Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal > Volume 2

CATH-LODA:
A POEM.
THE AJIGUMENT.
Fingal teturning, with day, devolves the command of the army cm
Diitli-niaruno, wlio eiigrtge* the enemy, and drives tl\em over the
stre.im of Turthor. Fingal, after recaUing his people, congratu-
lates Duth-mariino on his succe>s, but di^covers that that hero waa
iiiurtally wounded ia the engagement. Duth-malMno dies. Ul-
Hn, the hard, in Jionourof the dead, introduces the episode of Co!-
gorm and Strina-dona, wick which the Duan conclwdss.
DUAN SECOND.
" "v^s^T'HEREaitthoUjSonof the king?" saiddaik-hair-
'"^V ed Duth-rnaruno. " Where hast thou failed,
young beam of Selma ? He returns not from the bosom
of night ! Morning is spread on U-thorno : in hk mist
is the sun, on hi3 hill. Warriors, lift the shields, in my
presence. He must not fall, like a fire from heaven,
whose place is not marked on the ground. He comes
like an eagle, from the skirt of his squally wind ! In his
haod are the spoils of foes. King of Selma, our souls
were sad."
" Near us are the foes, Duth-maruno. They come
forward, like waves in mist, when their foamy tops are
seen, at times, above the low-sailing vapour. The tra-
veller shrinks on his journey, and knows not whither
to fly. No trembling travellers are we ! Sons of heroes
call forth the steel. Shall the sword of Fingal arise,
or shall a warrior lead ?"
The a deeds of old, said Duth-snaruno, are like paths
a In this short episode wc have a very probable account given us,
cf the origin of monarchy in Caledonia. The Gael, or Gauls, who
possessed the countries to the north of the Frith of Edinburgh, were,
originally, a number of distiHct tribes, or clans, each subiecr to ics owa
chief, who was free and independent of any other power. \N lien the
P.om^nii invaded thciii, the coi^i-2fl dan<^er mightj perhai^s^ hav^.