Ossian Collection > Fingal

A P O E M. 153
The mighty have fallen in battle, and thou waft not there.«-^Lct none
tell it in Selma, nor in Morven's woody land ; Fingal mil be fad,
and the fons of the defart mourn.
By the dark rolHng waves of Lego they railed the hero's tomb.
Laath ;|:, at a diftance, lies, the companion of CuChullin, at the
chace. Bleft |I be thy foul, fon of Semo j thou wert mighty in
battle. — Thy ftrength was like the ftrength of a ftteam : thy fpeed
like the eagle's * wing. Thy path in the battle was terrible : the
fteps of death were behind thy fword. Bleft be thy foul, fon of
Semo ; car-borne chief of Dunfcaich !
Thou haft not fallen by the fword of the mighty, neither was thy
blood on the fpear of the valiant. — The arrow came, like the fting
of death in a blaft : nor did the feeble hand, which drew the
bow, perceive it. Peace to thy foul, in thy cave, chief of the
iile of Mift !
The mighty are difperfed at Temora : there is none in Cor-
mac's hall. The king mourns in his youth, for he does not
behold thy coming. The found of thy ftiield is ceafed : his
X It was of old, thecuftom to bury the || This is the fong of the bards over Cu-
favourite dog near the mafler. This was chullin's tomb. Every ftanza dofes with
not peculiar to the ancient Scots, for we fome remarkable title of the hero, which
find it praclifed by many other nations in was always the cuflom in funeral elegies. —
their ages of heroifm. There is a (lone The verfe of the fong is a lyric meafure,
fhewn fiill at Dunfcaich in the ifle of Sky, and it was of old fung to the harp,
to which CuchuUin commonly bound his * They were fwifter than eagles, they
dog Luath. — The ftone goes by his name were ftronger than lions. 7 Sam. i, 23.
to this day.
X foes