225 



rupted copy of it is printed in Gillies' Collection of Gaelic Poems. 

 Doctor Young found another corrupted copy of it in the Highlands, 

 which he published in the first volume of the " Transactions of the 

 Royal Irish Academy." This nearly agrees with Gillies' copy, but it 

 retains four ranns, or stanzas, that Gillies discarded. These stanzas, 

 however, shew that Macpherson had a copy of the poem, for the 

 first stanza is, excepting the grammatical blunders of that pretender, 

 identically the same as one given by him in his Dissertation, n. ed. 

 p. 39. This is the poem that Mr. Macpherson says is called " Tean- 

 tach mor na Fiona," and he acknowledges that " it appears to have 

 been founded on the same story with the Battle of Lora ;" but he dis- 

 guises the truth, for he should have said that his Ossian's " Battle of 

 Lora," was founded on the Irish poem. Upon this subject it is scarcely 

 necessary to say more. The language, and the structure of the verse, 

 show that it was composed at a much earlier period than any of the 

 Gaelic poems published by the Society as originals. The "original" 

 of this poem is not given by the Society. The original poem intro- 

 duces Saint Patrick speaking to the Irish Ossian, but as this would 

 not exactly suit Mr. Macpherson's plan, he has artfully omitted that 

 part of his Ossian, and very gravely tells us, in a note, that the poem, 

 in his own Gaelic gibberish, is called Duan a Chuldich, or the Cul- 

 dee's Poem." We have already said so much on this subject, pp. 174- 

 175, and pp. 211-212, that we do not consider it necessary to add 

 any thing here. 



The sixth example ; " Darthula." We venture to say that it 

 cannot be denied that this poem is taken from the Irish tale of " The 

 Death of the Children of Uisneach," a literal translation of which, by 

 the late Theophilus O'Flanagan, an excellent Irish scholar, was pub- 

 lished in " the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin," in the 

 year 1808, accompanied with notes, to which we beg to refer. They 



