Ossian Collection > Fingal

( IM )
THE
BATTLE of LORA
A P O E M*.
SON of the diftant land, who dwellcft in the fecret cell! do I
hear the founds of thy grove ? or is it thy voice of fongs ? —
The torrent was loud in my ear, but I heard a tunefnl voice ; dofl
thou praife the chiefs of thy land ; or the fpirits -j- of the wind ? —
But, lonely dweller of the rock ! look over that heathy plain : thou
feeft green tombs, with their rank, whiflling grafs ; with their ftones
* This poem is compleat ; nor does it ragon king of Sofa, a country of Scandi-
appear from tradition, that it was intro- navia, the declared enemy of Fingal. The
duced, as an epifode, into any of Oflian's valour of Aide foon gained him a great
great works. — It it called, in the original, reputatioa in Sora: and Lorma the beauti-
Duan a ChuUich, or the CuUhe's p-e/n, ful wife of Erragon fell in love with him,
becaufe it was addrefled to one of the firft — He found means to efcape with her, and
Chriflian miflionarie?, who were called, to come to Fingal, who refided then in
from their retired life, Culdecs, or fe- Sehna on the weftern coaft.— Erragon irr-
qufjlered perfans. — The ftory bears a near vadcd Scotland, and was flain in battle by
refemblance to that which was the foun- Gaul the fon of Morni, after he had re-
dation of the Iliad. Fingal, on his return jcfled terms of peace offered him by Fin-
:rom Ireland, after he had expelled Swa- gal. — In this war Aldo fell, in a fingle
ran from that kingdum, made a feaft to all combat, by the hands of his rival Erragon ;
his heroes : he forgot to invite Ma-ronnan and the unfortunate Lorma afterwards died
and Aldo, two chiefs, who had not been of grief.
along with him on his expedition. They f The poet alludes to the religious hymns
rsfented his neglect ; and went over to Er- of the Culdecs.
of