J. F. Campbell Collection > Transactions of the Ossianic Society > Volume 4

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O. I knew, by the raven's croaking voice,
Each morning since ye left me,
That your fall was true and certain,
And that ye would not return victorious to your land !
I knew, noble Three,
In forgetting the leashes of your hounds ;
That ye would not again return with victory,
Without treachery from the hosts of Fionn !
I knew, ye torches of valor !
By the cascade's stream, near the Dun,
Having changed into blood at your departure,
Tliat this guile was ever found in Fionn.
I knew, by the eagle's visit
Each evening over the Dun,
That ere long I would hear
Evil tidings from my Three !
I knew, when the huge tree withered.
Both branch and leaves before the Dun,
That victorious you would never return
From the wiles of* Fionn Mac Cumhaill !
Do not decry Fionn, noble princess (saith Grainne),
Nor yet decry the Fians ;
'Twas not by treachery nor craft,
That thy Three [heroes] fell !
The princess made no reply to Grainne,
And she heeded not her talk ;
But continued her cao'ine and her wail.
Incessantly shedding tears !
Deirdre, published in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society (Dub. 1808),
similar visions appear to her, respecting Naisi, Ainle, and Ardan.
' BnAlOoe, Grace. This lady was the daughter of Cormac Mac Airt,
who was monarch of Ireland in tlie Third Century. She was betrothed
to Fionn Mac Cumhaill, but her subsequent amours with Diarmuid
O'Duibhuc, forms the subject of our Third Volume.