Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 2

NOTES TO FINGAL. 159
but conclude my very loug note by saying tbat the name of the DruiJical
priesthood is deeply engraven on the topogi'aphj^ of the Highlands —
that the idea of their possessing supernatural power is closely inter-
woven with the tales, superstitions, and the ordinary language of the
people — that they have left unmistakable traces of their existence, which
will endure as long as the Gaelic language endures.
3 . . . " Tlie loch of Torijul."
In the Gaelic tliis name is Inri/hiiil ; but IMacfarlau in Latin, and
Eoss in English, have Tunjnl, which I have adopted as the more pro-
bable reading.
* " In the conflict of hurth'nr; spears."
" 'S a' chòmhrag mu-n iadh an t-sleagh."
This word iadh is of very frequent occurrence, and a very trying one
to a translator. Its root meaning is " to wind around." I have here
rendered it " hurtling," for want of a better term. The literal render-
ing of the line is —
" The. combat round which wind the spears."
^ The episode of Fàiniie-Soluis, " Eing of light," called also the
" Maid of Craca," is wanting in the Gaelic of Macpherson, but in its
outline is very generally known, and has been the subject of much dis-
cussion.
The sixth of JIacpherson's " Fragments" is very similar to it. There
is a long version of it in Miss Brooke's ' Eeliques ' under the title of
" Mohu Eorb," or " Laoidh an !Mhoighre Bhoirb ; " and in the Dean
of Lismore's book there is another very similar to, though not identical
with. Miss Brooke's. Its title there is " An Dyre Borb." There is
one given in Gillies's Collection (where there is also " Dan na h'-ighin,"
very like " Fàinne-Soluis "). There is one in the App. to High.
Soc. Eep., and various other versions more or less perfect may be
met with, some of which the title is " Am Boighre Borb." All
tliese, while differing in expression, give the same account of the leading
incidents of the tale, which proves two things — that the poem took a
strong hold of the popular mind, and that I\Iacpherson was not the
framer of it.
I think the following fact worth mentioning, as an instance of tlie
imjjression which fi-agments of this ancient poetry made on the minds