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

OF PASSAGES. 229
Her air far exceeded her figure.
** Branch of beauty covered with the dew of grief,"
I calmly said,
*' If blue swords can defend thee,
Our dauntless hearts will second them."
^' Thy protection I claim as thou art Fingal,"
Replied the daughter of youth,
*' By the excellence of thy might and thy eloquence
I claim speedy and seasonable protection.
Thy countenance to the forlorn is the sun ;
Thy shield is the dwelling place of mercy.
I am pursued on the sea ;
A hero of heavy wrath is following my track ;
The son of Sora's king pursues me.
The mighty chief, whose name is Mayro Borb,"
" Rest thou here under my protection,
Beautiful form of the fairest hue !
And, in defiance of Mayro Borb,
Thou shalt find safety under the shade of my shield."
Now on a wave is seen advancing
A warrior whose stature none could equal.
Riding the sea with speed
fn the very direct on the maid had come.
Full rose his masts under their sails,
supporter of the feeble hand ! The king of Craca's echoing-
isle owned me the sun-beam of his race. Cromala's hills
have heard the sighs of love for unhappy Fainasollis I So-
ra's chief beheld me fair ; he loved the daughter of Craca.
His sword is a beam of light upon the warrior's side. But
dark is his brow ; and tempests are in his soul. I shun
him, on the roaring sea ; but Sora's chief pursues."
*' Rest thou," I said, ** behind my shield ; rest in peace,
thou beam of light ! The gloomy chief of Sora will fly, if
Fingal's arm is like his soul. In some lone cave I might
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