113 



was long. The last syllable of each pause was always long ; for 

 though the syllable were short, it was made long by dwelling on it a 

 double space of time. These observations, however, do not apply to 

 poetry, nor to that elegant and harmonious arrangement of its words 

 and syllables, which the strict rules of the art require, but to poetry 

 combined with music. 



No example exhibits the peculiar structure of poetry adapted to 

 music by the Irish bards, and the mode in which the missionaries of 

 the sixth century imitated them in Latin verses, better than a hymn 

 in praise of Brigid, written by Ultanus Ardbracanensis, who died in 

 655. Usher speaks of this hymn in Primordiis, p. 963, and it was 

 published by Colgan, in Triade, p. 542. 



It commences thus : 



" Christus in nostra insula — quae vocatur Hibemia, 

 Ostensus est hominiftw* — maximis mirabilifews, &c." 



Giraldus Cambrensis testifies the superior skill of the Irish har- 

 pers, in the following eloquent terms : 



" In musicis instrumentis pr<E omni natione quam vidimus incomparabiliter est instructa. 

 (Hibemia.) Non enim in his, sicut in Britannicis quibus assueti sumus, instrumentis, tarda et 

 morata est modulatio, verum velox, et praeceps, suavis tamen, et jucundasonoribus. Minim 

 ^uod in tanta, tam praecipiti digitorum rapacitate, musica servatur proportio." 



Numerous testimonies of a similar kind might be adduced, but we 

 deem it superfluous to pursue the subject farther in this place. 

 Ejiough has been said, we should hope, to convince every one who 

 has consulted but a single page of Macpherson's Gaelic Ossian, that 

 it has no similitude to the style and structure of ancient Irish poetry. 

 It is altogether a work of modern fabrication, translated into modern 



VOL. XVI. Q 



