Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1871 to 1900 > Orain agus dana Gaidhealach

viii
sibhse rinn Beinn-dòrain ?" to which the bard answered,
" Ud ! ud ! a ghaolaich cha mi ; 's aim a rinneadh Beinn-
dòrain comhladh ris na beanntaichean eile, ciann mu'n
d'rugadh tu-fèin no mise that is, " Was it you that
made Beirm-dòrain?" To which the poet answered,
u Tut! tut! my good fellow, Beinn-dòrain was made
along with the other mountains, long before either you
or I was born ; but I made a poem in praise of Beinn-
dòrain."
We have already noticed that our author could not read,
and consequently could not write down his poems when
composed ; but so tenacious was his memory, that he
could recite all his own verses, and great part of his
native bards. The first edition of his poems, published
in 1768, was written by a clergyman from oral recitation,
and this may account for the incorrect division of the
lines, which in the former editions were more like prose
than poetry. These however, have been all corrected in
this present fifth edition, which materially improves the
verses ; besides, several omissions and pieces have
been added, and the whole carefully compared with the
first, second, and third editions. The second edition
was published in 1790, the third in 1804, and the
fourth, after the death of the author, in 1833.
Edinburgh, March 1, 1848.