all enquiry, in limine. I am not ignorant that individuals are to be found who look upon Macpherson's stile as most suitable to the subject. There are even some who are capable of pointing out his mistranslations, and palpable igno- rance of the Gaelic idiom, and yet appear to consider his mode as the best that could have been devised : although they assert that he has " in general failed :" It is likewise asserted that he was guilty of, what no person with the feelings of a gentleman could have brought himself to do, namely, some manuscripts of the originals which he had borrowed, under a promise of returning them, could never be got out of his hands. C XIV PREFATORY DISCOURSE. they mean, I suppose, failed to convey the force and beauty of the original, or the precise ideas of Ossian. It appears to me that this prejudice in favour of what they are pleased to call " the measured prose of Mac- pherson," (a prose, by the bye, which to my ear seems little short of a barbarous perversion of the English language,) arose from their not having investigated the actual cause of that pleasure which they received from a perusal of his translation, from their not having sufficiently discriminated between its general rugged- ness, and the brilliancy and effect of particular (perhaps I might venture to call them almost insulated) passages, which strongly arrested their attention: like the splen- did ruins of a once magnificent structure, amid their surrounding rubbish. I am free to confess that in some respects Mr. Mac- pherson has been very successful ; he has very happily rendered several of the simflies, and fine touches of Ossian. No reader of sensibility can remain unmoved while perusing numerous passages of his version. But then I am obliged to declare, that, I consider his nar- rative almost always unconnected and tiresome; the similies, and descriptions, sometimes ambiguously, feebly, and even unfaithfully given ; and his ex- pression frequently bombastic, and puerile in the ex- treme. Nor has he often preserved the genuine poetic PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XV language of Ossian. In short, " the voice of Cona" has been stript of its polished dignity, though some of its nerve has been retained. This opinion is not founded solely on my own judg- ment, it is a sentence which I have heard pronounced by many for whose critical knowledge I entertain the highest respect: and I consider it one to which the bulk of Macpherson's readers, at least tacitly, assent. For how few, comparatively, are there who have the resolution to wade through all the poems in his collec- tion! how many who cannot uninterruptedly peruse even a single poem, with any degree of interest! I really have heard almost all those with whom I have conversed on the subject assert, ' that they did not consider the poems of Ossian calculated to be read in a connected way that they were only fit to be looked over in a detached manner.' (as if they were like a book of proverbs, and derived no advantage from that unity, and regularity of plot, which they invariably possess). In fact, it is obvious that few read them for any other purpose than to select some of the beautiful similies, and energetic sentiments, with which they are interspersed: Thus making the embellishments, which should in every poem be only a secondary object, their primary one. And this is the reason why we so sel- dom meet individuals who have obtained any historical XVI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. information from Ossian, or can accurately describe the characters of his heroes: they have been dwelling on other objects than those with which the original poet meant principally to arrest their attention: and thus have lost nine-tenths of the pleasure and advantage that they might otherwise have derived. These are facts which cannot be disproved : as they must be no- torious to every one who looks round the circle of his acquaintance. In short, I may safely assert that, to the generality" of his readers, Macpherson's translation of Ossian is very little better than a sealed book. Where experience pronounces unequivocally, specula- tion must submit to her decision. Nor will the fine- spun sophistry which we hear from some people, of the stile of Macpherson being ' admirably suited to the subject simple, elegant, &c. &c.' be able to over- rule the order of nature. The mind of man is not constituted to admire long-continued abruptness and incoherence : And it is as vain to expect that a work in which these properties predominate will give general satisfaction ; as that a person could feast deliciously on food that he does not relish. Those who have made the human mind their study, and have examined into the nature of that species of stile which has always been best received, ought not to find much difficulty in explaining all the mystery ; as PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XV11 they must discern, that it was only on those embel- lishments, which were originally intended to heighten the painting, and to encrease the general effect, that Macpherson bestowed any pains. From the very slo- venly manner in which the intermediate parts are ex- ecuted, a remarkable inequality pervades the work: the ornaments are too prominent and too dazzling ; they engross too much of the reader's attention ; and lie scattered about, like jewels in the mire ; so that he hurries on to pick them up, heedless of what inter- venes. In fine, Macpherson's translation might, at best, be compared to an anatomical picture, in which a person well skilled in the art may discover the linea- ments of symmetry and beauty: but an ordinary ob- server descries little more than its singularity. No extraordinary degree of penetration is necessary to perceive, that the number of those is small who will be at the trouble to supply an author's deficien- cies. For the generality of readers he must do every thing must remove all ambiguity all ruggedness; and lead them on in a smooth and uninterrupted path, to their journey's end. In works of fancy and ima- gination this is particularly essential : Such are perused principally for amusement and recreation; and we are impatient at being obliged to call in the judgment, at every step we take. Most people will be discou- XV111 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. raged at the very onset: and there are none who, when they are soaring aloft, like continually to de- scend. Really there is so nice a connexion, so po- lished a surface necessary in the higher regions of language, that the smallest link cannot be spared, nor the minutest flaw viewed, without feelings of regret. It must be acknowledged that it is putting an author to a severe test, the depriving him of his native phrase- ology, and compelling him to wear a foreign costume. And the person who undertakes to do so (especially to render poetry) enters on a task of much responsibility, and delicacy. For if he endeavour to translate ver- bally, he is almost sure of introducing ambiguity and ruggedness; and if he translate too paraphrastically, he runs the risk of changing the characteristics of the original, for his own. In fact he has no less an opera- tion than that of re-modelling the original : and can- not be said to have done his duty, unless he transfuse the author's ideas, with all their native force, grace, and dignity, as far as the genius of the new language will permit. In a word, his great aim must be, to speak as it might be supposed that the original author would have expressed himself, had he become intimate- ly acquainted with the true character of the language into which he is translated. Doubtless, as the manners, customs, and civilization of a people influence the character of their language ; PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XIX so do the temper, habits, and refinement of an indivi- dual in some measure characterise his stile. The calm, the temperate, and the experienced, express themselves very differently from the choleric, the rash, and the unrefined. Nay farther, the very situation in which the individual is placed, the very circumstances which surround him, will also greatly influence the operations of his mind, and, of consequence, his expression. Thus, although a man violently agitated, and distracted with strong and varied emotions, will naturally speak with abruptness and irregularity ; it would be grossly incor- rect to make the same person express himself in a similar manner in narration, grief, or under any circum- stances that bespeak reflection, and in which we may suppose the mind to advance in an uninterrupted pro- gression. Here, then, are considerations which the translator must never overlook, if he would acquit him- self faithfully ; and which will also furnish the reader with a criterion by which to judge of Mr. Macpher- son's performance: let him weigh well the character of Ossian, serene, amiable, of great self-possession, and of a reflecting turn of mind from his youth ; also enjoying all the advantages of education that his sera admitted of; a bard by profession ; and consequently accustomed to arranging and combining his ideas : let him, I say, take all this into consideration, and pro- XX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. nounce whether Mr. Macpherson speaks as the " BARD OF CONA" might be expected to have done. But farther ; it may be of use to us, in our present discussion, to glance at some peculiar objects of atten- tion, which no translator of poetry ought to lose sight of. These arise from the nature, and mechanical struc- ture of verse from its artificial metre, and the rigid attention to euphony, &c. This every one who has had any practice in poetic composition will at once con- ceive : He will be aware that the necessity of observ- ing accent, quantity, and all the other characteristics of this musical language, must, in some measure, deter- mine the composer in his selection of words ; cause him occasionally to employ some in a more extended sense than he would have done were he writing prose, in which (as there is no absolute standard for the disposi- tion and arrangement, nothing determined or arbitrary with respect to its cadences,) he is less fettered, and has less to divert him from strict logicial accuracy in his choice of expression. Not only will this artificial disposition and arrangement of poetry influence the choice of single words; it will even extend its effects still farther will sometimes, perhaps, induce a greater brevity, sometimes a greater diffuseness, than the author might have observed, had he nothing more than the bare communication of his ideas to attend to. Nay PREFATORY DISCOURSE XXI more, it may sometimes affect even his descriptions ; perchance, lead him to select different features, and different circumstances, from what he might otherwise have exhibited : and thus cause him to present the object to us in somewhat a different (possibly a more un- favourable) light than he might otherwise have done. Doubtless, what we have here mentioned will less fre- quently occur where the author has powerful talents, and an extended vocabulary, than in the works of a second-rate genius. But we find some traces of it even in the compositions of the most refined and distinguish- ed poets : though the pleasure which our ear derives, from the delicacy and harmony of their periods, diverts us from scrutinizing too narrowly, and makes us ima- gine that every thing is as well as it could possibly have been accomplished. But when we come to strip the poet of all his native harmony when we transpose him into another language; in which, perhaps, his most sonorous words are changed for harsh and dis- cordant sounds when all the ingenious mechanism of his verse is destroyed, and he is left dependant on the mere force of the ideas that he conveys what a test is he put to! how apparent are all his foibles, without ^. single extenuating circumstance ! Is this, I would ask, > the way to do justice to an author? Is this, think you. the mode he would have adopted, had he himself be- D XX11 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. come the translator ? No surely. And yet it will be pal- pable, from comparing Mr. Macpherson's translation with the original, that in many places he has observed this method : Nor has he always even done Ossian the justice to convey any thing like the naked unadorned meaning ; for at times it would baffle the acutest judg- ment to ascertain the true import of some passages in his version. From the above remarks we perceive how delicate a task it is to translate poetry ; and may draw some useful inferences, as to the mode most likely to prove successful. Indeed, if we examine the most admired translations of ancient or modern poetry into our language, we shall find that the authors of them seldom lost sight of the foregoing principles. They sometimes condensed, sometimes expanded the original: Sometimes rejected, altogether what they conceived to have been inserted solely on account of the mechanism of verse ; or replaced it by something more congenial with the general strain of sentiment, and likely to make a better figure in the new version. In short they en- deavoured to enter fully into the spirit into the train of ideas, in which the original author appeared to have proceeded to pass him through the alembic of a sound and critical judgment ; and boldly attempted even to rectify his faults, (for what author is without them?) PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XX111 and to heighten his beauties. What the effect has been any one may speedily satisfy himself, by inspecting POPE'S immortal (though paraphrastic) translation of Homer, and comparing it with MACPHERSON'S attempt to give a literal version of the Iliad, in his jargon.* And yet, though Mr. Macpherson failed so decidedly in his attempt, in my opinion, he has done far more justice to Homer than to Ossian. And here I would remark, that the almost general abruptness of Mr. Macpherson's translation, appears to me to be far more the effect of art, than of either acci- dent, or negligence. In many places we discover a studi- ous attention to tmcouthness. He frequently introduces a period, where a comma, or at all events a semi-colon would have sufficed. And this of itself greatly tends to break the chain of ideas in the mind of the reader ; who is from habit led to conclude the sense complete, where a period occurs. He likewise rejects expletives, connectives, and even the article, when really neces- sary, according to the genius of the English language. But we also perceive evident marks of inattention and In Mr. Macpherson's preface to his translation of the Iliad, he says, " The translator will be much disappointed should the reader take this ver- sion for mere prose." The learned gentleman need not have felt the least uneasiness on the subject : for there was not the slightest danger that any one could have made go egregious a mistake. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. carelessness, a bad choice of expression, and nume- rous instances of words employed in an inappropriate sense. Besides, after all his witicisms on Irish bulls, he betrays strong symptoms of having himself caught the contagion. I shall now make some extracts from his translation, to exhibit his mode of proceeding: " The blue waves of Erin roll in light. The moun- tains are covered with day. Trees shake their dusky heads, in the breeze. Grey torrents pour their noisy streams. Two green hills, with aged oaks, surround a narrow plain, (the word " surround " is here rather unfortunate.) The blue course of a stream is there. On its banks stood Cairbar of Atha. His spear supports the king: the red eye of his fear is sad. Cormac rises in his soul, with all his ghastly wounds. Blood pours from his airy side. Cairbar thrice threw his spear on earth, (how affected!) Thrice he stroked his beard. His steps are short. He often stops. He tosses his si- newy arms. He is like a cloud in the desert, varying its form to every blast. The vallies are sad around, and fear, by turns, the shower ! The king, at length, resumed his soul. He took his pointed spear. He turn- ed his eye to Moilena. The scouts of blue ocean came. They came with steps of fear, and often looked behind. Cairbar knew that the mighty were near! He called his gloomy chiefs." TEMORA : BOOK 1. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXV In the next section we have : " There Morlath stood with darkened face. * * * Foldath stands, like an oozy rock, that covers its dark sides with foam. (How much better to have used the verb "covers" in the passive sense.) His spear is like Slimora's fir, that meets the winds of heaven. (Would not " braves" have conveyed the obvious meaning of the poet, far better than "meets 2 " which, by the bye, savours strongly of bull-making, as well as the rock covering itself with foam.) * * These and a thousand other chiefs surrounded the king of Erin, when the scout of ocean came, Mor-annal, from streamy Moilena. His eyes hang forward from his face. * His lips are trem- bling pale!" Mr. Macpherson is likewise frequently obscure: in- deed, sometimes so ridiculously so, as almost to create laughter on the most serious occasions. For instance, when he is describing the assassination of Oscar by Cair- bar, (TEMORA, Book I.) he says " Cairbar shrinks before Oscar's sword! he creeps in darkness behind a stone. He lifts the spear in secret ; he pierces my Oscar's side ! He falls forward on his shield: his knee sustains the chief. But still his spear is in his hand. See gloomy * I do not know what the reader may think of this expression : but to me it appears to be a singularly uncouth one, to say the least of it. \ XXVI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Cairbar falls!" Here it is scarcely necessary for me to observe, that, from the grammatical (or, I should rather say, un grammatical) construction ; we are almost tempt- ed to conclude that Cairbar himself does all this " He pierces my Oscar's side ! He falls forward on his shield, &c." but quite the contrary: it is Oscar that "falls forward on his shield" it is Oscar who " supports him- self on his knee," and, from this position, darts his spear through Cairbar 's forehead.* The learned gentleman sometimes also speaks (what at least in my humble judgment appears to be) sheer nonsense. For instance, when Carril, the bard, is des- cribing the sons of Usnoth, (TEMORA, Book I.) he is made to say, " Their stature is like young trees in a valley, growing in a shower!" With the greatest pro- priety a note of admiration is placed at the end of this notable sentence : for indeed it is a most miraculous one. The reader, I dare say, will agree with me, that, either the gentry in those days must have had a more than " microscopic eye," or that this is most wretch- ed and unpardonable bombast. Had he said, " Their stature was like young trees growing in a valley of streams, or even in a valley of showers, (following In a succeeding page, the whole of this passage is compared with a verbal translation from the original. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXV11 the Gaelic idiom,) a striking image would have been presented to the understanding. For every one knows, that trees will shoot up faster, and look far more ver- dant by a river side, or (in a wet season) in a valley, where the moisture is retained to their roots, than in a high and mountainous situation ; where they are stinted in their growth, and contract a shrivelled, and less flourishing appearance. Now this is precisely the idea which the poet wished to convey: that they were stripplings, who had quickly shot up to the sta- ture of a man, yet exhibiting all the vernal bloom of youth. I could produce numerous other specimens of the evident injustice which Macpherson has done to the venerable bard : evident, indeed, even to a person en- tirely ignorant of the original. And no one can deny that such slovenly work as this is enough to tire and disgust any reader. But lest it be said that we deal harshly with Mr. M. in taking him to task for errors which possibly were in the original from which he translated ; I shall here in- sert a paragraph from his preface to an edition of the poems, published in August 1773, eleven yuars after they had first made their appearance. From this we shall find that he openly professed to have made alter- ations and improvements, and to have left the poems XXVI11 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. in & finished state. " Without encreasing his genius, the author may have improved his language, in the eleven years that the following poems have been before the public. Errors in diction might have happened at twenty-four, which the experience of a riper age may remove ; and some exuberances in imagery may be restrained, with advantage, by a degree of judgment acquired in the progress of time. Impressed with this opinion, he ran over the whole with attention and Mccuracy; and, he hopes, he has brought the work to a state of correctness, which will preclude all future improvements." Here then, it would appear that we have not taken this very modest author* off his guard : For, as he de- clares his pages to have undergone the labor limae, he becomes a fair subject for criticism. Besides, we can point out, very unequivocally, that he well knew how to make suppressions and alterations, when it answered * In another place he very plainly intimates the opinion he had of bis own merit : " The writer has now resigned them (the poems) for ever to their fate. That they have been well received by the public, appears from an extensive sale ; that they shall continue to be well received, he may venture to prophecy without the gift of.that inspiration, to which poets lay claim. Again : " The operation (that is, of translating them into foreign languages) must, however, be performed with skilful hands. A translator, who cannot equal Iiis original, is incapable of expressing its beauties." PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXIX his purpose when any phrase stood in the way of an opinion which he wished to maintain. Of this we have a bold example in Temora, Canto VII. In the Gaelic, which we have before adverted to as published by Mac- phergon, the poet takes occasion to remark, that the star Tonthena, which was the most conspicuous orna- ment on the shield of Cathmor, had by its fortunate appearance saved Larthon, the ancestor of that hero, from shipwreck, and guided him (as the original ex- pressly states) to VICTORY " NAM BUADH." To pre- vent ambiguity, I shall here mention that Larthon was then proceeding with a colony of the Bolgi, from INIS- OUAINE, (the island of Anglesey*) to Ireland; night descended, and a storm came on: " Terror (as the poet expresses it) seized on the sons of BOLGA :" (it was their first voyage; and, as they had altogether lost sight of the stars, they knew not whither to steer their course.) "When bright Tonthena of the billows smiled from her bursting clouds, mild-shining on the *My reasons for considering the IMS-OUAINE (or, as Mr. Macpherson calls it, the " Inishuna") of Ossian to be the isle of ANGLESEY, I think are conclusive : they shall be given in another poem, of which the scene of action is laid there. I am inclined to think that the bay of GCLBIN, into which Larthon's ship is said to have run after the storm, was Dublin-bay. For this latter supposition, it is true, I can offer nothing but probabilities ; however these should certainly be allowed some weight, when there is no- thing to bring against them. But of this more hereafter. E XXX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. sea of storms; she guided the joyful Larthon TO VIC- TORY." But Macpherson suppresses the expression to victory, and mutilates the whole passage ; for the very obvious reason, that it is in direct opposition to an as- sertion which he makes in another place, viz. that Lar- thon' s colony was the first that settled in Ireland. For the humblest understanding could not avoid drawing the inference, that if Larthon's followers were the very first inhabitants of Ireland, there were no enemies for him to combat with. Besides, it militates against what Mr. Macpherson most strenuously endeavours to prove, namely, that the pretensions of Ireland to antiquity are altogether unfounded, and evidently contradicted by Ossian. This is a point so important, that it would be highly unpardonable in me to pass it over in a cursory man- ner ; in-as-much as we shall, I expect, be able not only fully to repel a charge, which some (relying on the accuracy of Macpherson's statement) have brought against the poems, ' of being in direct opposition to well-established authorities, and therefore spurious ;' but we shall also have an opportunity of displaying Mr. Macpherson in his proper colours, and exposing the shallowness of his judgment, and (strange as it may appear,) his ignorance of the tendency of the very poems which he attempted lo translate. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXI But, before we proceed to make extracts from his dissertation, and formally to compare his assertions with the statement of Ossian ; it may be satisfactory to the reader to have an epitome of the opinion which he (Mr. M.) has advanced, as to the first settlement of Ireland, and other circumstances connected with the subject. It is as follows: That Ireland was first peo- pled from Britain the southern parts by the Firbolg, or Belgse, from South Britain, and the northern parts by the Gael, who passed over, from Caledonia and the Hebrides, into Ulster. He, in several places, admits that the Firbolg appear to have been the first settlers. But then he declares it to be an important fact, abso- lutely established, that the first monarch of Ireland was of the Caledonian race ; and that we cannot place the sera of that monarch prior to the first century: He triumphantly exclaims, " To establish this fact is to lay, at once, aside the pretended antiquities of the Scots and Irish, and to get quit of a long list of kings which the latter give us for a millenium before." The reader will perceive, from what follows, that, in the above summary, I have not given a false tinge to the opinions of Macpherson. In his DISSERTATION CONCERNING THE POEMS OF OSSIAN, he says : "John Fordun was the first who collected these fragments of the Scots history, which had escaped the brutal policy XXX11 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. of Edward I, and reduced them into ordef. * * * Some time before Fordun wrote, the king of England, in a letter to the Pope, had run up the antiquity of his nation to a very remote aera. Fordun, possessed of all the national prejudice of the age, was unwilling that his country should yield, in point of antiquity, to a people, then its rivals and enemies. Destitute of annals in Scotland, he had recourse to Ireland, which, according to the vulgar errors of the times, was reckoned the first habitation of the Scots. He found, there, that the "Irish bards had carried their pretensions to anti- quity as high, if not beyond any nation in Europe. It was from them he took those improbable fictions, which form the first part of his history." Again, he says : " That Ireland was first peopled from Britain, is, at length, a matter that admits of no doubt. * * * I shall easily admit, that the colony of the Firbolg, confessedly the Beiges of Britain, settled in the south of Ireland, before the Cael, or Caledonians, discovered the north : but it is not at all likely, that the migration of the Firbolg to Ireland happened many centuries before the Christian sera." In another part of his dissertation he states that, " Temora contains not only the history of the first mi- gration of the Caledonians into Ireland, (I should be glad to know where this history is to be found: for my PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXIII part, I can neither find a history of, nor even an al- lusion to this event,} it also preserves some important facts, (yes, more than Mr. M. wished the public to discover) concerning the first settlement of* the Fir- bolg, or Belg<e of Britain, in that kingdom, under their leader Larthon." * * * The last quotation, on this subject, that I shall make from his dissertation, is, where he roundly asserts, that " The favourite chimera, that Ireland is the mother- country of the Scots, is by Ossian totally subverted and ruined." We now come to examine what foundation he has, in Ossian, for all those dogmatical assertions. I shall quote, from Mr. Macpherson's translation, all the pas- sages that can fairly be said to have a reference to the point in dispute. " Conar was the brother of Trathal, first of mortal men. His battles were on every coast. A thousand streams rolled down the blood of his foes. (Is this like the infancy of society?) His fame filled green Erin, like a pleasant gale: (fame does not in general extend but where there are tongues to pro- pagate it). The nations gathered in Ullin, and blessed the king; the king of the race of their fathers, from the land of Selma:" (that is, as appears evident from a subsequent passage, " the king from the land of Selma, of the race of their fathers." This must be XXXIV PREFATORY DISCOURSE. the passage which Mr. Macpherson alludes to, as the history! ! of the first migration of the Cael into Ireland. But I would ask every person of candour, whether any positive conclusion can be drawn, from hence, as to the disputed point? it barely declares that Conar was of the race of their fathers, and came over from the land of Selma: as we have it more unequivocally stated afterwards, " The son of Trenmor came'; Conar, arm of death, from Morven of the groves. He poured his might along green Erin," &c. Although Mr. Mac- pherson has taken no pains, whatsoever, to lay before his readers the origin of Conar's pretensions to the Irish crown, Ossian has not left us entirely without a key to the enquiry. We find Conar first making his appearance in the war between Turloch and Crothar, two chiefs who were at variance on account of the latter having married Conlama, a young lady to whom the former had a previous attachment. Turloch, it would appear, solicited the aid of Conar: who seems to have come over from Caledonia with a band of warriors for the purpose. With his assistance Turloch prevailed. And Conar (who seems to have possessed, in no small degree, the ambition of his father Tren- mor,) had the address to get himself elected king. But it is manifest, from the great opposition shewn to him, that he was viewed as an usurper: " Why should Conar PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXV reign," they said, "the son of resounding Morven?'" In fact he had to wade to the sovereignty through blood : " His battles were on every coast : a thousand streams rolled down the blood of his foes." I shall make a few more extracts from the poem of Temora, on this subject ; to shew that T have not endeavoured to wrest an isolated passage to my own purpose. The poet, in continuation, says: " The chiefs of the south were gathered, in the darkness of their pride. In the horrid cave of Muma they mixed their secret words. Thither often, they said, the spirits of their fathers came : shewing their pale forms from the chinky rocks: reminding them of the honour of Bolga. "Why should Conar reign,' they said, " the son of resound- ing Morven?" Observe here the expression, "re- minding them of the honour of Bolga." Does not this seem to intimate that the supreme authority was in the hands of the FIRBOLG, previous to the usur- pation of Conar? " Why should Conar reign? What pretensions has he to the crown? We have ourselves a prior right. But, as Conar was the grand-uncle of Fingal, it was not Ossian's business to speak lightly of his original claims: However, I must do him the jus- tice to say, that he has not said a single word in their favour. " They (the chiefs of the south) came forth, like the streams of the desert, with the roar of their XXXVI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. hundred tribes. (Again unlike the infancy of so- ciety.) Conar was a rock before them : broken they rolled on every side. But often they returned, and the sons of Selma fell. The king stood, among the tombs of his warriors. He darkly bent his mournful face. His soul was rolled into itself: and he had mark- ed the place where he was to fall ; when Trathal came, in his strength, his brother from cloudy Morven. * * * He (Trathal) lightened forward in battle, till Bolga yielded at her streams!" In a succeeding Episode, in the same (that is, the second) Canto of Temora, after relating the marriage of Crothar, a king of Alnecma (Connaught)> with Con- lama, daughter to Cathmin, a chief of Ullin (Ulster) ; the poet goes on to describe the progress of that war, which appears first to have brought Conar into notice in Ireland : " The pride of Turloch rose, a youth who loved the white-handed Conlama. He came with battle to Alnecma; to Atha of the roes. * * # Battle on battle comes. Blood is poured on blood. The tombs of the valiant rise. Erin's clouds are hung round with ghosts. The chiefs of the south gathered round the echoing shield of Crothar. He came with death to the paths of the foe. The virgins wept, by the streams of Ullin," &c. * * In this distressing situation, they called in foreign aid. " Descending PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXV11 like the eagle of heaven, with all his rustling wings, when he forsakes the blast, with joy, (and I would add, equally greedy for his prey) the son of Tren- mor came; Conar arm of death, from Morven of the groves. He poured his might along green Erin. Death dimly strode behind his sword. The sons of Bolga fled from his course. * * # Crothar met him in battle: but Alnecma's warriors fled. The king of Atha slowly retired in the grief of his soul. He afterwards shone in the south." * * * Here then is all that Ossian says, which could throw any light on the subject. And I am sure the reader will agree with me, that there is no account " of the first migration of the Gael into Ireland ;" no proof that Conar was the first king ; nor any reason to con- clude that Ireland was, in the time of Conar, any thing like an infant country: Indeed, I think we have presumptive evidence of its not being then thinly in- habited: as Crothar, king of Atha, is said to have " shone in the south," after he was defeated by Conar: which evidently means, that he was successful in war against some southern enemies. Another circumstance which I think worthy of attention, as seeming to re- fer the arrival of the colony of the Bolgi, under Larthon to a very remote antiquity, is, it is said in the seventh Canto of Temora, that " the maids turn their F XXXV111 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. eyes away, lest the king should be lowly laid ; for never had they seen a ship, dark-rider of the wave!"* Thus, for the departure of this colony, we must go back to a period when the first ship was launched in Anglesey. But how long anterior to this was the first colonization, Ossian does not afford us the least oppor- tunity of judging: but he decidedly intimates that there were inhabitants in Ireland previous to Larthon's arrival. Where then is the ground of all Mr. Macpherson's exultation ? has he proved a single one of his unquali- fied assertions? It is true, Ossian declares the northern Irish and the western Caledonians to have been origi- nally the same people : but this has been always admit- ted, on every side. But there certainly is not the slightest intimation in any of the poems, as to Ireland having, at any time, received a colony from Scotland : therefore some other authority must decide the dispute. One thing, however, is perfectly evident from the foregoing examination, viz. that Macpherson was nei- * Though I have, in the above passage, quoted from Macpherson's trans- lation ; I must remark that it is miserably defective : The original inti- mates the terror of the "virgins," lest Larthon should "fall from the wing of the tempest," when they saw the vessel " obliquely sailing," (that is, close-haul' d, and plying to wind-ward, as sailors term it) : In short it beautifully describes their emotion, when, from " the heights of Cluba," they beheld the ship hanging as it were, on "the wing of the wind !" enclining so much to leeward, that they thought she must inevita- bly upset. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXIX ther the composer, nor the compiler, of the poem of Temora : as, in either case, he must have comprehended its plot and bearing: though he might have translated, sentence by sentence, and even have collated different copies of the poem, and even have corrected senten- tious and minute inaccuracies, without making himself perfectly acquainted with the story that it conveyed. This latter assertion, to some people, perhaps, will appear rather strange : but it may be explained, thus : in translating, the mind is principally occupied with the minutiae of the author, the ideas are frequently in- terrupted, and the attention somewhat divided ; hence many obstacles occur to our carrying on a connected view of all the bearings of the subject: the same may be said of collating. But in original composition the imagination is of necessity strongly impressed with the general tendency of the story; the outline must be sketched before the minutiae can be executed. In fact, in the designment there must invariably be a continued an uninterrupted exertion of the understanding, to insure unity, and uniformity. Nor is this less called for in compiling; which, perhaps, is still more a busi- ness of industry, and one in which the judgment is peculiarly engaged, in order to put the disjointed, and often mutilated fragments together, and supply the deficiencies, so as to give, at least, rationality in X PREFATORY DISCOURSE. the general effect. The reader can himself apply this to the case-in-point : he will see the absurdity of the supposition, that Macpherson could have put together the "shreds and patches" (as they have been called) of various bards, have removed every thing contra- dictory, supplied all deficiencies, and produced a whole, exhibiting such admirable regularity and art, (without, I may assert, the most trifling antilogy,) and yet, after all, remain absolutely ignorant of the true import of what he had accomplished with so much la- bour. But, if we take into account the character given him, by one who knew him personally by no less an individual than DAVID HUME, we shall have little difficulty in concluding (from the many errors in judgment, and blunders which he has been guilty of, but in particular, from that gross one, which I remark- ed in my notes on DAR-THULA ; and which proves him to have overlooked what might without impropriety be called a corner-stone of the whole structure,) we shall, I say, be enclined to think, that the man took up his opinions with little or no consideration; and, by his impetuous temper, was often hurried on to make assertions without weighing them. Another thing which must have tended to make him view the poem of Temora with a jaundiced eye, was, he seems to have got hold of the hypothesis that all the island of PREFATORY DISCOURSE. xli Great Britain was peopled, gradually, and progres- sively, by settlers who landed in the south of England, and, in process of time, extended themselves northwards ; sending their colonies to Ireland as they increased in numbers. He started, I dare say, with this notion ; and every thing in Ossian which, at a superficial view, appeared to favour it, was (fortutiate- ly*) swallowed by him with avidity. It would, likewise, be perfectly consistent with his disposition, to have recourse to sophistry, in order to defend any of the opinions advanced by him, (even had he afterwards discovered his error,) rather than confess himself in fault. And his obvious imprudence in mis-translating the very specimen of the original which he gave to the public, ought not to excite much surprise, when we consider that inconsistencies were continually to be expected from so " heteroclite a mortal:" who, in addition to his other good qualities, held the under- standing of his cotemporaries in most sovereign con- tempt. But to return from our digression. I shall here remark, that the reason is obvious, why Ossian has left it undecided, when, and by whom Ireland was first peopled, viz. it would have been * Fortunately, I say ; for by his blunders we are in some measure able 10 discover the school-hoy part which he acted ia the transaction,- Xlii PREFATORY DISCOURSE. entirely irrelevant to his subject to have gone into an investigation on the question. The object which he had in view, in the Episodes introduced in the second Canto of TEMORA, was to point out the origin of the war in which they were at that moment engaged ; and therefore it was sufficient for him to trace the cause up to those disputes between the Gael and Firbolg, which we have before mentioned. But it is worthy of notice, though he says not a word as to the origin of the Irish Gael, he enters into particulars concerning the colony of Larthon, the ancestor of his enemies. Very satis- factory reasons can be assigned for this difference, namely, the Caledonians, to whom Ossian addresses his poems, were fully aware of the nature and origin of that connexion which subsisted between the Gael of Ireland and the Gael of Scotland ; it was therefore un- necessary, and would even have been frivolous in him, to have entered upon the detail of what every one was acquainted with : however gratifying it may now be to us, to have his direct evidence on this point. But perhaps Mr. Macpherson has, unwittingly, hit off the very reason of Ossian 's silence with respect to the first migration of the Irish Gael, viz. even down to the time of John Fordun, " according to the vulgar errors of the times, Ireland was reckoned the first habitation of the Scots." Now, for aught Mr. Mac- PREFATORY DISCOURSE. xliii pherson could say, those vulgar errors might have extended to the very days of Ossian : for, " vulgar errors" (a he is pleased to take upon himself to call them,) are seldom without some foundation ; although learned errors often have their origin in prbde, possi- tivity, and a wish to appear singular, and to be count- ed the author of original theories. With the greatest propriety, however, Ossian enters into particulars concerning the colony of Larthon ; as it served to ex- plain why Cathmor took so active a part in the affairs of Inishouaine, the mother-country of his ancestors: and besides it was an historical fact with which Ossian's countrymen, in general, were far less likely to be acquainted, than with the other. As for my part, it would have been one of the last contests I should ever have interfered in, which was the mother-country, Ireland, or Scotland, were it not my duty to clear Ossian of any imputation that could operate to his prejudice. I fancy that I sin- cerely love my native land: although I can both respect and esteem the Scotch ; and could wish that, in many respects, we made them objects of our imi- tation. All national prejudice I disclaim, as degrading to a rational being. However, I cannot avoid saying, that (at least in my opinion) the Irish, to this very hour, exhibit evident marks of being a most compound Xliv PREFATORY DISCOURSE. people. I have had an opportunity of knowing them in every part of Ireland ; and am convinced that they are the descendants of various of many colonies. We can scarcely travel from one province to another, without discovering striking characteristics of a dis- tinct race from those we had left. And, what is wor- thy of remark, we meet this great diversity among the lower orders; who are, generally speaking, in the habit of forming connexions with their immediate neighbours. Any diversity of feature, &c. in the higher classes, should not excite surprise, from their frequent intercourse with the English, the Scotch, and the Welsh. But my senses deceive me, if among the peasantry of Ireland there are not indisputable cha- racteristics, of several of them being of a different origin from any people that I have seen in any or either of the three countries now mentioned be they Milesians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, or whatever they may. Of this I conceive their eternal broils, (arising, unquestionably, from their originally having had a diver- sity of conflicting interests,) to be an unequivocal testi- mony: not to mention several other marks, as their great variety of dialects, &c. &c. Nor is this opinion the least discountenanced by Ossian; but rather the contrary : and I am sorry to say, that, instead of being a boastful circumstance for Erin, I look upon it to PREFATORY DISCOURSE. have been her bane ! the fertile source of many of her misfortunes : and therefore far more to be deplored by every true patriot, than if all our boasted annals all our pretensions to national antiquity were at once buried in oblivion. I cannot here resist the temptation of drawing my reader's attention, to the glaring contrast between the illiberal and contemptible efforts of Macpherson, and the calm and dispassionate opinion of the Rev. Henry Rowlands, a Welshman, author of MONA ANTIQUA RESTAURATA, the book of which I have spoken in my notes to DAR-THULA a book teeming with useful information respecting the antiquities of the united kingdom. In speaking of the ancient inhabitants of Ireland, he says ; " The Irish memoirs are undoubt- edly in many things of good repute and credit, sup- ported by the weighty reasons given in defence of them. That the Irish people had early learning among them, such at least as related to family-histories, and the like, and that they made the best use of it, is not to be ques- tioned. Their Druids, having less of power and au- thority among the people, became, thereby, as more tractable, so more obliging and kinder to posterity than the British Druids were, (as will appear hereafter,) who, humourously bigoted in their .way, by their haughty disdain of letters and contempt of writing, G PREFATORY DISCOURSE. treasured all in their own noddles, whereas the Irish Druids, less strict in the ancient rules of their profes- sion, scrupled not to record in writing, and thereby transmitted to succeeding times the many histories of their monarchs and princes, the genealogies of their chief tribes and families, and other occurrences of note, many of which are to this day, to be seen among them. All which helps the Britains in a great measure wanted, by the inexcusable pride and folly of our British Druids, who superstitiously avoided that way of communicating. But how learned and knowing soever they were in many things, they buried all with them, to the exceeding loss of posterity, except what the learned in other nations took notice of, and left in their account of them. This unhappy temper of the British Druids has left our nation so much in the dark, that during their time, we hare very little to depend on, but what the names of places, and other footsteps of ancient things, will give us room to make the best use we can, of guesses and conjectures. But though our British Druids did religiously abstain from the use of writing ; yet it is not unlikely, but that our Bards and Genealogists were men of greater latitude, and took the liberty to record in writing, the names and descents, and some accounts also, of our British kings and princes, for it is owned by Ccesar himself PREFATORY DISCOURSE. that they had letters among them, and that they some- times used them, in their public and private affairs, though in things appertaining to religion, they very strictly forbare the use of them, and communicated their systems ore tenus, in rhythmical odes, and verses, to their hearers." In many places this gentleman bears a decided, and, unquestionably, an unbiassed testimony to the antiquity of Ireland to its having been a country of considerable importance, for ages previous to the sera of Ossian. Likewise, it is worthy of notice that nearly the whole of his elaborate volume is strongly confirmatory of the view which I have taken of the state of society about the time when we suppose the poems to have been composed ; and (need I add?) a most satisfactory refutal of what has been urged as to the barbarity of our fore-fathers at that period: But my present limits do not allow me to pursue the subject, at that length which it would de- mand: so that I must here content myself with this general remark, that, in my opinion, the most unan- swerable arguments in favour of the authenticity of Ossian 's poems, might be drawn from Mr. Rowlands' valuable researches. The reader will probably expect me to notice the various objections which have been urged against the genuineness of these poems. This is a task which I PREFATORY DISCOURSE. should rather have entirely deferred until a future opportunity : as it is utterly impossible to do justice to it, without giving at least a summary of the many, and ingenious treatises, which have made their appearance, on both sides of the question. I beg leave to observe, that I have some idea of hereafter making an attempt of this kind, perhaps in form of an appendix, (should the public deem the proposed translation of the poems worthy of their attention); and I mean to ac- company it with a contribution of my humble mite, by endeavouring to reply to those points in the con- troversy which may appear to me as yet unanswered. However, for the sake of the general reader, I shall now proceed to glance over some of the principal ob- jections which we hear constantly brought forward. But I must claim the indulgence of any who may be prepared to look for a detail that should provide for every possible contingency, if in the following essay I have left many of the fastnesses of the adversaries of the poems unattacked.* The assertion, that "it is entirely out of the nature of things that the poems could be preserved by oral I hope those who have a wish to see the controversy brought to a clone, (which I feel convinced it can be, and the authenticity of the poems established on an immoveable basis J will lend their aid in this (perhaps I may venture to call it) national undertaking, by furnishing all the in- formation iu their power on the subject. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. tradition, alone, for so many centuries," is, I think, more specious than solid. In fact, it is solely from the present state of society from our having so many ar- tificial aids to memory, and, in consequence, being led to neglect the improvement of that natural faculty, and to under-rate the powers of which it is capable, if cultivated to the utmost that this objection gathers all its force. We are all aware that the memory, as well as all the faculties of the mind and body, will acquire exceeding strength by being habitually, and vigor- ously exercised : But still it is difficult for us to form a just estimate of what might be accomplished, in this respect, by a distinct class of men, (such as the bards undubitably were,) whose primary education, probably, at one time consisted in committing these poems to memory, as models for their future imitation; and whose profession led them to an almost daily recital of them. Besides we must hold in view, that, one bard corrupting a passage, either wilfully, or through for- getfullness, did not make it a necessary consequence that others should fall into precisely the same error : others might have preserved the identical passage per- fectly pure, even had they become more defective in other respects; and, thus, we have not only a pos- sible, but also a probable mode of the genuine poetry of Ossian being preserved in existence, 1 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Here I am brought to remark, that the manner in which Mr. Macpherson is said to have made his col- lection, afforded a better prospect of obtaining the genuine poetry of Ossian, than if he had translated them all from manuscripts in the possession of any one individual: as it enabled him to collate the different copies of a poem ; to retain whatever he thought con- sonant with the usual style of Ossian; and to reject that which appeared to be an interpolation, or even a vitiated passage. No one who is conversant with lite- rature, will consider this a very difficult task : although it was one that required some attention and delicacy. Add the very same use may still be made of the various copies, which have since been collected by the High- land Society, with such praise-worthy zeal.* * The above remark will also serve to invalidate any general objection that may be urged against the poems in MacpbersonV collection, from particular variations that sometimes exist between them and those since obtained ; for it is not reasonable to expect that they should exactly cor- respond. It should be observed, likewise, that Macpherson began to make his collection when circumstances were far more favourable to accuracy ; as the habits of the Highlanders have since his time undergone (in most places,) nearly a to^al revolution ; in consequence of the efforts of the British government to overturn the system of clan-ship, which proved so inconvenient to them in the case of the Pretender, <fec. There may, however, yet be abundant scope for the exercis* of a critical taste, and sonnd judgment, in comparing those in Macpherson's publication with the various other copies; for, although Macpherson's in the main bid fair to be the most authentic, still the others nay in particular passages be greatly superior. Some may object to this method, of endeavouring to PREFATORY DISCOURSE. ll If then the preliminary objection be not insuperable, we may with the greatest propriety proceed to consider those which have been rested on the internal evidence of the poems. Much stress has been laid on the sup- positions existence of a resemblance between them and the writings of the classical poets of antiquity. And hence it has been argued, that they bear evident marks of plagiarism; and a conclusion drawn, that they were a forgery of Macpherson's, who picked and culled, in every quarter, whatever might tally with a few traditionary scraps, which, possibly, he had found somewhere in the Highlands. Now, I must in the first place declare, that, after the closest investigation, I am obliged to dismiss this charge, as totally unfound- ed: and I may, without boasting of a superior acuteness to my neighbours, claim, perhaps, a more intimate acquaintance with the poems of Ossian than extract the genuine poetry of Ossian, as wild, and visionary; but they will please to recollect, that every individual author of sterling merit has a style, in some respects, peculiarly his own ; and though a tolerable imi- tation may when viewed separately deceive us, the forgery will be dis- covered, on a close comparison there will always in this particular, as between the hand-writing of two individuals, be found some minute dif- ferences, which will enable us to give a verdict. I do really think the genius of Ossian so transcendent I conceive that his original poetry must have been such pure gold, that it will be no difficult matter to discover it ; and that even the tarnish of ages will be easily made to disappear! Those who would consider this point more at large, may consult Dr. Graham's Essay. lii PREFATORY DISCOURSE. most other persons ; as the nature of my undertaking has necessarily led me to a laborious analysis of every phrase, and expression.* But though, for argument sake, we were to admit the charge of resemblance, to the fullest extent that it could be urged by the most decided stickler for the rejection of the poems, I can- not deem it any proof that they were not actually the composition of Ossian himself: Before it can be de- clared such, it must first be demonstrated that Ossian could not possibly have had access, either directly, or indirectly, to the works alluded to a supposition which (however the assertion may starkle my learned antago- nists,) is absolutely at variance with tradition, history, and, I think, even with reason. Are we not, I would ask, unequivocally informed by tradition, and by the very poems themselves, and is it not corroborated by the history of that sera in which we place Ossian, that many refugees, and in their number, doubtless, several individuals of distinction and learning, sought an asylum among the Caledonians, during the violent dis- sentions, and especially, those ardent persecutions of Christians, which then occurred? The poems have I trust, after what I have before shewn, that it will no longer be said that Macpherson was the original author : but we shall argue on the prin- ciple, that some other modern might have been. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IHi many allusions to them ; and tradition speaks of con- troversies, on the subject of religion, having been held Between some of the Christian missionaries, or refugees, and Ossian himself. Thus have we a door opened, not only for Ossian's partial acquaintance with the poets of antiquity, but also (if Mr. Laing will require it) with the OLD TESTAMENT WRITERS. I suspect that the generality of my readers will not require me to pursue this argument farther. But, to silence prejudiced quibblers, (and this is the age for them,) I shall add, that such a person as Ossian was not likely to be negligent of any favourable opportunity of enquiring into the poetry of other nations, nor very dull in receiving instruction therein. Neither would it be an extravagant supposition, were I to conclude, that most Romans of respectability,* in that enlightened age, were qualified to give him any information that he could require, and even possessed of copies of the works in question. And surely it would have been the height of ingratitude in those who were so gene- rously received by him, to have omitted any means of gratifying their amiable benefactor. That there were many such amongst the prioiitm Christians, I need not endeavour to prove. H liv PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Nor will Mr. Laing's sagacious discovery, of a resemblance between passages in these poems, and some found in Milton, Shakespeare, &c. be a more , effectual argument ; until he can prove that none of these writers ever copied, or imitated their prede- cessors. But, although I have before declared that I think the charge of plagiarism decidedly unfounded ; though I am clearly of opinion, that if any poet could boast of originality if any poet could safely depend upon his awn resources it was Ossian ; yet do I not hesi- tate to confess, that to me it does not appear an improbable conjecture, that the general idea of com- posing poems so extensive as his Fingal and Tcmora, might have been suggested to him by his hearing a recital of the ^Eneid, or by some such means: for they differ materially, in plot and arrangement, from any other poems that have descended to us, either as the composition of Ossian, or of any other bard : besides, they evidently were not undertaken until he was blind, and far advanced in years. No one will be puerile enough to enquire, how an adequate knowledge of the works in question could have been conveyed to him : for surely whatever me- dium of communication sufficed for controversy on the subject of religion, was equally applicable to the PREFATORY DISCOURSE. lv other. But why should we doubt Ossian's acquain- tance with the Latin tongue? why fancy that he could have 'been ignorant of the language of a people, who, for centuries before, were such objects of atten- tion to his nation who even were in possession of the contiguous provinces ? What ! the son of a king a bard by profession ; and consequently expected to act as ambassador, and interpreter to be ignorant of the language of a people with whom they so frequently came in contact! It would be too absurd an idea to entertain for a moment. I feel equally inclined to question the opinion of those who consider the style of Ossian too refined for the state of society in which he was placed. For though it were necessary, in compliance with the authority of the Roman historians, to conclude the bulk of the people to have been in a very rude state ; by the same authority we are assured, that the bards were both learned and refined. Indeed, this objection seems the feeblest the most unfortunate one that could be brought forward ; for I consider the internal evidence, as unequivocally in favour of the authen- ticity of the poems : at least, it flashed conviction on my mind ; at a time, too, when I was strongly biassed against them, by the opinion of a most distinguished literary character. v PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Some have likewise attempted to refute the idea of the poems being genuine, by declaring it inconsistent with reason, that a people who were constantly em- ployed in such cruel and destructive wars, could have found leisure for the cultivation of their understanding ; or have retained any of those traits of benevolence, and noble feeling, which are so conspicuous in Ossiaii. But this objection proceeds from their having taken a very narrow and superficial view of the subject : Ossian and his companions were not by any means so frequently . employed in wars, as not to find sufficient opportunity to cultivate the arts of peace ; nor were their wars marked with a ferocious character, nor (in general) un- dertaken through motives of ambition, or vindictive feeling. Now, I would put one question to gentlemen who argue thus ; is it not fully as unjust to brand the Caledonians as a set of savages, because, forsooth, we are furnished with an account of some expeditions in which they were engaged ; as it would be to form a si- milar notion of the modern Britons, from a perusal of the history of our late sanguinary campaigns on the Peninsula, &c.? Really, it grieves me to see men, from whom I could expect far more consistancy, so blinded by prejudice, as pertinaciously to maintain opinions, which absolutely shrink from the test of reason. Others, again, have asserted it to be contrary to ex- perience that Osssian and his companions could have PREFATORY DISCOURSE. possessed such strict notions of virtue, integrity, and honour, and have acted in many cases so disinterested a part, and, at the same time be (as they are pleased to imagine) destitute of a system of religion : this some of our objectors denominate an anomaly, which stamps the poems as in opposition to the principles of human nature, and therefore spurious. But it can be satisfac- torily shewn that the poems maintain, throughout, a mythology, and even a system of future rewards and punishments, well calculated to inspire the mind with the most heroic and generous sentiments. I have not the least difficulty in pronouncing the mythology of Ossian, not only more rational, but also many, many degrees farther removed from licentiousness than that handed down by either the Greek or Roman poets. But we are likewise to remember that the poems of Ossian are not treatises of Mythology, they are pro- fessedly narratives of military expeditions ; and the subject of religion could not, in my opinion, be dwelt upon more extensively than we find it, without intro- ducing inappropriate digressions. Ossian's design was to record the deeds of his friends and companions, not to inculcate the precepts of his faith. And we should rather feel surprise at his amazing art, in being able to convey to us so much of the religion, manners, and customs of his countrymen, and others, in the way Iviii PREFATORY DISCOURSE. of embellishment to his poems ; than stupidly displeased with him for not initiating us into all his tenets. Besides we must recollect that it is asserted to have been contrary to the usage of the ancient Caledonians, to blend up the mysteries of religion with their civil narratives. A kindred inference to this, and in my opinion, a very weak one, has been drawn from Ossian's having abstained so much from alluding to commerce, agri- culture, or manufactures, that, to be consistant, we must conclude him to have lived in the very infancy of society, that his countrymen had not at that time made any advances toward civilization or, in other words, that they were little better than savages; and that it is as contrary to common sense to attribute such poems to such a people, as to imagine that they could be produced at present among the Indians of North-America. This is most fallacious reasoning, and proves that those who urge it, could scarce have given the poems a single perusal : for we have, in numerous passages, unequivocal evidence of Ossian's compatriots not having been destitute of manufactures, or com- merce ; and corn they must have had ; or how could they have prepared that beverage which we find so often mentioned, under the term of " the strength of the shell," that is, " the strong liquor which the cup contained?" Now I have not the slightest doubt that PREFATORY DISCOURSE. lix this was a malt liquor, similar to our whiskey. I could moreover produce several passages to support the opinion I have here advanced ; but it will be sufficient for me to remark, generally, that their numerous ships, and frequent intercourse with other nations satisfy the conclusion that they were not without commerce ; Ossian's distinction between the costume, or robes of the Highland females, and those of the Lowlanders, prove them not to have been destitute of manufac- tures: not to mention the description of Fingal's gold-embroidered standard ; the allusions to foun- deries ; or the description of the hall of Selma. But there is one passage in THE BATTLE OF LORA," which proves the Caledonians of that day not to have been unacquainted even with luxuries : it is where Bosmina the daughter of Fingal goes, attended by Nartmor, to propose terms of peace to Erragon, a Scandina- vian king who had invaded the land of Morven, she offered him " an hundred steeds, the children of the rein: an hundred maids from distant lands: an hun- dred hawks. # * * Ten shells (or goblets) studded with gems, * * * the bright water trembles on their stars, and seems to be sparkling wine. They gladdened once the kings of the world (the Roman Emperours) in the midst of their echoing halls." Now these things were offered, not as the IX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. property of Fingal, but of Aldo, one of his chiefs ! Does this demonstrate a rude and barbarous state of society? have we any right to conclude from hence that Ossian and his companions were a poor, half- naked banditti, as I have absolutely heard them called ? However, I must admit them not to have arrived at any thing like the state of luxury we have. But is luxury indispensible to talent and refinement? This would be indeed a strange doctrine: that the very thing which proves so detrimental to the cultivation of the understanding the very thing which tends to ener- vate the mind, and to divert its attention from learn- ing should at the same time be absolutely necessary for the developement, and culture of genius. Expe- rience, as well as reason, can show the absurdity of this idea ; for we have in general found the brightest literary characters to be men of simple and retired habits. The truth is, that extreme poverty, and ex- treme luxury are unfavourable to a progress in learn- ing; for they both tend to draw the mind from contemplation, though in a very different way. But I would ask, in what does the great merit of Ossian principally consist? is it not in a just display of the human mind ; and in a correct, and striking descrip- tion of the simplest and most august objects of nature? Now it is scarcely necessary for me to remind the PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Ixi reader, that the country in which Ossian resided, as well as those which he visited, gave him an opportunity of 'witnessing the latter, in their noblest features ; nor will it be difficult to shew, that the stage of civilization which these poems depict, is far more favourable to the obser- vation of the former, than a more advanced one : For, if we obtain a knowledge of human nature, by reflect- ing on the operations of our own minds, and remarking the actions, and expressions of others ; a state of lux- ury and refinement is peculiarly ill-adapted to these pursuits. Luxury, and the pleasures (or, perhaps, I should call them the dissipations) attendant on it, are too apt to intoxicate the mind ; and too often prove an almost insurmountable barrier to contemplation, even where there is natural genius : and in what we term a very- refined state of society, the manners are so artifi- cial, are formed on so uniform a system, that the feelings of the heart are greatly concealed from our view indeed, are often scarcely discernable ; unless self-interest, or passion throw the individual off his guard, remove the mask, and expose him to us in his proper form. I need not bring many arguments to defend this position ; as it is one from which few of my readers will dissent. Therefore it is evident that if we would study human nature in its true colours, we must view man, while comparative simplicity existed, before I PREFATORY DISCOURSE. mental reservation and hypocrisy grew into a system. In consequence, we find that most poets who have written in a refined state of society, preferred attempting a description of mankind in a ruder state : and yet how tame and uniform are they in the display of cha- racter, when compared with poets of a more unvar- nished age ; where the bold energies of the human mind are constantly called into action ! For an example of this, compare Homer and Virgil. I hope therefore that the reader will discover, from what has been said, that no obstacle arises from the state of society in which Ossian was placed, to our concluding him to be the author of the poems ascribed to him. How- ever, I am perfectly ready to admit him to have been a rara avis in his day. His splendid, his super-eminent genius seems to have gained him such a character among his cotemporaries, that it became a kind of sacrilege to take liberties with his poems ; they were looked upon as a sacred standard for poetic excellence, and, de- scending with such a feeling in their favour, were long defended by the watchful eye of posterity from contamination . * . * It is my opinion, that the existence of one noble and energetic genius, in an age, often tends more to the introduction and improvement of science, and intellectual refinement, than any other circumstance we can well imagine. A bold and extraordinary display of talent in an individual will PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IxiH As to the objection, which I have heard frequently brought forward, " that no traces of the ceremonies of the Druids are to be met with in the poems," I have endeavoured to reply to it in my notes on DAR-THULA ; and to them I beg leave to refer my readers. of necessity attract the attention, excite the admiration, and bring forth the praises of his cotemporaries. The reward which his merit obtains, will not only stimulate him to fresh efforts, but likewise urge others to explore that field which he had opened to their view. Thus many com- petitors for fame arise ; the human mind, from exertion, becomes ex- panded ; and the public, by comparing the numerous essays which make their appearance, arrive, by degrees, even at a knowledge of criticism. It is true that intellectual refinement amongst a people is, in general, accompanied with improvement in what are called the arts of civil life. But we greatly err, if, because they are usually concomitants, we con- clude the existence of the one to be indispensible to that of the other : and we err still farther if we suppose that they must actually keep pace to- gether. Now it appears from Ossian's poems, that he lived in a kind of classical age : poetry then appeared to be almost the order of the day. Nor was it altogether confined to the bards ; for we hear the poetic talent of Fingal, who does not appear to have been of that order, highly applauded by Ossian. I have no doubt, however, but the superlative genius of Ossian (like Homer among the Greeks) put all other competitors in the back ground ; and has been the cause of many other composition* of great merit not outliving the age in which they were produced. Here some important reflections arise : In the first place we see the happy results of public encouragement of genius : secondly, we have reason to conclude that national supereminence in any science is to be attributed rather to what might be called intellectual competition, than to soil, climate, <fec. although the latter may operate as auxiliaries. A similar mode of reasoning will apply to arts and manufactures. In short, as long as human ingenuity, in any branch whatsoever, meets a reward, it will continue to make progress toward perfection. Ixiv PREFATORY DISCOURSE. We had almost forgot to notice the pretensions of Ireland to both Ossian, and his poems:* for many to this hour look upon both the one and the other to be Irish. It cannot be necessary for me to inform the reader, to which side my opinion inclines. But it may not be amiss to say a few words as to the origin of those pretensions ; which, instead of being any proof The affinity of the Caledonian, and Irish royal families, may be seen from the following genealogy : TRENMOR, King of Morven. TRATHAL. CONAR, King of Ireland. COMHAL. FINGAL. CAIRBRE. I . ROSCRANA, the Mother of Ossian. The latter Cormac was the youth who was murdered by Cairl;ar of Atha. He was succeeded, as supreme king, by his uncle Ferad-artho, who probably was not older than Limself. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. of the spuriousness of these poems, on the contrary I look upon as a strong coroboration of their authenti- city. That poems bearing some resemblance to those of Ossian, both as to the names of the heroes, and, sometimes, the incidents related ; and that many of those poems were in existance for ages before Macpherson was born ; I think cannot be disputed. Very ancient manuscripts of several are yet to be found ; and trans- lations of some of them, as well as copies of the origi- nals, have been published. Now all this is not in the least extraordinary it is just what might be expected, from the relation in which Ossian declares himself to have stood with respect to Ireland. In addition to the very near affinity which subsisted between him and the royal-family of Ulster, he was appointed by his father to conduct his cousin Ferad-artho to the palace of Temora, on the latter being raised to the throne, after the murder of young Cormac, (TEMORA, Canto VIII.) And, from the charge and instructions with which Fingal accompanied this commission from his resigning " the spear of Trenmor" (i. e. the command of the army) to Ossian, and immediately after taking his departure for Selma from the youth of the Irish king, and the convulsed state of his dominions it is more than probable I might say, almost certain, that Ossian remained with him until tranquillity was entirely PREFATORY DISCOURSE. restored, and all the refractory chiefs reduced to obe- dience : which could not have been a very short period. Doubtless, during his residence in Ireland he neglected no means to conciliate the inhabitants, and to make them view him as their friend and guardian. Therefore it is not to be wondered at, if Ossian and his memory became revered among the Irish, and his poetry incorporated with that of the national bards: who, besides, would not fail to represent him as their own flesh and blood ; and would studiously avoid every estranging expression every thing that could awaken the jealousy of the nation, and remind them of the foreign interference, which had restored the dynasty of Conar. Hence it is probable that allusions to his not being an Irishman would be carefully refrained from, (at all events by the bards who were in the royal interest) as he was, virtually, for some time their ruler: And future bards, copying from their prede- cessors, would hand down a description of his virtues, and his talents, together with the heroic deeds of his father, Fingal, (or Fion the Gael} without speci- fying their not being natives. Nor is there the least impropriety in Fingal being called general of the Irish Militia (or trained bands) if he be the person alluded to in Irish history: as he constantly put himself at the head of the army, whenever an overwhelming danger PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Ixvii threatened the state ; and was really the main-spring of the government. Besides, I think it probable, from Temora, Canto IV. that Ossian was actually born in Ireland : for we find that Fingal fell in love with, and married his cousin Roscrana, the mother of Ossian, in a few days after his arrival in Ulster, to the assistance of her father Cormac. After his marriage a consider- able time must have elapsed before he could have returned to Morven ; for he had to wait until his cousin Cairbre raised an army, to co-operate with his band, in the war against Colc-ulla ; and the campaign, in all likelihood, was not quickly terminated : so that (if what tradition states be true that Fingal was blessed with a son and heir in due time,) it is far more than probable that Roscrana was not removed from her friends and relatives previous to the birth of Ossian. Be this as it may, it is most evident from the poems of Ossian, that he must have spent no inconsiderable por- tion of his time in Ireland:* he seems intimately acquainted with every thing, and every person of note in the country speaks of the bards, describes their poetic talents, and even inserts several of their I should not omit to state that he married an Irish lady, (Eoir-allen (he daughter of Branno,) tradition says, before he was eighteen years of age ; which proves him to have been in Ireland while very young. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. songs; as if they had been his most familiar compa- nions. And, from the very high encomiums which he bestows on them, we have no reason to imagine that his taste suffered by his communion with them. But it is worthy of remark, that whatever " shreds and patches" of Ossian's composition are to be found in the Irish poetry, appear blended with allusions to the later aera : while the poems which have been preserved in the Highlands as his, bear with them every mark of authenticity, and are of an un-mixed character.* I have some hopes that even the foregoing arguments will be sufficient to convince all who give the subject a dispassionate consideration, that the poems did not originate with Macpherson. If any there be who still hold this opinion, I beg to refer them to the Highland Society's report, published in 1805; to Dr. Graham's Essay on the authenticity of the poems ; and, in par- ticular, to Dr. Hugh Blair's account of the result of the inquiries which he undertook in compliance with Mr. David Hume's request. A perusal of the above pub- lications, will, I think, produce conviction in every mind which is not entirely blinded by prejudice, that * The poem of Dar-thula is among those claimed by Ireland : Ossian at the termination of that poem, speaks of having composed something on that subject, when bis father came over to attack Cairbar the usurper. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IxiX Macpherson must, at least, have collected numerous Gaelic poems, to form the basis of his publication ; and that poems bearing a strong resemblance to those he has published were in existance long before he was born. But a most important point to ascertain, is, what alter- ations, what additions have the poems received from that gentleman's hand ? This question may by some be considered a vain spe- culation, incapable of being brought to any useful issue. Still however I am of opinion that we have suf- ficient data to authorize the inquiry ; and may, by a patient investigation, come to, if not a positive and determinate conclusion, at least a rational one. A very important clue to the investigation may be obtained, by comparing Macp her son's translation of the seventh canto of Temora, with the specimen of the Gaelic original which he has published. As this com- parison has been already made by Dr. Graham in his Essay, to it I refer my reader. From this document we may discern what was Mr. Macpherson's general man- ner of translating the poems ; how far he has departed from the original ; in how much he has conveyed to his readers the genuine ideas and spirit of Ossian : in short, to what degree of credit his translation is entitled. I must here observe, that Mr. Macpherson, by sup- pressing in his translation a passage to be found, in the I 1XX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. original, has made it of superlative value to us ; as by this he has set his seal to the authenticity of it : For (to use his own language) to those who know how pertina- cious he was of his opinion with respect to the Irish history, it must be evident that a canto so subversive of his system, could never have been composed by him. This may serve as an answer (although it is not the only one we could bring forward) to those who have affected to believe that Macpherson fabricated that specimen, to impose on the public. In a critique published last year, (on the first four cantos of my versification of Temora,) several extracts from Macpherson's version have been contrasted with a verbal translation of the original since obtained ; and as we find the translation there given of the passages brought under review, to have a variation very nearly similar, both as to manner and degree, from the version of Macpherson, with that which we discover between his and Dr. Graham's translation of the seventh canto of Temora ; I think myself authorized in making use of Macpherson's acknowledged specimen, as a test by which to judge of his general performance. I shall now lay before my readers some extracts from the Critique ; and leave them to draw a comparison between the exposure there given, and that exhibited in Dr. Graham's work. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Macpherson thus translates a part of Hidalla's speech, intended to calm the angry feeling which arose between Foldath and Malthos : " Ye are brave, O warriors ! ye are tempests in war. Ye are like storms which meet the rocks without fear, and overturn the woods." Temora, Canto I. Here follows the verbal translation*' : " Mighty are ye yourselves, race of battles ! as a tempest from the ocean's roar as a storm which meets the lofty cliff, and brings the wood from its summit (brow) to the ground." I shall also insert a verbal translation of the descrip- tion of the combat between Oscar and Cairbar (Temora, Canto I.) copied from the same work : " See how they fall before the chief ; as the wood of the hill in the desert : when in wrath comes the ghost of the stormy blast, under night, fiercely from his abode : his hand spread about the tops of the trees! Morla' fell. Ma- ronnan under death. Connachar bent to the ground in blood. Cairbar fled from the lance of the mighty chief: dropping down, under a dark cover, behind a * The original rnns thus: '' Is trenn sibh fhein, A thiol iirttn blar ! Mar Ghaillion O Ghair a cbuain Mar stoerm a tbachras re .- geir eird Bhuir coille gu lar O chruaich !" PREFATORY DISCOURSE. stone of forms and curves, in secret (or stealth) he lifted his spear : he struck the side of Oscar ! On his shield fell the hero on the face of the plain : on his knee was the support of the chief : his own long spear in his hand ! Behold Cairbar lying in dusty gloom : the sharp " point" of the steel pierced his head, splitting his red locks behind." Here we have an accurate, and distinct picture. But when we view Macpherson's translation of the same passage, we are forcibly struck with the undecidedness and obscurity of his manner : although it is evident that both translations are done from the same original. " Behold they fall before my son, like groves in a desert ; when an angry ghost rushes through night, and takes their green heads in his hand ! Morlath falls. Maronnan dies. Connachar trembles in his blood ! Cairbar shrinks before Oscar's sword ! he creeps in darkness behind a stone. He lifts the spear in secret ; he pierces my Oscar's side ! He falls forward on his shield : his knee supports the chief. But still his spear is in his hand. See gloomy Cairbar falls ! The steel pierced his forehead, and divided his red locks behind." The reader cannot fail to remark the manifest defi- ciency in this translation : for not only is it unintelligible in one place ; but also some striking features in the simile are omitted, as the ghost " of the stormy blast ;" PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Ixxiii the wood " of the hill," (the hill as most exposed to the action of the storm) : not to speak of the stone " of forms and curves,"* which determines the sacred cha- racter of the place, and conveys some idea to us that religious ceremonies were performed at their solemn feasts : which is agreeable to the customs of antiquity. , In fact a school-boy, who had been a year at the lan- guage, would deserve a flagellation, had he left so incoherent, and defective a production after his hand. No wonder then that the learned re viewer should exclaim, *' as Macpherson has not translated Ossian, it is a pity that some man * * * should not attempt it." Perhaps it is needless for me to produce any more specimens of that gentleman's mistranslations, as they are all much in the same strain. But it may be satis- factory to my readers to hear the learned critic's opinion of his performance: He says, "He (Macpher- * The author of the critique remarks : " It Would appear that Cairbar took refuge in the sanctuary of the day, that is, the stone or stones standing on end ; to which at this moment much respect is paid. Behind one of these stones he slunk, where he would have been safe, had he not abused the privilege of the sanctuary " Cloiche nan cruth s nan cram" is not easily translated. Cruth refers to the forms or spirits worshipped, who were supposed to meet the worshipper at the stone ; and Cram refers to the bowing or prostration of the worshipper. Or Cruth refers to the figures cut on the stone ; and Crom to the crooked lines OP circles repre- senting the attributes of the divinity worshipped. Many such stones are found in Scotland, as at Aber-lenmo, Glammis-Meigle, and other places." PREFATORY DISCOURSE. son) has left most of the beauties of his original im-noticed, or perverted them. Almost every line of Ossian proves this: yet we are told that he himself is Ossian; when in fact he can be, hardly called his translator or imitator. As little can the Gaelic, as some persons ignorant of it pretend, be a translation from the English: for it bears in every line evident marks of its originality or authenticity, whoever may have been the author." Dr. Graham bears a similar testimony; and fully exposes Macpherson's ignorance of the Gaelic idiom : (see the notes to my versification of Temora, Canto VII.) In short the characteristics of his translation, too often, are indistinctness, slovenli- ness, and affectation. We find him constantly intro- ducing trivial expression, and several of his hacknied epithets, which are not in the original ; and which take greatly from the beauty and energy of the style: but it does not appear that he often took the trouble to make any very material alterations.* Several of his The instance before insisted on, is certainly an exception; as the omis- sion in that passage most materially affects the historical information which it conveys. I know not whether I am right in the following con- jecture, namely, that Macpherson bad committed himself by giving an opinion with respect to the history of Ireland, previous to the publication of his Temora; and on reviewing the'original of the VII. Canto, he considered it better to omit, in his translation, the obnoxious expression "to victory," and trust to the chance of his reader passing it over un- noticed. That his calculation has hitherto been correct, the event has proved. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IxXV notes prove that he must have given the subject very little consideration; as he hazards conjectures com- pletely contradicted by the whole tenor of the story. This at once determines the share which he bore in the performance; and leaves the historical authority, and the real picture of the times, in a great measure un- disturbed. In fact it is on the sentimental parts that he seems to have committed most havoc : but, even in these, the meaning of Ossian may in general be guessed at, by the help of the context. Another circumstance has come to light, which cor- roborates the belief that Macpherson has not made any more flagrant alterations in the poems, than what we have pointed out ; namely, it appears that he had the assistance of others in executing the translation : nay, even some of their squabbles respecting the meaning of certain passages, are upon record. * And this of itself was likely to deter him from making serious innovations: But, in my opinion, he was not a person that would give himself the trouble of doing so: and this opinion is greatly confirmed by every thing that I have either heard, or read, concerning him. It appears to me, therefore, from every enquiry I have been able to make on the subject, that by com- paring Macpherson's translation of the VII. Canto of See Graham's Essay. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Temora, with that given in Dr. Graham's Essay, we shall be able to form a tolerably accurate estimate of his general mode of proceeding : But I would remark, that he has evidently taken more pains in some places than in others. To every unprejudiced person, I trust enough has been said, to prove the necessity of another version of the poems : and likewise to point out the necessity of carefully inspecting all the Gaelic poetry which has been published since Macpherson's time. It is not a very material question to us whether Macpherson erred through carelessness, or from being actually un- qualified for the undertaking: I fancy that both these causes contributed ; for it has been proved by several that he was not well-versed in the Gaelic language ; and obvious marks of a slovenly hand are discernable in various parts of his version: Besides he has fur- nished us with unequivocal testimony of his having been a superficial thinker. In short I believe he might have succeeded better had he taken more pains: but that, even with the best intentions, he was incapable of doing justice to the immortal Ossian. * * Oliver Goldsmith does not appear to have thought more favourably of Macpherson: in his poem of RETALIATION we have the following line, "Macpherson, write bombast and call it a style!" He adds, in a marginal note, "James Macpherson, Esq. who, from the mere force of his style, wrote down the first poet of all antiquity." PREFATORY DISCOURSE. As to the question, whether verse or prose be the best medium for translating poetry in general, or the poems of Ossian in particular, I fancy that it will not be easily decided ; because many arguments may be brought in favour of either method. Either may be eminently successful, provided the translator have talent, and imbibe the genuine spirit of the original. But I think it self-evident that a literal version of poetry cannot, from the very nature of language, be considered more than the elements of a translation - the materials of a dilapidated fabric, which it will require much patience and ingenuity to restore to their primitive situations. However I would here make one remark, which appears particularly applicable to the English tongue ; viz. that as verse has ever been considered the proper vehicle for those fervid and exalted ideas, which are the offspring of the imagination's most impassioned moments ; so, when language assumes that form, we are disposed not only to tolerate, but also to expect, a figurative and exaggerated expression, which, if con- veyed in the calm and argumentative form of prose, might appear turgid, and almost offensive to the un- derstanding: Just as we witness without surprise, from a person labouring under the effect of any violent stimulus, expressions and assertions, which, if uttered L PREFATORY DISCOURSE. *, in his cooler moments, would lead us to view him as a candidate for a lunatic asylum. I am hence disposed to conclude that we are, in justice to the original author, almost called upon to put his sentiments into that form in which he himself has chosen to convey them: It is perhaps the only way to enable him to defend himself against the charge of occasional ex- travagancies. The English tongue is so copious its vocabulary so extended so enriched from other languages, at abounds so much in synonyma ; that it will be the translator's fault if even the sublime poems of Ossian lose aught of their original dignity or grace, by a translation into English verse. And, in my opinion, any " particularity" (as it has been called), any sententious brevity, of which they may be de- prived in the process, will be amply compensated, (at least to the generality of readers,) by the peculiar advantages which verse can boast of: provided all the obvious requisites be complied with. Doubtless, where two languages differ so widely in their idiom, as the Gaelic and English are known to do, much precaution will be required ; lest, on the one hand we deprive Ossian of all his original nerve, and native simplicity ; or, on the other, introduce an un- couthness or singularity of phraseology, ungrateful to the ear of a modern Englishman. Fortunately, however, PREFATORY DISCOURSE. 1XX1X one circumstance has operated to lessen the difficulty ; namely, the exceedingly literal version of the OLD TESTAMENT into the English tongue. This has, as it were, naturalized, nay, even dignified, a form of ex- pression, which, strictly speaking, is foreign to the idiom of our language. Thus we can now hear with- out reluctance, " the arm of might," instead of the mighty arm, " the heart of pride," instead of the proud heart, " the son of my love," instead of the object of my affections, &c. What is more, this style of expression has been patronized by some of our ablest poets. Now it can be proved that the Hebrew and the Gaelic bear a strong resemblance to each other, both in their idiomatic structure, and in many other respects: therefore, by the former having so exten- sively spread its influence over the solemn and dignified part of the English tongue, the way is paved for re- taining in an English translation many peculiarities of the latter y which perhaps could not otherwise with propriety have been done.* Mr. Rowlands, in an appendix to his work, gives " A COMPARATIVE TABLE ; shewing the affinity and near resemblance, both in sound and signification, of many words of the ancient languages of EUROPE, with the original HEBREW tongue." From which it appears, that the Celtic, or ancient language of Great Britain and Ireland, has far a greater number in common with the Hebrew, than all the others put together. He makes 1XXX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. With respect to the translation, of which a specimen is now submitted to the public, a few words will suffice. The species of versification employed in the following poem, has been likewise used in the greater number of the lesser poems of Ossian. It has been chosen, as presenting a greater freedom than the heroic couplet ; and as corresponding better with the general strain of those poems, which is, for the most part, elegiac. Some, however, have been put into the ordinary couplet. And a few (especially the dramatic poem of COMALA) are in blank verse. This latter, had I only my own one remark, which I shall copy, for the benefit of those who may feel inclined to examine farther into this matter. " It is to be observed, that letters of one and the same organ, are of common nse in the pronouncing of words of different languages ; as for example, M, B, V, F, P, are Labials: T, D, S, are Dentals: G, Ch, H, K, C, are Gutturals. And there- fore, if the Hebrew word or sound begin with, or be made of, any one of the Labials, any of the rest of the same organ will answer it in the deriva- tive languages. The same is to be observed in using the Dental and the Guttural letters : for in tracing out the origin of words, we are more to regard the sound of them, than their literal form and composition, wherein we find words very often, by the humours and fancy of people, trans- posed and altered from their native sounds, and yet in their signification, they very well fit their original patterns : I shall only exemplify in the letters M, B, and V, which are of one organ, that is, are formed by one instrument, the lip; and therefore are promiscuously used, the one for the other. In pronouncing words of one language in another, the Hebrew B is generally pronounced as a V consonant : and the Irish also, most common in the middle of a word, do pronounce M as a J", as we find the ancient Britains to have made use of V for M and B in many Latin words. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. predilection to consult, should have been the species employed throughout, as I look upon it to be the proudest offspring of the English language. But it is certain that rhymes are, by the majority of readers, preferred : and it surely is the duty of every author to conform to the reigning taste, as far as he can with propriety. The songs of the bards are invariably in a lyric strain : some of them adapted to favorite na- tional airs. Perhaps it may be here objected, that an uniform method should pervade the whole translation. But we must recollect, that, although the poems profess to be the work of one man, they were composed at various times, and on various occasions : and it seemed requisite to put them, severally, into that species of versification which appeared most applicable to the subject of each. It is true, the kind of verse employed in Dar-thula alternate rhymes, with occasional couplets, and even triplets possessing in some places a freedom in the cadence, approaching to that of blank-verseis not (that I know of,) to be found in any author ; and, in consequence, some may consider it an affectation of singularity, thus to depart from the beaten track. For my part, I shall not tire my reader with a detail of my reasons for adopting it : it is for him to judge of its suitableness or unsuitableness : but I request of him not to view it through the focus of prejudice. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. The most serious difficulty which presents itself to a versifier of the poems of Ossian, arises from a kind of revolution which has taken place with respect to the ap- plication of poetry, or measured language. In its infancy, verse was employed as a vehicle for all historical facts, apparently for the purpose of assisting the me- mory ; and at that period it seems frequently to have rested all its merit on the force of its numbers, and artful arrangement. Thus we sometimes find in the narrative of Ossian's poems, no elevation of sentiment or style, above what would mark it out as a proper sub- ject for the plainest and humblest prose. But in the present age, verse is almost always confined to the higher regions of sentiment, and considered as the language of the imagination and passions : it is ex- pected to assume a tone almost inconsistent with simple narrative, and matter of fact ; which are assigned to their proper province, unassuming prose. Thus we now-a-days distinguish between a poetic, and a prosaic style. It is probably from this circumstance that several moderns have declared fiction to be essential to an epic poem : for it, thus, being left to the author to make choice of whatever sentiments he may think proper, it is in his power to select such as will be suitable to that elevation of style which modern taste has deemed indis- pensible to poetry. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Hence the great difficulty, above alluded to : to guard against a striking inequality to keep up an ele- vation throughout ; so that no part may seem unworthy of the dignity of verse ; and yet to be faithful to the original. Unless this can be accomplished, the present undertaking is vain. Whether it has or not the candid reader must judge. I ought to apologize for thus having spun out this preliminary discourse, as well as the notes on DAR- THULA, to a far greater length than was intended when I put the poem to press to an extent, I fear, which must have exhausted the patience of my readers. At first I had purposed to give the following poem almost without comment. But from conversing with some literary characters, while the printing was in progress, I became convinced of the existence of so strong a prejudice against the poems of Ossian, and so gross a misconception of their real nature, that it was vain to expect any attention would be bestowed on them, unless some appeal were made to the public judgment. This consideration led me to attempt, what I fear will be regarded as a rude and desultory essay. But should I be so happy as to awaken the world to the merit of the inimitable bard should I prove in any degree the humble guide to a mine so pregnant with the noblest and most virtuous feelings of human nature with 1XXX1V PREFATORY DISCOURSE. patriotism, with generosity, with heroism, with univer- sal philanthropy should I succeed in exciting a spirit of enquiry as to the authenticity of the poems ; an enquiry which I doubt not will terminate in a most decided conviction in their favour I shall scarcely regret having so precipitately entered upon a subject, which would have required an ability far beyond what my rude and unpractised pen can pretend to. To the rising generation we may fairly anticipate an important advantage, from a connected and intel- ligible version of Ossian's poetry. Its pages breathe the most glowing sentiments, coupled with the most spotless delicacy, and purity of language. In his com- positions we have no gilded baubles: all is solid bullion. Nor do we behold him exhibiting how long he could skip on the very brink of licentiousness, without actually plunging into its filthy gulph. In vain shall we search in his poems for that detestable double entendre, which, worse than the infernal apple of Milton, . is found to contain, not only " soot and cinders," but a most subtile poison. Nor does he follow vice to its secret haunts, and display it to us in its most abominable dalliance, covered with a veil so thin, that it only serves to insult the understanding. No, No! he who becomes intimately acquainted with Ossian, dis- sonant indeed must his heart be, if it remain untuned to virtue. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IxXXV Some may consider me to have dwelt with unbe- coming severity on Macpherson's faults. But I beg leave to assure them that I have not been influenced by any wish to indulge in personal invective : my sole desire was to give the reader what to me appeared a just view of the subject.* And I regret that Macpherson's con- duct with respect to the poems, left me no other mode of proceeding : as he obstinately refused to yield the public the least satisfaction on the question of the au- thenticity, which he could so easily have done. There- fore, from his high and swaggering pretensions having deceived many as to his real merit, while self-interest led him to deny that information which the world was justly entitled to ; he becomes obnoxious to the closest scrutiny ; and has not, that I can perceive, the slightest circumstance of extenuation in his favour. Before I conclude, I have to notice a trifling innova- tion which occurs in DAR-THULA. In the mode of * I have here to retract an assertion made in a preceding part of thi dissertation ; which proceeded entirely from an oversight, not discover- ed 'till it was too late to alter it. In page XXXIV. I have said that ' Mr. Macpherson had taken no pains to lay before his readers the origin of Collar's pretensions to the Irish crown:" but I ought to have recol- lected that, in his DISSERTATION CONCERNING THE POEMS OF OSSIAN, he has an allusion to the circumstance. I shall always be most ready to confess any error I may happen to fall into ; as it is far from my intention to pervert any thing connected with the subject. M PREFATORY DISCOURSE. poetical elision which I have adopted, the servile e (or e mute) is invariably retained in the participle past, and preterit, (in all cases where it is found to terminate the infinitive of the verb,) and is followed by a superior comma; to indicate that the e does not form a separate syllable with the final d; but is merely retained (ac- cording to the original intention) to preserve to the preceding vowel its open sound : as like, like'd, instead of lik'd, as some would have it written. By this mode the word is saved from that mutilated appearance, which is so offensive to the eye ; while the superior comma unequivocally points out the necessary contraction of sound. Some modern poets, sensible of the absurd effect which this mutilation sometimes caused, retained the e mute as in prose writing: and hence were we liable, at a first reading, to introduce a syllable more than was compatible with the harmony of the line. By the method here adopted, all suspense is avoided. --tliuU t A POEM. ARGUMENT. " It may not be improper here, to give the story which is the foundation of this poem, as it is handed down by tradition. Usnoth, lord of Etha, (which is probably that part of Argyleshire near Loch Eta, an arm of the sea in Lorn,) had three sons, Nathos, Althos, and Ardan, by Slis- *aiua, the daughter of Semo, and sister to Cuthullin. The three brothers, when very young, were sent over to Ireland, by their father, to learn the use of arms under their uncle, Cuthnllin, who made a great figure in that Kingdom. They were just landed in Ulster when the new* of Cuthullin's death arrived. Nathos, though very young, took the command of Cuthullin's army, made head against Cairbar the usurper, and defeated him in several battles. Cairbar, at last having found means to murder Cormac, the lawful king, the army of Nathos shifted sides ; and he himself was obliged to return into Ulster, in order to pass over into Scotland. Dar-thnla the daughter of Colla (with whom Cairbar was in love,) resided, at that time in Selama, a castle in Ulster : she saw, fell in love, and fled with Nathos ; but a storm rising at sea, they were unfor- tunately driven back on that part of the coast of Ulster, where Cair- bar was encamped with his army. The three brothers, after having defended themselves for some time with great bravery, were over- powered and slain ; and the unfortunate Dar-thnla killed herself upon the body of her beloved Nathos. The poem opens on the night preceding the death of the sons of Us- noth ; and brings in, by way of episode, what passed before. It re- lates the death of Dar-thula differently from the common tradition : This account is the most probable, as suicide seems to have been un- known in those early times ; for no traces of it are found in the old poetry." MACPHRHSON. 5* The scene of this poem is contiguous to that of Temora : For strong reasons, I imagine it to lie in the barony nf Inishoan, County of Donegal ; a few miles froir the City of Londonderry. POEM. I. to tfje DAUGHTER of heaven, lovely is thy reign ! In silent majesty thou dost ascend ! The stars crowd round thee in refulgent train, And through the limpid sky thy course attend. The clouds, O Moon ! glide tow'rd thy steps with joy ; Their dark-brown sides they brighten with thy beams. Stern ocean smiling meets thy radiant eye : Blithe through their valleys wind the burnish'd streams. 4 DAR-THULA. I" Thou fair dissolver of the mid-night shade, What light in heav'n is like thy gentle ray ! The stars of proudest beam beside thee fade : Ashame'd, they turn their sparkling eyes away ! But whither dost thou from thy course retreat, When darkness o'er thy lovely visage grows? Hast thou thy hall, like Ossian? Dost thou fleet To pensive shades, and 'lonely, vent thy woes? Have thy bright sisters fall'n from heav'n are they, Who with thee cheer'd the gloomy night, no more? Yes! they have fall'n, fair light! thy tristful ray Doth oft retire, in silence to deplore. But thou, thyself, one night shalt fail : * even thou Shalt darkly leave thy blue path in the sky ! The feeble stars, who shrink before thee, now, Will, then, exulting, lift their heads on high. In air thy splendour art thou now array'd : Look from thy gates in heav'n, thou beam divine !- Burst, O ye winds! yon cloud's unfriendly shade, That night's fair daughter un-obscure'd may shine : DAR-THULA. . That the brown hills may gild their craggy height, And ocean roll its silver waves in light. II. Their lofty heads the nightly billows rear, The troubled ocean rolls in angry pride, While Nathos,* Althos, and young Ardan steer Their bounding vessel o'er the surgy tide. The noble sons of generous Usnoth move, Sad in the darkness of their gloomy course, From Cairbar' of Atha's J wrath : for they had strove In echoing war, against the traitor's force. But who is that, dim by their side ? Inshrine'd In cloudy night her beauty's orient beams! Her lovely hair sighs on the ocean's wind: In dusky wreaths her flowing robe wide-streams : Like the fair spi'rit 4 of heav'n doth she appear; When clothe'd in shadowy mist he glides along the air. Who but Dar-thula s , first of Erin's maids! From gloomy Cairbar's love she now doth fly, 6 DAR-THULA. With the blue-shielded Nathos, to the glades Of woody Etha. But, the winds deny Its groves, Dar-thula! to thy sails In vain Thy wistful eyes are turned to the shore : Those are not Nathos' hills, high-tow'ring o'er the main ; Nor that his climbing waves' loud-echoing roar. Fell Cairbar's halls are near thee, gentle maid ! The lofty towers of thy foe arise ! Green Erin stretches far her sea-beat head : To Tura's bay the bounding vessel flies. Ye southern breezes! where have ye delay'd, When from their course my noble heroes veer'd ? Alas! ye, sportive, o'er the valley stray'd, Pursuing swift the thistle's wandering beard ! O that ye had been rustling in the sails Of Nathos, 'till the hills of Etha rose ! 'Till in their clouds they rose ; and his green vale.* Beheld the chief returning from his foes ! Long hast thou absent been, O Usnoth's son! The day of thy return, alas! has flown! DAR-THLA. III. But lovely wast thou in the strangers' land ! Lovely, O warrior ! in Dar-thula's eyes : When the dread lightning of thy deathful brand Did o'er the foes of Erin's king arise. Thy face was like the east, when morn hath smile'd : Thy jetty hair the raven's wing out-shone : Thy soul, O youth! was noble, generous, mild Serenely-radiant as the setting sun ! Sweet as the gale 'mongst reeds thy accents flow'd Soft as the murmuring Lora's gliding wave ! But, when the deadly rage of battle glow'd, O chief ! thou wast the stormy ocean's rave ! The clang of thy resounding arms was dire: The host quick vanish'd from thy course of fire ! Twas then Dar-thula, Erin's fairest flow'r ! Beheld thee, while her eyes with tears o'er-flow'd : Beheld thee, from the summit of her tow'r ; Selama's* 5 mossy tow'r, her warlike sires' abode. 8 DAR-THULA. IV. " Lovely art thou, O stranger!" said the maid; The while her trembling soul for him arose. " Fair art thou in thy battles: dire thy blade, Thou terror of the fallen Cormac's foes ! Why dost thou, ruddy youth! rush fearless on, In pride of valour? Few thy hands in fight, Against the force of Borbar-duthul's son The dark-brow'd Cairbar, and his host of might ! O that I from his hateful love were free ! That I in Nathos' presence might rejoice ! Ye dark-brown rocks of Etha ! blest are ye ! Ye at the chase shall glad resound his voice ; To you shall his white bosom oft appear, When lambent breezes lift his flowing hairl" V. Such were thy words, Dar-thula ! in the tow'rs Of high Selama such thy gentle wails. But now the shadowy night around thee lours: DAR-THULA. 9 The winds, Dar-thula ! have deceiv'd thy sails : Their blustering sound, their deep'ning howl prevails! O North-wind ! cease a little while thine ire ! That I may hear the maid of lovely form! How sweetly doth her gentle voice transpire, Between the fitful blasts of wildly-shrieking storm ! VI. " Are these," she cries, " the rocks of Nathos' home? Hear I his mountain-streams' deep-echoing sound? Doth yonder beam of light, faint-glimmering, come From Usnoth's nightly hall ? Mist spreads around ; The beam is feeble, it is distant-far : But, 'tis in Etha's chief bright-dwells the light Of his Dar-thula's soul ! the radiant star Which turns to day dark sorrow's gloomy night! Son of the woody Etha's generous chief ! Why burst that broken sigh? why dost thou stand, O noble youth ! thus silent in thy grief ? Say, Nathos 1 are we in a stranger's land?" c 10 DAR-THULA. VII. " Ah! these are not the rocks of Etha's shore!" With mournful voice the sighing youth replies ; " Dar-thula heareth not its blue streams' roar: No light from Usnoth's halls now meets her eyes, For they are distant-far! The faithless gales Have now deceiv'd our hopes, beloved maid ! Green Erin lifts her hills: our rustling sails Are in the treacherous Cairbar's land delay'd. Toward the north, O Althos! do thou go: Ardan ! along the coast now watchful stray ; Lest veil'd in darkness come the ruthless foe, And all our hopes of Etha fleet away. I'll seek yon tow'r, and vigilant explore Who dwells about the glimmering beam of night. Rest, my Darthula ! calmly on the shore : Now rest thee here in peace, thou lovely light ! The sword of Nathos doth around thee glow, Like heav'n's dread flame, to save thee from the foe!" DAR-THULA. 11 VIII. He went. She sat alone ; and heard the deep Along the sounding coast its billows roll. The big tears down her lovely cheeks now creep : She looks for Nathos. Oft her gentle soul Dark-trembleth at the blast. She turns her ear, And fancies that she hears his tread: " Ah, no! It is the gale ! my warrior is not near ! Alas! I here must lonely sigh my woe! Sun of my love! where art thou? Deeply howls The blast around me ! dark the cloudy night : Wild from the hill the louring tempest scowls: But thou returnest not, O beam of might ! Have nightly foes met Nathos in the fight?" IX. The chief return'd to his desponding maid : But dark'ned was the face of Usnoth's son ! At Tura's wall he had beheld the shade v Of great Cuthullin sadly stalk alone. 12 DAR-THULA. Faint from his breast arose the frequent sigh : His eyes' decayed flame was dire to view : His spear a misty column rose on high: At times, the blood-red stars look'd dimly thro' His oft-expanding form : His words appear LiKe hollow winds which through a cavern roll : His eye was like a light seen from afar. He told the tale of grief: 7 Young Nathos' soul Was gloomy as the sun's dim watery face, When in the day of mist he runs his dubious race ! X. " Why art thou sad?" the lovely fair one cries. " Hath not the chief of Etha's noble son A pillar' of light before the joyful eyes Of his Dar-thula ever brightly shone? Where is my hope, my safety, but thy hand? My father and my brother darkly fell! Sadness spreads o'er the blue streams of my land : Dfear silence doth on high Selama dwell. DAR-THULA. 13 My friends, alas! with Cormac were laid low; In Erin's battles were the mighty slain. Hear, son of Usnoth! hear my tale of woe: Not small my grief, O valiant king of men ! XL " The dusky evening dark'ned on the vale; The blue streams dimly fail'd before my eyes. Inconstant blasts came rustling in the gale, And thro' Selama's groves deep-swell'd their sighs. Beneath a tree, whose verdant boughs entwine'd . ., t Their leafy shade beside my father's walls, I solitary sat. Oft in my mind Rose Truthil, my loved brother. (From his halls Absent, in battle, was the son of fame ; 'Gainst haughty Cairbar in dire war contending.) With steps of grief the grey-hair'd Colla came : He stood in silence, on his spear sad-bending. His downcast face was dark : deep sorrow spread Around his soul. His sword was at his side ; ' 14 DAR-THULA. The helmet of his fathers on his head.- Within his breast wild battle swell'd its tide. In vain he strove the bursting tear to hide ! XII. ' Dar-thula! daughter of my love!' he said, ' Thou now alone remain'st of Colla's race ! ' Truthil has fallen by the hostile blade: * Ne'er, ne'er shalt thou behold thy brother's face ! Cairbar' of Atha, in his gloomy ire, ' Toward Selama leads his thousands on. ' Ere 'morrow's beam shall from its course retire, * Colla will meet him, and revenge his son ! ' But, where shall I find safety from the foe 4 For thee, Dar-thula, with the dark-brown hair? ' Alas, my child ! thy mighty friends are low ; ' And as the heavenly sun-beam art thou fair!' " Then, has the son of battle fallen?" I cried " Has ruthless death the eye of valour seal'd? Ceas'd Truthil's generous soul the warrior's pride ! To lighten, dreadful, thro' the troubled field? DAR-THULA. 1 My safety, Colla! now is in that bow! I've learned to pierce the mountain-deer in flight: Is not proud Cairbar as the desert-roe, Thou father of the fallen Truthil's might?" XIII. "' The face of age now brighten'd o'er with joy. The lips of Colla trembled, as he cast A lingering gaze. The tears pour'd from his eye. His silvery beard low-sounded in the blast. 8 ' Thou art the sister of my Truthil!' cried The weeping hero : ' With a kindred fire * Thy soul doth blaze, O daughter of my pride ! * Thou cheers't the lonely bosom of thy sire ! * Take, my Dar-thula ! take, thou beam of heaven ! ' That spear, that burnish'd helm, that brazen shield : ' They are the gleaming spoils, which once were riven ' From a young warrior, in his early field. * When on Selama gleams the morning-ray, * We go to meet dark Cairbar in the fight. 16 DAR-THULA. * But near the arm of Colla do thou stay ' Beneath the shadow of his shield. The might 1 Of thy unhappy sire once could defend thee ! * But age now trembles on his hand : My child ! r Weak is the aid his nerveless arm can lend thee ! * His soul dark-wanders sorrow's pathless wild!' XIV. " In grief we pass'd the night. The morn arose: I shone in all the gleaming arms of war : In sadness we repair'd to meet our foes. The grey-hair'd warrior darkly move'd before. Around the valiant Colla's shield, convene Selama's warlike sons. But, few are they, And hoary are their locks: The youths were slain. With Truthil, in the noble Cormac's 9 fray. XV. * Friends of my youth!' began the king of men, * Not thus you've seen me in the arms of might : toAR-THULA. 17 It was not thus I move'd to battle, when * The great Confadan fell in mortal fight. ' But grief, O warriors! dwells on every face. * Alas! as desert mist gains o'er the field, Dark age comes on! Now fixed 10 in its place * Is Colla's sword ! worn with brown years his shield ! ' I said, "thine evening shall be calm, my soul! "A fading light shall thy departure be!" ' But wild the loud returning storm doth roll : ' I bend now leafless, like an aged tree : ' My scatter'd bra'nches on Selama lie ! ' O, my beloved Truthil ! whither, now, ' With all thy fallen heroes art thou gone? ' No answer from thy rushing blast giv'st thou ; ' Thy doleful father must remain alone ! * ' But he, my son! will not now tamely mourn; ' Colla, or Atha's haughty chief must fall ! * I feel the vigour of my arm return : * My heart now boundeth at the battle's call!' D 18 DAR-THULA. XVJ. " The hero drew his shining sword: Amain, The rising blades of all his people gleam'd. In growing rage they strode along the plain: Bright on the wandering breeze their grey hair stream'd- As at the feast, in Lona's" silent vale, The gloomy Cairbar sat, he, from afar, Beheld the heroes coming o'er the dale ; And quickly call'd his stormy chiefc to war. Why" should a feeble maid attempt to show, To Nathos, how the strife of battle grew? I've seen thee, in the midst of thousands, glow, Swift as the beam of heav'n's dread fire to view: How beautiful! but deadly is its ray; Along its course the people melt away! The spear of mighty Colla flies around : Now o'er his soul youth's proudest battles glide. Alas ! an arrow came with fatal sound ; The death-wing'd shaft deep-pierc'd the hero's side ! DAR-THULA. 19 On his resounding shield he fell in blood : My soul, O Nathof! started with afright: With out-stretch'd buckler o'er my sire I stood; My heaving bosom was expose'd to sight. With wrathful spear the red-hair'd Cairbar comes : He sees Selama's maid before him stand; Joy o'er his dark-brown face now grimly roams: He stays the lance in his uplifted hand. The traitor rais'd the fallen Colla's tomb ; And brought me to Selama in my woe. He spoke the words of love: but deepest gloom O'er-spread my soul ; I loathe'd the blood-stain'd foe! I view'd the shields my warlike sires had rais'd ; The sword of car-borne Truthil's arm of dread: My sighs, my tears burst forth, while dark I gaze'd On the memorials of the silent dead ! Then didst thou come, O Nathos! in thy might; Like timid ghosts, when morning-beams appear, The gloomy- visage 'd Cairbar took to flight: The tyrant's host, O hero! was not near; And feeble was his arm against thy spear! 20 PAR-THULA. But why that deep-fetch'd sigh didst thou sad-heave V Why does the pride of Etha's land now grieve?" XVII. " O maid ! I've met in youth," (the hero says,) " The battle's rage, the frown of angry foes: My arm could not the spear of combat raise. When danger first around my steps arose. My soul was bright'ned 'mid war's dusky clouds, As the green narrow vale, when heav'n's fair light Pours forth his streamy beams, ere yet he shroud.* Within o'er-spreading storm his visage bright: A mournful joy the lonely traveller feels; He views the darkness as it onward steals. My soul rejoice'd when danger's storm drew nigh. Before I saw Selama's charming fair; Ere thou, Dar-thula! met my ravish'd eye, Like the soft lustre of a smiling star, That mildly shineth on a hill by night : But, the drear cloud, advancing, blacker grows. DAR-THULA. 21 And rudely menaces the lovely light !- Alas! we now are in the land of foes! The fickle winds have faithless prove'd, O maid! The verdant groves of Etha are not nigh: Nor our renowned friends our arm to aid. 1 ' Daughter of mighty Colla! where shall I Now find thee safety in a hostile land? Brave are my brothers: my own sword hath shone; But what avails our valour, to withstand The host of Borbar-duthuPs dark-brow'd son! O that the winds had brought thee, in thy might, Great Oscar, king of men! Thou didst declare That thou would'st come, in Erin's cause to fight Would'st lift thy conquering steel in Cormac's war ! Then, as the flaming arm of death, 14 my brand Should thro' the stormy field of heroes glide ! Cairbar should tremble 'midst his thousands; and The beams of peace around my love abide ! But why, O soul of Nathos ! dost thou fail ? May not the sons of Usnoth still prevail?" 22 DAR-THULA. XVIII. " And they, my Nathos! shall prevail!" replied The rising soul of Erin's lovely maid. " Ne'er, Truthil! shall the sister of thy pride Be to the halls of gloomy Cairbar led ! Give me those bra/en arms, which to the beam Of passing meteor throw a glimmering light: (In the dark-bosom'd ship I see them gleam.) Selama's maid will lift them in the fight. Ghost of the noble Colla! dost thou glide On yonder sable cloud which passeth by? Who is that sitteth dimly by thy side? Is it the car-borne Truthil I espy? Shall I behold the halls of him who slew Selama's chief? No! spirits of my love! Rather let me, in converse sweet with you, On the dark bosom of the tempest rove!" XIX. Joy brighten'd o'er the face of Nathos, when He heard the words of his white-boeom'd maid. DAR-THULA. 23 " Selama's daughter!" said the king of men, " Thou shine'st along my soul ! thou hast allay'd The darkling storm that in my bosom stray'd ! Come, Cairbar ! with thy thousands now draw near ; The strength of Nathos is return'd once more! O aged Usnoth! thou shalt never hear That thy son darkly shrunk from echoing war. Thy words, on Etha's shore, I call to mind ; When my white-bosom'd sails began to rise : The- while we spread them to the rustling wind, Tow'rds Erin toward Tura's walls: He cries; ' Nathos 1 thou goest to the arm of dread ' Thou goest to Cuthullin, king of spears! ' A chief who ne'er from stormy danger fled ; ' Who never from its wildest tempest veers ! Let not thy hand be feeble, in the day ' Of battle ; neither be thy thoughts of flight: * Lest the great son of generous Semo say, ' That Etha's race are impotent in fight: 24 DAR-THULA. ' The hero's words to Usnoth's soul may stray, "* And cloudy sadness its calm eve benight!' The tear was on my father's cheek, when he Reach'd, with a sigh, this shining sword to me. XX. " To Tura's bay we came: but silence round Its mossy towers deeply seem'd to" dwell. I look'd about; but no one was there found Of generous Semo's noble son to tell. Straight to the hall of shells I then repaired: But all the arms of his fame'd sires were gone ; And aged Lamhor IJ sunk in woe appear'd, In tears of grief he d'arkly Sat alone. * Whence are the arms of steel?' he, rising, cried. - ' Long hath the spear of war its gleaming ray ' To mossy Tura's gloomy walls denied! ' Sons of the mighty! whence now is your way? * From high Temora's mournful halls come ye? * Or are your footsteps from the rolling sea?' DAR-THULA. 25 XXI. " From ocean's shore," quoth I, " our steps we trace ; From Usnoth's rising tow'rs have steer'd our way. We are Slissama's sons 16 of Semo's race. Son of the silent hall ! I prithee, say, Where is the lonely Tura's king of spears? But why should Nathos ask, thou son of grief? Doth he not now behold thy flowing tears? Declare how fell green Erin's mighty chief?" %' He fell not as the silent star of night, * When it through darkness flies, and fails anon : But he was like a meteor 17 , whose light * Shoots into distant regions! death upon * Its dreary course attends : itself appears * The dreadful omen of approaching wars! ' In midst of slaughter fell the son of fame! ' The conquering hand of Tura's peerless lord Was strong in battle, as a bursting flame ! ' Death sat behind the lightning of his sword! - * Lamhur speaks. E 26 DAR-THULA. ' Mournful are Lego's banks; the voice of woe ' Doth in the roar of streamy Lara swell ; * There do his warriors weep the mighty low ! c Son of the noble Usnoth! there the hero fell.' XXII. " We reach'd the misty Lego's sounding shore, The rising tomb of brave Cuthullin found : His friends in battle their great chief deplore, His bards of many songs the grave surround. Three days we o'er the fallen hero mourn'd : The fourth, I struck the mighty Caithbat's 1 ? shield The gathering host with joy of warriors burn'd ; High-gleam'd their beamy spears along the field! Corlath, the friend of Cairbar, then was near, With all his host : Like a dark stream, by night, We came ; his heroes swept before us were ! The people of the valley with the light Of morn beheld the blood of our proud foes. We then like wreaths of mist quick roll'd away DAR-THULA. 27 To Cormac's echoing halls : Our swords arose To save the youthful king from bloody fray. But silent were the high Temora's halls ! By treachery's sword had Cormac fallen, before Our band's arrival empty were his walls! The king of mournful Erin was no more!" XXIII. " Sadness seiz'd on the sons of Erin, they Slowly and gloomily retire'd : as when Black clouds behind the distant mountains stray, After they long had darkly threatned rain. The sons of Usnoth move'd on in their grief: To Tura's sounding bay our steps incline'd. We pass'd Selama: Atha's gloomy chief Retire'd, like Lano's mist when driven by the wind ! - 'Twas then my eye beheld thee, gentle maid ! Bright as the cloudless sun of Etha glows ! How lovely is that orient beam!" I said The crowded sigh of Nathos' soul arose! 28 DAR-THULA. Dar-thula! in thy beauty thou didst come To Etha's mournful chief! But, tempest drear- The angry North-wind doth relentless roam ; Escape is hopeless! and the foe is near." XXIV. " Yes, Nathos, yes! the foe is near us!" cried The rushing strength of Althos. " I have heard Their clanging arms along the coast: descried Erin's dark-waving standard proud uprear'd. Distinct is Cairbar's voice loud as the roar Of lofty Cromla's falling stream : zo For he Had mark'd our distant bark along the shore, Ere night o'er-spread the angry-rolling sea. On Lena's plain now watch the tyrant's hordes ; In stormy wrath they lift ten-thousand swords!" " And let them lift ten-thousand swords!" replied The noble-minded Nathos, with a smile. " Shall Etha's race from danger darkly glide? Shall fear their steps from glory's path beguile ? DAR-THULA. 29 Why do ye rustling on your dark wings come, Ye whistling* tempests of the sky? Why dost Thou roll thy troubled waves with all their foam, Thou roaring sea! on Erin's trembling coast? Think ye, ye storms, think'st thou, O sounding main, That ye prevent the son of Usnoth's flight? No it is Nathos' soul doth here detain 11 His steps, ye children of the dismal night! Althos! my fathers' arms now quickly bring: Thou seest them gleaming to the stars' faint light. Bring me the spear of Semo, generous king! In the dark-bosom'd ship it stands in night." XXV. He brought the arms. The son of Usnoth's pride In all their shining steel his limbs arrays. Majestic is the noble hero's stride ! His beaming eye a dreadful joy displays! His look is turn'd toward the foe's advance. The wind sounds in his hair. In silent grief 30 DAR-THULA. Selama's maid stands at his side : her glance Is mournful-fixed on the dauntless chief. The fair one strives to hide the rising sigh ; The growing tea.r bright-trembles in her eye ! XXVI. " Althos!" said Etha's chief, "I see a cave In yonder rock; place there the white-arm 'd maid. I know, my brother! that thy soul is brave: Strong be thine arm to wield the deathful blade ! Ardan ! we meet the foe ; do thou repair, And tell the gloomy Cairbar we draw near. O that he came, in all the steel of war, To meet the son of Usnoth's lifted spear! If thou escape, Dar-thula ! look not on The fallen Nathos! Althos! let thy sails Wide to the rustling brezes spread, anon, Toward the woody Etha's streamy vales. My brother ! fail thou not the chief to tell, That Nathos' sword did not elude the fray DAR-THULA. 31 That I, with fame in midst of thousands fell: Amid his sorrow joy shall blend its ray. Daughter of Colla ! call the tuneful maids To Etha's halls ; and let their songs arise For Nathos, when returning Autumn's shades Shall roll their echoing murmurs o'er the skies. O that the bard of Cona that the voice Of Ossian might in Nathos' praise be heard ! Then should my ghost in its blue mist rejoice Along its rushing blast be brightly cheer'd!" And Cona's bard will Nathos' praise recall The voice of Ossian shall for thee arise : His strains shall echo thro' the airy hall, \ And glad thy course along the liquid skies! Why was I not, O murder'd Cormac's friend! On Lena, when the' unequal conflict rose? Then should the sword of Ossian thee defend ; Or he himself have fallen 'midst thy foes! 32 DAR-THULA. XXVII. In Selma's hall, that night, we glad surrounded The glowing shell, at Fingal's festive board. The winds without loud thro' the oaks resounded : The spirit of the mountain wildly roar'd." The blast came rustling thro' the hall of shells, And gently touch'd my harp's resounding wire Mournful and low the sound ; as distant swells The tomb-song on the gale. My noble sire First heard the sign of grief : The crowded sighs Deep in the hero's generous breast contend. ' Some of my warriors are laid low," he cries ; * I heard the doleful sound of death descend ' Upon the harp. O Ossian, let thy hand ' Soft-touch the trembling string! bid sorrow rise; ' That to the hills of Morven's woody land ' Their sprites, with joy, may fly from distant skies !' Before the king I pour'd the song of woe, And touch'd the harp : the sound was sad and low ! DAR-THULA. 33 XXVIII. to tfte &pmts i *' Ye ghosts of my fathers! that now darkly wander That on the wild tempest swift glide Bend forward thro' night from the clouds of your thunder, And lay your red terrors aside ! 2 ' Receive ye the falling chief; whether he bendeth His course from a far-distant land, Or from the green wave of the ocean ascendeth: To him let your clouds wide expand I F 34 DAR-THULA. 3 " A long-flowing robe of blue mist now provide him ; ! * v His spear, of the cloud of deep shade ; An half-quenched meteor 14 place ye beside him, In form of his glittering blade. 4 " And oh! let his visage be lovely; that under Its presence his friends may delight. Bend forward, my sires ! from the clouds of your thunder ; Receive ye the lone son of night 1" XXIX. Such was my song in Selma, to the sound Of the light-trembling harp. But squally night, In Erin's distant land, deep-spread around Young Nathos, and his lovely beam of light. At times, the foe-men's voice, amid the roar Of tumbling waves, faint-reach'd the hero's ear: DAR-THULA. 35 Silent he heard them on the billowy shore, And lean'd, with growing bosom, on his spear! XXX. Bright morn now streak'd the blushing east with day. The sons of Erin spread along the coast: Like grey rocks with their distant trees were they. The gloomy Cairbar stood amid his host. He grimly smile'd when he the foe espied. The valiant Nathos in his strength rush'd on : Nor would Dar-thula stay behind ; she hied, Lifting her shining spear, with Usnoth's noble son ! And who are these, that in their armour bright, In pride of youth, move stately o'er the field? Althos, and dark-hair'd Ardan, beams of might! Their souls now burn the steel of strife to wield ! . XXXI. " Come, chief of high Temora!" Nathos cries. " Come ! let us for the white-arm'd maid contend 36 DAR-THULA. Now let our conflict on the coast arise: His people do not Nathos' steps attend ; They are behind these rolling seas! Then, why Dost thou with all thy thousands now draw near, . Against the chief of Etha ? Thou didst fly JJ From him in battle, when around his spear His friends were found." " Youth of the heart of pride 5 Shall Erin's King contend in fight with thee?* 6 Your sires do not in tuneful song abide ; Nor are they of the Kings of men. Do we Behold within their halls the arms of foes ? Are the blue shields of other times there seen? Cairbar's renown in high Temora glows ; Nor doth he e'er contend with feeble men !" XXXII. The eyes of Nathos glisten'd bright with tears ; He look'd toward the brothers of his might ; Dreadful, at once, now flew their gleaming spears ;- Three warriors lay on earth. Then did the light DAR-THULA. 37 Of their dire-flaming swords on high arise : The floating ranks of Erin yield, aghast : As a dark ridge of clouds in wintry skies Before the sudden wind's transpiring blast! Cairbar commanded, and his poeple drew A thousand bows ; loud-whistling o'er the heath, A thousand arrows at the heroes flew. The noble sons of Usnoth fell in death ! They fell, like three young oaks, which on the side Of a drear hill stood verdantly alone : The traveller the lovely trees espied, And wonder'd how they had so lonely grown: By night dark-came the desert's howling blast, And laid their green heads low along the ground. Next day, returning, o'er the mount he pass'd, The heath was bare, their branches strew'd around! XXXIII. In speechless horror stood Selama's maid ! Her eyes are fixed on their fall ; but fail 38 DAR-THULA. To yield a tear! Her look is wildly sad ; Her lovely cheek is now a death-like pale. Her trembling lips broke-short an half-formed word Disorder'd on the wind her dark hair flies. In arms approached Alnecma's 17 gloomy lord ; With taunting smile the hapless maid he eyes. " Where is thy mighty lover, now ?" (he cried,) " The car-borne chief of Etha? Haughty maid! Hast thou beheld great Usnoth's halls of pride ? Or o'er the dark-brown hills of Fingal stray'd ? My battle should on Morven's shores have roar'd, Had not the winds now met Dar-thula's sails : Fingal himself have fall'n beneath my sword, And sorrow darkly dwelt in Selma's vales." Her gleaming shield dropt faintly from her hand : The maiden's snowy bosom is descried ; But it, alas! with wandering blood is stain'd: An arrow deep is fixed in her side ! She fell on Nathos, like a wreath of snow! Her dark-brown hair is on his face wide-spread : DAR-THULA. 39 In mingling stream their blood around doth flow! The song of grief swells o'er the lifeless maid! XXXIV. i " Daughter of Colla ! low, low art thou now laid ! Selama's blue streams amid silence sad-glide. The race of great Truthil * 8 hath fail'd with thee, maid ! Green Erin is spoil'd of the flow'r of its pride! " When wilt thou arise in the beam of thy beauty? Ah ! deep is thy slumber within the dark tomb ! Far-distant the morning ! ne'er shall it salute thee, The sun shall not smile thro' the night of thy gloom! 40 DAR-THULA. " It shall not approach to thy bed, and say to thee, * Darthula! thou fairest of women, awake! ' The woods wave their young leaves, bright spring now doth woo thee ; ' The flowers their heads on the green hills now shake/ 4 " Retire thee, O sun! ne'er again will she greet thee! Cold, reckless, she sleeps in the shadowy tomb! She will not move forth in her beauty to meet thee ! She will not in steps of her loveliness come I" ' XXXV. Thus did the hundred bards of Cairbar sing, Around her rising tomb My voice arose Over her grave; when streamy Morven's king Came o'er to fight 'gainst fallen Cormac's foes. NOTES TO r--tfml.?. NOTES TO 1 But thou, thyself, one night shaltfail! IN this passage Ossian evidently alludes to more than a temporary disappearance of the Moon : and immedi- ately afterwards intimates his belief, that some of the stars should out-live her. The fanciful, but beautiful idea, that the Moon retired to mourn the loss of her sisters, seems to have been built on the notion, which no doubt prevailed in his day, that those meteors, vul- garly called falling stars, were real stars sinking into dissolution. From this, as well as from several other passages in the poems, I am inclined to think that Ossian and his corn-patriots held a doctrine, which 44 NOTES. some of the most respectable authors of antiquity declare to have constituted a part of the tenets of the ancient Druids ; namely, that, although the universe was never to be annihilated, yet its various members were to undergo a number of successive changes, sometimes by the agency of fire, and sometimes by that of water. This doctrine, from the concurrent testimony of authors of the highest authority, the Druids appear to have had in common with almost every nation in the then known world: and many have considered it to have been the vitiated remnant of a tradition originally received from the sons of Noah.- Be this as it may, a striking correspondence will be discovered between the popular notions and mythology interwoven through the poems of Ossian, and those accounts of the doctrine of the Druids, which are handed down to us by Caesar, Strabo, Ammianus Marcellinus, Cornelius Tacitus, Diodorus Siculus, &c. Perhaps I might even assert that the poems of Ossian these valuable remains of the manners, the opinions, and the religion of our ancestors would serve as a commentary to what the above-mentioned authors have written on the subject* The intelligent investigator, who, with a critical, and an unprejudiced eye, compares these poems with what of the Druidical learning has escaped the ravages of NOTES. 4<5 time, will, I fancy, agree with me that they contain strong internal evidence of their authenticity of their having been the composition of a person actually educat- ed in the notions which they inculcate. I am even of opinion that there will be little difficulty in tracing to their source the causes of those differences which do occur: Or in other words, that the modifying, and even obliteration of many of the ceremonies, and opinions of the Druids, may be shown to have been a natural con- sequence of that revolution which Trenmor, the great* grand-father of Fingal, is said to have brought about. I shall even go so far as to say, that the alterations which appear to have taken place in the system, were such as were loudly called for by the circumstances of the times such as became indispensible, in order to rescue the popular mind from its slavish dependence on those crafty and designing priests, and to strengthen the authority, and the dynasty of Trenmor. In the proper places, I shall probably take an oppor- tunity of comparing the mythology &c. of Ossian with that which is attributed to the Druids : But in the mean time beg leave to call the attention of my readers, to a treatise of the antiquities &c. of the isle of Anglesea, by the Rev. Mr. Rowland, entitled " MONA ANTIQUA RESTORATA :" A book published about a hundred years ago ; but which proves the Rev. author to have 46 NOTES. been both a man of research, and of much ingenuity. But as this work is now, in all probability, confined to the cabinets of the curious, 1 shall occasionally make extracts from it, for the information of those who can- not obtain access to the book itself. I hope the reader will pardon this digression ; which is intended to direct his view to what I expect will prove to him an interesting enquiry : and what, if I am not mistaken, will develope a most delicate, but con- vincing proof of the authenticity of these poems. II. i z Nathos signifies youthful, Ailthos, exquisite beauty, Ardan, pride. M. 3 From Cairbar' of AthcCs wrath : Cairbar, the son of Borbar-duthul, a chief of Alnecma^ (which is supposed to have been the ancient name for Connaught,) who murdered Cormac king of Ireland, and usurped the throne. He was afterwards killed by Oscar the son of Ossian: See the poem of TEMORA, Canto I. The poet, upon other occasions, gives Cairbar NOTES. 4t the epithet of red-haired. ATHA was the name of Cair- bar's family-seat. 4 Like the fair spi'rit of heav'n I suspect that it would have been more correct to have employed the indefinitive article here, a fair spirit. But as it, possibly, might allude to some par- ticular description of spirit, and be thus more empha- tic, (had we the key to the expression,) I have suffered it to remain as I found it. - 5 Who but Dar-thula, first of Erin's maids ! Dar-thula, or Dart-'huile, a woman with fine eyes. She was the most famous beauty of antiquity. To this day, when a woman is praised for her beauty, the com- mon phrase is, that she is as lovely as Dar-thula. M. HI. <* Selama's moss / /oteV, The word signifies either beautiful to behold, or a place with a pleasant prospect. In early times they built their houses upon eminences, to command a view 48 NOTES. of the country, and to prevent their being surprised : many of them, on that account, were called Selama. The famous Selma of Fingal is derived from the same root. M. IX. 7 He told the tale of grief. There is some ambiguity here ; for it is not easy abso- lutely to determine whether the poet means, that Na- thos related to Dar-thula what he had seen, or, that the ghost of Cuthullin, his uncle, had given him a des- cription of the manner in which he himself had been killed, or, (which, perhaps, is most agreeable to what is represented to have occured on other occasions of ghosts appearing to their relatives,) that Cuthullin gave Nathos some intimation of the fatal catastrophy which was about to occur. 8 His silvery beard low-sounded in the blast. It appears strange that Ossian should so often intro^ duce this circumstance in his descriptions, and I was at first tempted to omit it : but have retained it, from the consideration, that jt might here be somewhat des- NOTES. 49 criptive of the attitude of' Colla ; for, while he was leaning on his spear in the act of anxiously gazing on Darthula his long-flowing beard, thus unres- trained by his garments, might, possibly, have made some noise on a sudden blast. If I were inclined to be extravigantly fanciful, I should perhaps assign another reason, viz. that the blasts being conceived to be animated by ghosts, that of his son Truthil had thus approached his beloved father, who was just in the act of bewailing his loss. XIV. 9 The youths were slain, With Truthil, in the noble Cormac's fray. It would appear, from this, that Truthil had taken the field against Cairbar, on that chief proceeding to attack the young king ; or, perhaps, after he had committed the murder. I am inclined to think that the palace of Te- mora was not far distant from the scene of the present poem. 10 Now fixed in its place Is Colla' s sword! It was the custom of ancient times, that every war- H 50 NOTES. rior, at a certain age, or when he became unfit for the field, fixed his arms, in the great hall, where the tribe feasted upon joyful occasions. He was afterwards never to appear in battle : and this stage of life was called the time of fixing of the arms. M. 11 Lona's silent vale Lona, a marshy plain. Cairbar had just provided an entertainment for his army, upon the defeat of Tru- thil the son of Colla, and the rest of the party of Cormac, when Colla and his aged warriors arrived to give him battle. M. The valley of Lona, here mentioned, is probably the same as that to which Suilmalla is said to have retired, TEMORA, Canto VII. If my conjectures, as stated in the notes annexed to that poem, are correct, it is that valley through which runs the projected road from DERRY to BUNCRANA. It is one of the principal passes, through the Bmrs'-TowN mountains, to the in- terior of Inishoan ; and near the shore of Lough Foyle. In addition to what I have annexed to the notes on TEMORA, respecting the tract of country which I ima- gine to have been the scene of that poem, I am happy to have ii in my power to state, that the re- NOTE. 51 suit of every subsequent enquiry on the subject has been strongly confirmatory of the opinion I before advanced ; so much so, as to remove every shade of doubt from my mind. Not only do the remarkable places around preserve the same names,* as those men- tioned by Ossian ; but the very peasantry assert, that they have always heard the old people say, "that, in former times, the Gentles^ (or fairies) had fought great battles along those hills." Some tumuli, con- cerning which 1 enquired, they also attributed to the Gentles. Besides those which I formerly mentioned, I have likewise discovered several other striking features in the surrounding country, exactly corresponding with those described in the poems. Colonel Maxwell, of Birds'-Town, (whose seat is in the immediate vicinity of the place to which I allude; and who is himself proprietor of a considerable tract of the identical ground;) has been kind enough to show * With a very slight appearance of corruption ; and that, probably, in a great measure arising 1 from Mr. Macpherson's strong propensity to lata- nize the gaelic proper names: from an idea, I suppose, that it gave them a more poetic air. f FOP my part, I am of opinion, that in the present instance, as well as in many others, where only a very obscure tradition has descended, the ignorant inhabitants attribute to the Fairies those remarkable events, said to have occurred. 52 NOTES. me a map of the peninsula of Inishoan ; drawn, to a very large scale, from actual survey : but never publish- ed. In this map the original Irish names of the differ- ent places are, as far as possible, retained: and they will, of themselves, furnish a strong testimonial in fa- vour of my conjecture. Colonel Maxwell's seat was formerly called BAL- LENA, which signifies, the town of Lena: The scene of action of TEMORA is, by Ossian, called MOI-LENA. that is, the plain of Lena. Those who may feel inclined to visit the supposed scene of action of TEMORA, will please to observe that it is that very extensive plain, immediately at the northern side of BIRD'S-TOWN mountains. It com- prises two town-lands CARN-A-MOYLE,* (the stone, or monument of the plain,) and TULLADISH; which are separated from each other by a rivulet. " Why should a feeble maid attempt to show, To Nathos, how the strife of battle grew?" The poet, by an artifice, avoids the description of the battle of Lona, as it would be improper in the * Tbe liquid /, often found at the termination of Irish words, seems to have been placed there for the better sound's sake. NOTES. 63 mouth of a woman, and could have nothing new, after the numerous descriptions, of that kind, in the rest of the poems. He, at the same time, gives an opportunity to Dar-thula to pass a fine compliment on her lover. M. XVII. 13 Nor our renowned friends, our arms to aid. Oscar, the son of Ossian, had long resolved on the expedition into Ireland, against Cairbar, who had as- sasinated his friend Cathol, the son of Moran, an Irish- man of noble extraction, and in the interest of the family of Cormac. M. 14 Then, as the flaming arm of death, my brand Should thro' the stormy field of heroes glide!" " His hand is the arm of a ghost, when he stretches it from a cloud ; the rest of his thin form is unseen ; but the people die in the vale !" THE WAR OF CAROS. XX. * .- 15 Lam-hmhor, mighty hand. M. 54 NOTES. Lamhor was, probably, a super-annuated follower of the family of Cuthullin, king of the isle of Sky; and had remained in the castle of Tura, when his patron went on the expedition to the lake of Lego, to chas- tise some of the Irish chiefs, who, taking advantage of the extreme youth of Cormac, then supreme king of Ireland, had risen in rebellion against him. From Cuthullin being elsewhere called " the ruler of high Temora," he appears to have acted as protector to the realm, and guardian to the young king: an office which, in all likelihood, he undertook at the instance of Fingal, king of Morven, whose first wife, Roscrana, was aunt to Arth, the father of Cormac. It was for this reason, in addition to the family connexion which before existed, (see the poem of TEMORA,) that Fin- gal took so much interest in the affairs of Ireland. Cuthullin was killed in the expedition, as related in the poem which treats of his death: and but feeble opposition seems to have been afterwards made to the designs of Cairbar, who was the instigator of the re- bellion, and who, after he had murdered Cormac, usurped the throne. Mr. Macpherson remarks, in a note to his transla- tion, that " Temora (the residence of the supreme kings of Ireland,) is here called mournful, on account of NOTES. 55 the death of Cormac, who was murdered there by Cairbar, who usurped his throne." How the learned gentleman could have been guilty of so decided a blunder, I cannot conceive: for, had he allowed himself a moment to reflect, he must have discovered that Lamhor could not possibly have al- luded to the death of Cormac an event which did not take place till several days after. This is palpable, from the first Canto of Teniora; where Carril, the bard, who brought the news of Cuthullin's death, informs Cormac, that Nathos and his brothers had arrived at the Jake of Lego, before his departure, taken the command of the royal army, and proved successful against the enemy. Even without referring to the poem of Temora, the absurdity of Mr. Macpherson's exposition may be shown, from the poem before us: for, can it be ima- gined that Lamhor, had he been aware of the death of Cormac, would have suffered Nathos to depart in ignorance of the circumstance? But this conclu- sion is inevitable, if we admit Mr. Macpherson's in- terpretation; as we find Nathos, after he had de- feated Corlath, one of the rebel chiefs, proceeding in all haste to the palace of Temora, to protect the young king: probably, in consequence of his having received intelligence of Cairbar's designs. 56 NOTES. The reader will perceive, that every difficulty, as far as regards this poem, may be removed, and the poet acquitted of any impropriety in the conduct of it, by the supposition that Lamhor had taken for granted that they had heard at Temora of the death of Cuthullin. But here, it must be confessed, that another diffi- culty arises; for it is not easy to account satisfacto- rily for the delay which took place, between the in- telligence of Cuthullin's death having reached Tura, and its being known at the palace of Temora. I am afraid that the best way of getting over this apparent incongruity, is to call it a poetic license: For poets are not expected to be always strict mat- ter-of-fact men ; they must be allowed the "privilege of sometimes introducing imaginary circumstances: and we should be content if those embellishments be made to tally pretty well with the general tenor of the narrative. Therefore, we must not be too severe on Ossian, because there here appears a trifling in- consistence with the poem of Temora. However, we can readily assign a reason for Lamhor being here made to announce the death of Cuthullin, viz. that it gave Ossian an opportunity of displaying the courage of his hero, Nathos, in a more favourable light ; by shewing that he was not deterred from pro- NOTES. 57 ceeding on the expedition, aUhough an event occurred which he had not at all calculated on ; and which ren- dered the undertaking far more hazardous, if not hopeless. But what apology can be made for Mr. Macpher- son, who here introduces an assertion absolutely at variance with the next section but one? And ^iow I would appeal to the common sense of my reader Can he, after noticing the beautiful uni- formity displayed throughout this little piece the admirable connexion of its episodes with the subject of the poem its inimitable transitions can he, I say, observe all these marks of a master-hand, and, for an instant, admit it to have been the composition of a man, who appears scarcely to have given it a patient perusal? No I will not insult his understanding by the supposition. And yet, this is the person to whom some have attributed the original composition of these poems; while others have said, that he gleaned scraps of poetry from different bards, and out of such shreds and patches manufactured the poems himself. I am mistaken if we shall not have a long list bf errors of omission, and of commission, and not a few gratuitous assertions to settle with Mr. Macpherson. before we have finished 7his work. i NOTES. are Slissama's sons Slis-seamha, soft bosom. She was the wife of Us- noth, and daughter of Semo, (the father of Cuthullin) chief of the isle of mist. M. 17 But he was like a meteor We have here one of the most august and beautiful similies, that ever entered the mind of a poet. But much of its force and dignity will be lost, unless we conceive the word meteor to signify a comet; which it may, without the least violence. How strikingly, then, will it depict the contrast between the warrior of ephe- meral renown, and one who had grown old in glory ! NOTE ; the appearance of comets has in all ages been deemed to forebode awful events. 18 Mournful are Lego's banks The lake of Lego, I believe to be the same with Lough Neagh; the river Lara, to be the Four-mile- water: and I am inclined to think that Cuthullin was killed within a short distance of the town of Antrim. It may not be improper for <fie to call the attention of my reader to a circumstance, which has greatly as- NOTES. 59 sisted me in determining the scene of several of the poems ; what I allude to, is, that Ossian very generally draws his similies from the immediate vicinity of the scene of his poem, whenever appropriate objects could there be found. This is an admirable method ; for, while he thus ren- dered his embellishments far more interesting to his co- temporaries, who were acquainted with the scene of ac- tion, and confined all their attention to the spot, he leaves an important clue for future generations. 19 1 struck the mighty Caithbafs shield. Caithbat, the grandfather of Cuthullin, was r I pre- sume, the most renowned of his ancestors ; as we find his shield made use of as the war-signal for assembling the troops. Thus, the shield of Trenmor is selected by Fingal for the same purpose, in preference to that of any of the rest of his Family. 10 Of lofty Cromla's falling stream Cromla (Crom-leach) is here the proper name of a hill in the neighbourhood of Tura (Ture). Crom-leach signified a Druidical place of worship ; and is consider- ed, by Mr. Rowlands, to be derived from the Hebrew 60 NOTES. n ^ ?. Ceerem-luach, a devoted stone or altar. Althos had just returned from viewing the coast of Lena, whither he had been sent by Nathos, the begin- ning of the night." M. " Cairbar had gathered an army, to the coast of Ul- ster, in order to oppose FingaJ, who prepared for an expedition into Ireland, to re-establish the house of Cormac on the throne, which Cairbar usurped. Be- tween, the wings of Cairbar's army was the bay of Tura, into which the ship of the sons of Usnoth was driven: so that there was no hope of their escaping." M. No! it is Nathos' soul doth here detain His steps, ye children of the dismal night! It must be confessed that there is here some appear- ance of bravado, and contradiction to the former expressions of Nathos ; who so frequently had lament- ed that the winds should detain them, and seemed so gloomy and dejected on the occasion. But we are to recollect, that the most ardent mind will sometimes betray symptoms of depression in a state of incertitude, and when danger is comparatively distant, which en- tirely vanish on its nearer approach. Those who observe the progress of the poem the conversation, NOTES. 61 and circumstances which occurred will feel that Ossian has not over-stepped the bounds of propriety by putting this speech into the mouth of Nathos: When the for- mer expressions had escaped him, he had a thousand mournful reflections crowding on his mind : The peril to which his beloved Dar-thula was exposed, the grief that his aged father should endure, and the uncertain- ty of what his fate should be whether he should not be butchered in the night, without any opportunity of distinguishing himself, the very gloom of the night it- self all tended to harrow up his feelings, and, for a moment, almost to un-man him. But his soul immedi- ately recovers its wonted energy, at the prospect of the brilliant opportunity which he should shortly have (even should he fall) of gaining immortal honour a consideration more dear to him than life itself. He also appears to have some hopes that Cairbar might be induced to meet him in single combat: and it likewise became incumbent on him to stimulate his brothers by his example. I have been led into those remarks, by some objec- tions which were offered to this passage. ** Bring me the spear of Semo. Semo was grandfather to Nathos by the mother's 62 NOTES. side. The spear mentioned here was given to Usnoth on his marriage ; it being the custom then for the father of the lady to give his arms to his son-in-law. M. - XVII. *s The spirit of the mountain wildly roar'd. By the spirit of the mountain is meant that deep and melancholy sound which precedes a storm; well knowo to those who live in a high country. M. XVIII. i4 A long-flowing robe of blue mist now provide him. This address to the spirits of his ancestors, however wild and absurd it may seem to the ordinary reader, is nevertheless beautifully consonant with the notions and mythology of the times. The ghosts they con- ceived to be light aeriel substances, of an exceedingly delicate texture liable to be discomposed by every rugged blast, unless protected by some covering. NOTES. 63 As spirits were declared to be excluded from their Elysium, or Airy hall, and forced to "wander on the winds," until some bard could be prevailed on to sing an elegy over their tombs, or pronounce their praises in a formal manner, the poets fabled that some relative of the deceased clothed him with thick mist, to screen his tender form from the rude actions of the elements. Thus in the seventh Canto of TEMORA, CONAR, one of the kings of Ireland, is represented as pouring the mist of Lego over the grave of Fillan. Where the departed happened to be of so despicable a character as to be deemed unworthy of funeral ho- nours, and, in consequence, neglected by its ghostly relatives, it had no other alternative than to lurk in the vapour of some fen, or be tossed about, the sport of every gale. The spirit on its departure from the body they ima- gined to be excessively timid : therefore we find Ossian beseeching the ghosts of his fathers, to lay aside their red terrors, or lightnings ; lest they should scare the hovering stranger, and prevent his approaching them. They likewise conceived that the deceased retained all their former passions, and propensities, and amused themselves in a similar manner to what they had been accustomed to do on earth : they " pursued deer form- ed of clouds, and bent their airy bow ;" feasted in 64 NOTES. their airy hall, and " stretched their hands of mist to the same shell ;" and even had their contests and com- bats in the air. In short, they transferred all the manners, customs all the economy of society, from this life to the next. It is therefore with great pro- priety Ossian requests that the departed may be clothed and armed ;* to enable him to enter upon his new vo- cations, and to qualify him for the society of kindred spirits. From the whole tenor of the poems of Ossian, the bards appear to have inculcated, that no address, in favour of a departed spirit could be available, unless it came from one of their privileged order. Nay, we have sufficient reason to think, that (according to them) the most transcendent merit the most brilliant virtues and qualifications could not render their in- terference unnecessary: While, at the same time, their invocations were a passport to the most odious of characters even to a Cairbar ! At first sight it will indeed seem no easy matter to ascertain on what the bards could have founded a doctrine, so well calculated to aggrandize their order. * By an half-quenched meteor, (which he mentions to be the sword of the deceased,) probably is meant a receding comet: which sometimes, both in shape and colour, bears no small similitude to a sword. NOTES. 65 Cut perhaps it might be no irrational conjecture were we to conclude, that they impressed the popular mind with the notion that those chiefs, who during their life-time had held them in their confidence, and made them the companions of their privacy, and probably the repository of their secrets, retained, even in an other state of existence, their previous attachment for them, deigned occasionally to confer with them, and readily to lend an ear to their introductions and re- commendations, as they were wont to do in this world. This idea being once broached, i,t was not difficult to improve on it, and to extend their pretensions to a general communion with the invisible world ; on the principle, that as they were invariably employed as am- bassadors, and agents on the most important occa- sions, their persons inviolable, and their communica- tions treated with the utmost respect among men ; so their suggestions and communications would be treat- ed with the same respect by the aerial people; and their eulogies be echoed by the departed members of their order; whom, it is probable, they conceived to be employed in the same capacity in the invisible world, as they had been in this. But it may be desirable, to proceed a step farther, and endeavour to point out the origin and progress of K 66 NOTES. that close connexion which subsisted between the chiefs and their bards;* and how the latter came to be re- tained in such numbers, after the subversion of the Druids. Here we shall have something more than vague conjecture to guide us in our researches; as it will ap- pear, from the testimony of contemporary writers, that the bards were early placed in a situation well suited to gain them an influence and ascendency over the public mind : they were the active organ of that cele- brated society known to antiquity under the general name of Druids.f To the bards was particularly en- Mr. Rowlands observes (page 61 of his work) that, "Although they (the Druids) made no nse of books, yet by what we read of them, we find that their schemes extended to all the useful parts of learning, which they couched under apt significant words, and deposited by them into Rhythmi- cal Compositions, unto a peculiar class of their society whom they called Beirdd, I take it (says he) from the original word Paradd, to divide and dis- tinguish, that is, whom they separated and distinguished from the rest, for their extraordinary talent of memory, unto that peculiar work (Cof-weithie or Cof-wydde) of recording and reciting on occasions, the various theorems and explications of their whole system of knowledge." Plurima securi fudistis Carmina Bardi. Lucan. f Strabo, (Lib. 4.) speaking of the Druids in general, divides them into three classes, viz. A^vt&zi, Ovctle7s, & Bag^oi. Ammianus Marcellinus (Lib. 15.) observes the same enumeration, and thus desrcibes them : "Bardi quidem fortia riroruin illustrium facta, heroicis composita versibus, cum dulcibus Lyrte modidis cantitarunt ; Eubates vero scrutantes summa, et sub- lima Natures pandere eonabantur : Inter hos Druides ingeniis celsiores, ut authoritas Pythagoree decrevit, sodalitiis astricti consortiisque, questionibus occulliinitii rerum, altarumque erecti sunt, et despectantes Humana, pronun- ciarunt Animus immortales:" that is, "The bards sung the mighty deeds of I NOTES. 67 trusted the education of youth; and, in addition to their thus having an opportunity of moulding the minds of the young nobles, (who, we are told,* repaired to their seminaries from all parts,) they seem likewise to have been in the habit of attending the chiefs to their wars, and probably on all important occasions; as we find a part of their occupation was the recording and celebrating the heroic acts of illustrious men: which we can hardly suppose them capable of doing had they not themselves been eye-witnesses to them. In fact, they were the social link between the people in general, and those more-secluded classes of the Dru- idic society, who either gave themselves up to a life of retirement and contemplation, or were employed in functions more calculated to strike the popular mind illustrious men, disposed (or artfully arranged) in heroic verses, and ac- companied with sweet modulations of the harp : the Eubates, more dilli- gently scrutinizing nature, endeavoured to lay open her highest and most sublime secrets : and amongst these the Druids, of more exalted under- standing, united into societies and fraternities, on the Pythagoraen system, aspired to the contemplation of divine and hidden things, and, soaring above human affairs, pronounced the soul of man to be immortal." * Caesar, speaking of the Celts of Gallia, says : " Et mine qui diligentius earn rem cognoscere volunt, plerunque illuc discendi causa proficiscuntur. And at this present time those who are anxious to become more intimately acquainted with this, (Druidical learning) frequently repair thither (to Britain) for the purpose of compleating their studies." 68 NOTES. with awe and veneration nay, even with terror * than to draw it by the cords of friendship and affection. We may rest assured, although the bards were at one time most useful instruments in preserving the people in slavish subjection to Druidism, that, when they saw the storm ready to break when they perceived that Dru- iJic tyranny, together with other contingent circum- stances, had brought matters nearly to a crisis they did not fail to side with the strongest, did not forego the opportunity which they now had of monopolizing all the tenable fruits of their former exertions. There- fore they would naturally attach themselves to the dif- ferent chiefs. And the chiefs, on the other hand, finding how serviceable the bards might now be to them,t in bending the public mind to their authority, (now consi- derably extended on the ruins of that of the Druids,) gave them or, perhaps, rather preserved to them those * Caesar thus describes the extensive judicial power of the Druids : " \tirn fere de omnibus contrctersiis publicist pricatisque constituunt: ct siqvod e/tt admissumf acinus, si Caedesfacta, si de Httreditate, si de finibus controtersia est, iidem decei-nunt, proemia ptrnas/jue constituunt." " For they determine in almost ail controversies, both public and private : and if any crime be perpretrated, if any murder be committed, if any dispute concerning here- ditary rights, or boundry of lands occur, they investigate the same, and decree rewards and punishments." t See the notes on TEMORA, Canto IV. . NOTES. 09 numerous and extravagant privileges which they en- joyed. Thus the bulk of the people (as indeed is the case in most revolutions) seem to have gained but little advan- tage by the change, and were only transferred from one set of masters to another. While what of the ancient religion escaped the convulsion, was deposited naturally in the hands of the bards ; who, perhaps, retained little more than that portion in which they had previously been accustomed to take an active part, namely, the theoretical. So that we are not to be surprised if we find in the poems of Ossian no mention of sacrifices, and other Druidic ceremonies ; as these were previous- ly entrusted to a different class of the Druids, namely, the EUBATES. Besides, it is highly probable that the abominable custom of offering human sacrifices had contributed, more than any thing else, to throw a ge- neral odium on the religion of the Druids, (we know at least, that it was a professed reason with the Romans for persecuting them so ardently,) and it became abso- lutely necessary to relinquish every thing that could tend to recall even the recollection of so hateful a rite. As to the notion of the ghost being excluded from the society of other spirits, until a bard had pro- nounced his praises, I am clearly of opinion that it was TO NOTES. founded on the Druidic practice of excommunicating; which Caesar thus describes: " Siquis aut publicus mil privatus eorum decreto non steterit sacrrftciis inter- dicunt : H<BC pcena apud eos gravis.sima ; quibus ita interdictum est, ii numero impiorum ac sceleratorum habentur; ab Us omnes decedunt, adi turn eorum ser- monemque defugiunt: Neque eis petentibus jus red- ditur, neque Honos ullus communicatur :" that is, " If any one, whether a public or a private character, dis- obey (or refuse to submit to) their decree, they (the Druids) interdict him their sacrifices. This punish- ment amongst them is a most grievious one; for all other people look upon "him, so interdicted, as impious and polluted, shun his company; and even avoid speaking to him: He is besides debarred every advan- tage from the laws, and disqualified from holding any situation of honour or trust." It is highly probable that in the days of Druidic au- thority, those individuals who had the misfortune to in- cur this heavy penalty, were in the habit of employing the Bards as mediators between them and the less ac- cessible' order of the Druids, in whose hands the judi- cial powers were lodged. This, I imagine, was the origin of the bards' pretentious to mediatorship ; which, doubtless, were considerably strengthened by the cir- cumstances before alluded to. NOTES. 7 1 The belief that spirits had an influence over the ele- ments, was not confined to the Celts: Perhaps no nation ever existed which had not a gleam of this doc- trine. We find the greatest of all authorities, Jesus Christ himself, countenancing it, and speaking of Satan under the denomination of " the prince of the power of. the air" and that in such a manner as to leave us no doubt of its being a title perfectly familiar to his hearers. As I look upon this and the immortality of the soul as dogmas to which mere human reason could not of itself extend to which indeed it had no clue whatso- ever, (however constituted it might be to acquiesce in the truth of them, when once proposed) I am of opinion that they must have been in the first instance supernaturally revealed to man, and afterwards have descended by tradition from one common source : though speculative geniuses soon expanded the origi- nal proposition, and adapted it to their own wild theories. Thus have I hazarded a few conjectures on the origin and progress of some of those superstitions,* which * Lest I should here be misconceived, I beg leave to say that I rather be- lieve an error, or deviation from truths once received, to be the cause of most, if not of all those superstitions, than that they were the original offspring of man's imagination. It would be well if we brought all our notions to 12 NOTES. appear to have held such dominion over the minds of our forefathers, and which indeed are not yet quite extinct, though somewhat modified. The reader need not be told that it is impossible to do any thing like justice to such a subject as this within the bounds of a note, a subject which would demand an extensive treatise to itself. I have only been able to exhibit a few of the most prominent traits ; and even on these have been obliged considerably to abridge my ideas. I suspect that I could anticipate some objections, and likewise reply to them, did our limits permit. But perhaps we may hereafter have op- portunities of recurring to the subject : and I am mis- taken if it is one that will shrink from investigation. One general remark, however, I would make, before we conclude, namely, that, notwithstanding the testi- mony of co-temporary Roman authors is entitled to the utmost respect, in determining the nature of Druidism, yet it is not to be received without some limitation. Every one must be aware of the numerous obstacles which present themselves to strangers, in their attempts to pry into the religion and mysteries of others ; and the touch-stone of reason and religion, (which have a stronger affinity than some moderns will admit them to have) and net rest our belief on their antiquity alone. NOTES. 73 likewise how apt the narrator would be (when convey- ing the sum of his observations to his own nation) to supply, or explain from his own mythology, those things of which he had caught but an indistinct glimpse. Thus the supposed polytheism of the Britons, might be no- thing more than their invocations of the souls of depart- ed heroes and illustrious characters, similar to those which we meet with in the poems of Ossian. For how was a Roman to discriminate? Is it likely that he could have found an opportunity of investigating the minutest shades of opinion, in those who held him in abhor- rence, and would, as much as possible, avoid all com- munication with him nay, who made even to their own people a mystery* of their principles? Was it to be expected that he could ascertain or indeed would take the trouble to ascertain, the precise nature of that worship which they appeared to pay to spiritual or su- pernatural beings: whether they defied their renowned men, (as was the custom among the Romans &c.) or merely invocated them for the purposes before noticed ? We have ourselves a living instance of a dispute some- what similar having existed for ages, without yet being * Diogenes Laertius says, Ka* (pacrt t y$ <pAo?o^)jo-a. That is, the Druids couth their philosophy uuder eui- mas and proverbs. 74 NOTES. brought to a close. Therefore those who make it an argument against the poetry of Ossian, that it has no trace of the polytheism, attributed to the Druids, should pause, before they reject them as spurious on that ac- count. But even if the difference were admitted their objection would not be unanswerable. XXXI. Z5 Thou didst fly From him in battle, Nathos here alludes to the flight of Cairbar from Selama. M. 16 Youth of the heart of pride! Shall Erin's king contend in fight with thee? In nothing is the merit of this amiable poet more pre- eminent than in his delineation of character ; he traces it to its inmost recesses ; and finely displays the mean artifices of the coward, to keep up his sinking reputa- tion. Here we see this mushroom king, who had just murdered his legitimate sovereign in the basest manner, NOTES. 15 screening himself behind his assumed dignity, and refus- ing to meet Nathos, (his superior in every thing but crime); lest, forsooth, it should degrade him in the eyes of the world, were he to engage in single combat with a person not his equal in rank. It is a powerful tribute to virtue, and a striking proof of the general tendency of the human mind to appre- ciate it, that we find even vice obliged to borrow its garb, in order to escape detection. What a pity that it should so often do so with success! Nor can I avoid calling the attention of my reader to that master-stroke of Ossian, in the first line of the XXXII. Section; by which he so happily depicts the burst of "sensation that a noble and generous mind must experience, at hearing not only himself but his family vilified, by a despicable ruffian, whom circum- stances had placed out of his reach. XXXIII. In arms approached Alnecma's gloomy lord. Though Ossian sometimes (especially in the charac- ter of Foldath poem of Temora) exhibits ferocity with- out cowardice, it is worthy of observation that he never introduces a coward who is not unfeeling. In- 76 NOTES. deed a mind which is over-solicitous for its own safety. V ' can scarcely find room for a feeling of compassion towards others. XXXIV. The race of great Truthil hath failed with thee, maid! Truthil was the founder of Dar-thula's family. M. ERRATA. J'age. Ill line 12. For starkle, read startle. lix 9. For prove, read proves- Jxviii - 7. For the later era, read a later era. Ixxvi - 8. For necessity, read propriety. Ixxxiii - 22. For rude and desultory essay, read cratfc and deiultoiy essay. 39 (Funeral Sonj?, verse I.) Forfail'd, read failed. 8^ The reader is requested to rectify the latter mistake, as it in- terferes with the metre. Notes, [ 4. For now/and, read Rowlands. L - 25. For Restorata, read Restaurata. 73 - 18. For defied, rea 8^- The last-mentioned error has only extended to a few copiet. There are a few more typographical errors, which, as they are unimportant, and easily discoverable by the reader, it is unnecessary fo notice. *** I forgot before to mention, that the Notes marked (Mj have been copied from Macpherson. 76 NOTES. deed a mind which is over-solicitous for its own safety, can scarcely find room for a feeling of compassion towards others.