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boasted navy of England, in the reign of king George IV., must be 

 inferior to that of the Highland king, Fingal, or his contemporary, 

 Swaran, king of Lochlin. In the poem of Fingal, B. I. p. 6. o. ed. 

 we find that the masts of Swaran's fleet on the Irish coast were " nu- 

 merous as reeds in the lake of Lego," and that " his ships are like 

 forests clothed with mist" — At p. 28, that his ships could carry 

 away all Ireland ! " Vain ruler of the car," said Morla, (addressing 

 himself to Cuchullin,) wilt thou fight the king, that king whose 

 ships of many groves could carry off" thine isle." Who will venture 

 to say that the navy of George IV. or the united navies of all 

 Europe, in our days, could perform such a feat as this. But Fingal's 

 fleet was not, it seems, much inferior. At page 32, Moran announces 

 the approach of the fleet. " The ships," he cried, " the ships of the 

 lonely isle ! " " There Fingal comes, the first of men, the breaker of 

 the shields. The waves foam before his black prows. His masts with 

 sails are like groves in clouds." Now reader, can you guess in what 

 quarter of the globe was " the lonely isle " situated, to which this 

 powerful fleet belonged ? I fear you can not. Know then, that it 

 was in the kingdom of Morven, in the shire of Argyle, in the High- 

 lands of Scotland. You may wonder at this; but you need not. 

 Such fleets were no strange things to the Argyle men. Fingal's 

 great grandfather had such another fleet when " he bound his white 

 bosomed sails," and invaded Lochlin. — {Fingal, B. VI. p. 80, o. ed.) 

 Is it necessary to quote more } Surely not ; he who will not believe 

 this, that the ships of Fingal must be as numerous as cockle-shells on 

 the strand of Lurgan, must be a very incredulous being. But to be 

 serious, let us inquire had the Highlanders of those days any ships at 

 all, with "high masts," and "white-bosomed sails." Upon this 

 subject we might produce authorities from several celebrated writers, 

 British and foreign, that are contrary to the representations of the 



