Ossian Collection > Essay on the authenticity of the poems of Ossian

OF OSSIAN'S POEMS. 17
Of all the ancients, who have given us an
account of the manners of our Caledonian
ancestors, Dion Cassius and Herodian have
drawn the most unfavourable pictures. Yet
what is the amount of all that Dion advan-
ces ? He tells us, " that the country is rug-
" ged and bleak ; that the inhabitants sub-
" sist chiefly by hunting, and pasturage, and
" on fruits ; that they are addicted to plun-
" der; that they fight from cars; that their
" infantry is firm in action, and rapid, either
" in pursuit or flight ; that their arms are a
" shield, a dart, and a dagger, with a ball of
" metal at the point to astonish the enemy
" with the sound, when it is brandished." *
Dion farther bears witness to their hardiness
in enduring hunger, and fatigue, and cold.
* Tacitus, a far more respectable authority, in point
of acuteness, as well as opportunity of information, tells
us, that they wore very large swords, (ingentes gladii.) —
Agric. c. SQ.