Ossian Collection > Temora, an ancient epic poem, in eight books

144 T E M O R At
Now he came to Lubar's cave, where Fillan darkly flept.
Braa ftill lay on the broken fliield : the eagle-wing is flrewed on
winds. Bright, from withered furze, looked forth the hero's fpear.
— Then grief ftirred the foul of the king, like whirlwinds blacken-
ing on a lake. He turned his fudden ilep, and leaned on his bend-
ing fpear.
White-breasted Bran came bounding with joy to the known
path of Fingal. He came, and looked towards the cave, where the
blue-eyed hunter lay, for he was wont to ftride, with morning, to
the dewy bed of the roe. — It was then the tears of the king came
down, and all his foul was dark. — But as the rifing wind rolls
away the ftorm of rain, and leaves the white ftreams to the fun,
and high hills with their heads of grafs : fo the returning war
brightened the mind of Fingal. He bounded*, on his fpear, over
Lubar,
* The poetical hyperboles of Offian
were, afterwards, taken in the literal fenfe,
by the ignorant vulgar ; and they firmly be-
lieved, that Fingal, and his heroes, were
of a gigantic ftature. There are many ex-
travagant fiiSlions founded, upon the cii-
cumfiance of Fingal leaping at once over
the river Lubar. Many of them are hand-
ed down in tradition. The Irifli compofi-
tions concerning Fingal invariably fpeak of
him as a giant. Of thefe Hibernian poems
there are now many in my hands. From
the language, and allufions to the times in
which they were writ, I fhould fix the date
of their compofition in the fifteenth and
fifteenth centuries. In fome paffages, the
poetry is far from wanting merit, but the
fable is unnatural, and the whole condu£l
of the pieces injudicious. I (hall give one
inflance of the extravagant fiftions of the
Irlfh bards, in a poem which they, moft
unjuftly, afcribe to Offian. The ftory of
it is this : — Ireland being threatened with
an invafion from fome part of Scandinavia,
Fingal fent Offian, Ofcar and Ca-olt, to
watch the bay, in which, it was cxpeiSed,
the enemy was to land. Ofcar, unluckily,
fell arteep, before the Scandinavians appear-
ed ; and, great as he was, fays the Irifli
bard, he had one bad property, thatnohfs
could waken him, before his time, than
cutting ofF one of his fingers, or throwing
a great Hone jgainft his head; and it was
dangerous to come near him on thofc occa-
fion?.