Ossian Collection > Waifs and strays of Celtic tradition > Volume 4

86 The Fians.
Gun chead do'n Righ mhoralach
Cha deid feicidh dh' fhile do sgeithe."
St. Patrick seems to have been as tenacious and fear-
less in the expression of his own opinions as Ossian
was of his own. There is a poem preserved, " Ossian's
Prayer" {^'■Urmiigh Ossiaiir), in which Ossian is said
finally to have adopted the tenets of St. Patrick, and to
have been sincere in repentance for any evil he may
have done :
" The succour of the twelve Apostles
I take to myself to-night ;
And if I have done a heavy sin,
May it be put beneath hillock or in pit."
" Comrach an da Abstal dheug
Gabharn thugam fein an nochd
'S mo rinn mi peacadh trom
Gu'n carar e 'n torn na'n slochd."
There is a curious expression, that the end of the
Fians was the going of Fionn to Rome {Tiirtis FJiinn
dhol don RounJi).
Tradition still makes mention of Ossian having been
in person remarkably strong and handsome. He could
boast of being able to overtake the hind of the red
deer, and hold it by the car, at its utmost speed, and
that on the darkest night he could take out a thistle-
thorn. Whatever opinion we may form of the works
published by Macpherson, either as to their merit, or
their authenticity, or their antiquity, there can be no
question of this — in fact, it is outside of any question
that has ever been raised — that there are expressions
and sentiments of the highest merit, as emanations
from a gifted and poetic mind, to be found in the lays
and ballads which tradition ascribes to Ossian. The
popular mind has ascribed to him not only royal parent-
age and the highest poetic merit, but everything con-