Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

the JEra of Ossian.
their authority that the tribes were united, in times
ct" the greatest danger, under one head. This tem-
porary king, or Vergobretus, was chosen by them,
ind generally laid down his office at the end of the
war. These priests enjoyed long this extraordinary
privilege among the Celtic nations who lay beyond
llie pale of the Roman empire. It was in the be-
ginning of the second century that their power
among the Caledonians began to decline. The
traditions concerning Trathal and Cormac, ances-
tors to Fingal, are full of the particulars of the fall
of the Druids : a singular fate, it must be owned, of
priests, who had once established their superstition.
The continual wars of the Caledonians against the
Romans, hindered the better sort from initiating
themselves, as the custom formerly was, into the
order of tlie Druids. The precepts of their religion
were confined to a few, and were not much attended
lo by a people inured to war. The Vergobretus,
br chief magistrate, was chosen without the con-
furrence of the hierarchy, or continued in his office
fcgaiust their will. Continual power strengthened
lus interest among the tribes, and enabled him to
kend down, as hereditary to his posterity, the office
/le had only received himself by election.
On occasion of a new war against the King of the
World, as tradition emphatically calls the Romi^n
emperor, the Druids, to vindicate the honour of the
order, began to resume their ancient privilege cf
choosing the Vergobretus. Garmal, the son of
Tamo, being deputed by them, came to the grand-
father of the celebrated Fingal, who was then Vergo-
bretus, and commanded him, in the name of the
whole order, to lay down his office. Upon his re-
fusal, a civil war commenced, which soon ended \\t
almostthetotalextinctionofthereligiousorder of ill*
Druids. A few that remained, retired to the darft
recesses of their groves, and the caves they had
formerly used lor their meditations. It is then w*