Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

42 DISSERTATION ON
Ireland, excepting the ' celebrated dog of Tara,' i. e.
CuthuUin, afford matter for two hundred lines of
tolerable poetry. Caribh's progress in search of Cu-
thuUin, and his intrigue with the gigantic Emir-
bragal, that hero's wife, enables the poet to extend
his piece to four hundred lines. Tliis author, it
is true, makes CuthuUin a native of Ireland ; the
gigantic Emir-bragal he calls ' the guiding star of
the women of Ireland.' The property of this enor-
mous lady I shall not dispute with him, or any
other. But, as he speaks with great tenderness of
the ' daughters of the convent,' and throws out
some hints against the English nation, it is proba-
ble he lived in too modern a period to be intimately
acquainted with the genealogy'of CuthuUin.
Another Irish Ossian, for there were many, as
appears from their difference in language and sen-
timent, speaks very dogmatically of Fion Mac-
Comnal, as an Irishman. Little can be said for
the judgment of this poet, and less for his delicacy
of sentiment. The history of one of his episodes
may, at once, stand as a specimen of his want of
both. Ireland, in the days of Fion, happened to
be threatened with an invasion, by three great po-
tentates, the kings of Lochlin, Sweden, and France,
It is needless to insist upon the impropriety of a
French invasion of Ireland ; it is sufficient for me
to be faithful to the language of my author. Fion,
upon receiving intelligence of the intended in-
vasion, sent Ca-olt, Ossian, and Oscar, to watch
the bay, in which it was apprehended the enemy
was to land. Oscar was the worst choice of a
scout that could be made ; for, brave as he was, he
had the bad property of very often falling asleep on
his post, nor was it possible to awake him, without
cutting off one of his fingers, or dashing a large
stone against his head. When the enemy appear-
ed, Oscar, very unfortunately, was asleep. Ossian
and Ca-olt, consulted about the method of waken-
ing him, and they, at last, fixed on the stone, as
the less dangerous expedient.