Ossian Collection > Ossian, his principal poems

322 APPENDIX.
them a considerable degree of displeasure. In Glenalmond
there is a hillock of about one hundred feet in length,
covered with heath, which is said to be the grave of a child
nine months old ! Their idea of the ancient giants is such
that thej tell us some of them had spears, with which they
could, at one leap, go over to Ireland or Denmark ; such
stories are better adapted for children than men of mature
years. These hints will, however, in some measure, serve
as a contrast betwixt the fabulous and genuine poems of
Ossian, which can be easily distinguished, in regard they
bear in their front, the marks of the earliest antiquity ; and,
where genuine, will be found to be a real, not a fabulous
history.
The Irish harpers, who frequented this country many
years ago, brought over with them many poems ascribed to
Ossian, in which they frequently introduce St. Patrick, as if
he was contemporary with Ossian, who lived about the end
of the third, and beginning of the fourth century ; whereas
St. Patrick is said to have flourished at the end of the fifth
century. This, with their other fabulous legends they
have been so kind as to circulate in this country, are
sufficient proofs to induce the Irish to resign every preten-
sion to the boasted merit of their country, as having given
birth to Ossian, the chief of Gaelic Bards.