Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 2

NOTES TO FINGAL. 149
(Iliad, Book II. ver. 362) — " accorJiag to trilies and brotherhoods."
And we see Fingal, like every leader of ancient times, doing the same
thing wherever he marshals his hosts.
In the line before us, dream evideutlj' means " race," " clan," or
"fiimily."
Further, in "Temora" (Diuui II, 1. 113) we are told that the chiefs
came forward —
" Measg farum an ceuJ chlann,"
" Amid the noise of their hundred claiis."
Clan, I need hardly say, is the Gaelic clann, " children," slightly
Anglicised ; and while we would not, in the present day, apply the
term, as Ossian here does, to a gathering of separate tribes, it is the
usual designation for the aggregate of individuals who are joined
together by the bond of a common ancestry. " Clann Ghriogair,"
" Clann Dòmhnuill," &c., mean the Clan Gregor, Clan Donald," &c.
Again, "Temora" (Duan III. 1. 197), when Cormul advanced, "his
kindred darkened (or pressed closely) behind him."
" A chinneadh a' dubliadli air a chill."
Cinneadh, cinnearh, or cinne, is just the Eng. "kin," Lat. geii-us, Gr.
yiv -o;, vSans. Jan ; and, besides various other places, we have the word
used, Duan III. L 172, 173—
" Dli'iarr e do chòmhrag gluasad,
'H-uile cinneadh gu luath 's an fhraoch."
" He ordered every kindred to advance quickly to tattle," &c.
To this day, ceann-cinnidh, " the head of a kindred, or kinship," is the
common name for " the chief of a clan."
Once more, "Temora" (Duan II. 1. 261) —
" Gu 'fhinc fèin a ghluais gach treun."
"To his own clan moved every hero."
It is true that fine frequently signifies a nation. It cannot do so
here, however, as all the chiefs were of the same nation. It must refer
to a narrower subdivision ; and every one who knows Gaelic is aware
that "■ Finea.c\\&i\ Gàedhealach " is the designation of the Highland clans
generally. The songs of MacDonald, Maclntyre, and many other bards,
prove this. The word treuhh, " tribe," is so frequently used that I
need not give references to it.
Here, then, we have every wonl by which a clan or tribe, bound
together by the ties of consanguinity, can be described, used by Ossian
over and over— CZann, cinneadh, fine, dream, treubh; and if any fur-