Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 1

THE POEMS OF OSSIAN. 59
which is placed, hy the universal consent of
the senachies, in the third century. They
even fix the death of Fingal in the year 286,
yet his son Ossian is made cotemporary with
St. Patrick, who preached the gospel in Ire-
land about the middle of the fifth age. Os-
sian, though at that time he must have been
two hundred and fifty years of age, had a
daughter young enough to become wife to
the saint. On account of this family con-
nection, Faifick of the Psalms, for so the
apostle of Ireland is emphatically called in tlie
poems, took great delight in the company of
Ossian, and in hearing the great actions of
his family. The saint sometimes threw oft"
the austerity of his profession, drunk freeh%
and had his soul properly warmed with wine,
to receive with becoming enthusiasm the poems
of his father-in-law. One of the poems begins
with this piece of useful information:
Lo don rabh Padric na mhiir,
Gun Sailin air uidh, ach a gul,
Ghluais e thigh Ossian mhic Fhion,
O san leis bu bhinn a ghloir.
The title of this poem is Teantach mor na Fiona.
It appears to have been founded on the same
story with the battle of Lora. The circum-
stances and catastrophe in both are much the