J. F. Campbell Collection > Original collection of the poems of Ossian, Orrann, Ulin, and other bards, who flourished in the same age

130 THE HEADS,
these beads thou hast on the withy canst thou
trace their generations and their names, when
now dead? Daughter of the generous Foirbear-
tach, of many Steeds; young virgin, of sweet sen-
timents, a ransom for Cuchulin, of the valiant
deeds, from the south 1 brought the heads. But
what is that rough, brown-haired, head, thou hast
laid aside upon thy left side, great Conull ? His
smooth cheek is more red than the rose, and its
colour is not changed. It is the bloody Maigre,
of horses, who plundered every sea: off himself, I
have cut the head, and by me his armies fell.
But what do I see beyond him ; his feeble hair,
thick and sleek ; hi^ eye-brows like the grass, and
his teeth white as the blossom; and more beauti-
ful than the rest, is the form of his head? It is
the son of Luthach, from the red Demi-island,
the son of generosity, who fell by my prowess:
my opinion is, that that is his head, the noble
king of Loiginn (Lagenia of Ptolemy), of spotted
swords. Great Conull, of royal prowess, what
other head is that at the end of the rest, with his
golden yellow hair upon his splendid head, bossy
and thick silvery hue? It is the son of King Fer-
gus, of many steeds, a mariner who would spoil
every haven, my sister's son, from the pleasant
mild tower; I severed his head from his body : low
is the honour for the son of a king to be carried in
peace by the hair. Conull, of the valiant feats,
what are the two heads to thy right hand : of one