Ossian Collection > Thoughts on the origin and descent of the Gael

197
Miss Brooke, who deserves honourable men-
tion, in the Reliques of Irish Poetry,* of which
we shall have occasion to take more particular
notice hereafter, inserts a passage from a poem
called Boili Oisin, or Rhapsody oj Oisin, in which
the personal description and character of Finn,
Fionn, the Fair, are given ; the last verse of
which applies not to Finn, who is universally
called the son of Cum hail, but to the famous
hero Gaul, who was the son of Morni; for it is
said,
" A chneas mar a chailc bhaii
" Mac Muirne bha caomh."
*' His body like the white chalk, the mild son
'' of Murne."
In the ancient poems, the hero whom Miss
Brooke calls .Finn, is often called Fionn, which
signifies literally the Fair ; but he is frequently
called Fionn Ghael, that is, the Fair Gael, and
commonly styled by the renowned name oi Fionn
Ghael nambuagh, or Fingal of ^victories. Accord-
ing to the verse quoted in the Reliques of Irish
Poetry in Oisin's Rhapsody, the verse where the
colour of his hair is noticed runs thus : —
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