Ossian Collection > Essay on the authenticity of the poems of Ossian

S48 TEMORA, BOOK VII.
Lefaohh rua-blmk nan leum ard.
Domhail, am meadhon an sgeiih,
'Ta lasadh Tonn-theine^ gun neoiJ, 275
An rionnag a sheaU, roinih n oiche,
Air Learlhon a chuain mhoir;*
MR MACPHERSON S
with the spoils of the bounding roe. Wide, in the midst,
arose the cloudless beam of Ton-thena, that star which
* There occurs, perhaps, no passage, in all the poems ascri-
bed to Ossian, which seems to afford a fairer field for scepticism,
than this astronomical description of Cathmor's shield. It ap-
pears, at first sight, to be a transcript of Homer's description of
the shield of Achilles, (II. xviii. v. 478.) and by far too refined for
the period of Ossian.
I shall only beg leave to remarlc, that the astronomy of this pas-
sage extends no farther than what is well known to be common
arii! ordinary, in the Highlands, at this day. In a country, where
clocks and almanacks are not frequent, the rising of the Pleiades
not only indicates the season of the year, but their progress in
the sky shews the hour of night : the revolution of the Northern
Bear is, at this day, the horary of the Highlanders : the phases
of the moon are minutely attended to by every shepherd and pea-
sant.
The subject is important, and may excuse a short digression.
It is remarkable, that, in the representation of the zodiac, given