Ossian Collection > Poems of Oisin, bard of Erin

THE BATTLE OF VENTRY HARBOUR. 270
Fenii had to fight nine, and each commander had
to engage one hundred ; Osgur had three hundred
for himself to meet; kite in the evening of each
day they ceased fighting.
Fionn son of Cumhal watched the battle ; when
he saw that Conan was valiant more than the rest,
he told the sweet-tongued Fergus to go and praise
the valiant actions of Conan in that day's battle.
Fergus said, " It is the first time he ever deserved
praise ;" but he did as Fionn had told him.
At that time Caoilte came to the aid of Osgur,
and slew the first man he met ; Osgur said, " Are
there not men belonging to Dara Donn on the
strand whom you can fight, without taking my
share of them ? Great is my patience that I do
not serve you as you have served that man, for
daring to be so bold as to kill a foreigner who
was about to fall by my sword."
Caoilte felt abashed at receiving so public a re-
proach ; he rushed among the foreigners with such
ferocity that he killed numbers of them, as did
Osgur and his father Oisin. On either side there
was great slaughter, the Fenii and the foreigners
fighting with such fury that their weapons were
corrupted with human blood. As the conflict
seemed to draw to a close Dara Donn came to the
strand ; Fionn observed this and quickly prepared
to fight him.