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IX. Armour, Sides cased with Steel, sounding Mail. 



" Armour," "sides cased in steel," "sounding mail,"&c. are of 

 so frequent occurrence in Ossian's poems, that if a man had not a 

 recollection that Ossian was speaking of Scotch and Irish poeple, he 

 would be inclined to think that he was describing the arms and 

 armour of nations of quite different habits from the ancient Scots. 

 We shall forbear giving quotations, but refer to o. ed. pp. 4, 36, 53, 

 54, 55, 57, 76, 96, 125, 127, 144, 145, 146, 180, 243, &c. &c. 

 But what proofs have we to corroborate Ossian, that the Irish ever 

 wore armour ? None. The Irish annalists speak of the Danes in the 

 latter end of the eighth century, as being covered with armour, but 

 they never speak of the Irish troops being so equipped. Giraldus 

 Cambrensis describes particularly the arms of the Irish, but says not 

 one word of their wearing armour. He says, (Topograph. Hib. Dis- 

 tinct. 3. cap. 10.) " They use three kinds of arms, short lances, and 

 two darts, also broad axes excellently well steeled, which they bor- 

 rowed from the Norwegians and Danes, which they use in striking 

 with one hand only, laying the thumb along the handle to direct the 

 blow, from which neither the helmet defends the head, nor the iron 

 armour the rest of the body ; from whence it has happened in our 

 time, that the whole thigh of a man, though well armed, has been 

 lopped off at one blow, the thigh falling on one side of the horse, and 

 the dead body on the other. They have likewise a great dexterity in 

 throwing stones in battle, to the great damage of the enemy." The 

 fact is, the ancient Irish despised armour. They considered it at 

 best but an incumbrance, and a mark of cowardice. It was, there- 

 fore, not generally used, even by the chiefs, for some centuries after 

 the invasion by the EngUsh. We have in Harris's Hibernica, the 



