Ossian Collection > Report of the Committee of the Highland Society of Scotland, appointed to inquire into the nature and authenticity of the poems of Ossian

GAELIC MANUSCRIPTS. 307
am on ? said Curio — And what do they call that rock be-
hind us ? The rock of Anteus they call that rock, said
the young man ; and the hill of Wrestling is the name of
this hill that you are on. From what cause are they so
named? said Curio. If it be not tedious to you, I shall
tell it at full length, replied the African lad. Tell it mi-
nutely, said Curio. — There was (said he) a wonderful
champion in this land, who had neither father nor mother
of human kind, having been produced from the womb of
earth herself. Anteus son of Terra was his name. Great
indeed was the strength of that, person ; for neither one man
nor many could contend with him, because when his
strength failed, he would let himself down to the ground,
and as soon as his side touched the earth, he was filled with
wondrous vigour from his proper mother the earth. Yet
he rarely needed this resource. For none was found who
could resist his strength. The inhabitants of the land fell
by him, and no ship that entered the port below could re-
tire in safety from him : so that he wasted the whole of
this country, and none dared to approach it either by sea or
land.
After the country around him became a wilderness, his
subsistence was the flesh of moose, and deer, beasts of prey,
bears, and lions, which he daily killed in the wilderness.
He had neither rushes, nor branches, nor skin, nor rug,
nor tartan plaid, * for his bed — but his side to the ground.
This ancient author appears to have had the following
passage of Lucan in his eye :
[Curio] — Castra locat cano procul aequore, qua se
Bagrada lentus agit siccae sulcator arenx.
* The original word, hreacan is the well known plaid of the Caledonian»,
•which supplied them with, a dress by day, and a covering at night,
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