306 



Grad ghluais, a chinn-uidhe na feile 

 'Srnor Suaran, is lionmhar a shluagh !" 

 " A Mhorain, thuirt an gorm-shuileach treun, 



Bu lagthu fein, is chrith thu riamh; 



'Na d'eagal is lionmhar namhaid ; 



Mhic Fhithil 's e Fionnghal a th' ann, 



Ard churaidh nan ciar bheann." 



Here we have a precious sample of ancient Gaelic versification, 

 in which neither the regular number of syllables in the line, (for we 

 shall not call these lines quartans,) number of lines in the stanza, nor 

 any other requisite belonging to the Gaelic poetry is to be found. 

 The first, eleventh, and thirteenth lines contain nine syllables each ; 

 the eighth and tenth seven syllables ; the last line six syllables ; and 

 the other eleven lines eight syllables each. The twelve first lines 

 have a full stop at the end of every fourth line ; but in the last five 

 lines the sentence is not completed until the end of the fifth ; a thing 

 unprecedented even in all the Scotch Gaelic poetry, that can claim a 

 greater age than 100 or 150 years, except in the metrical version of 

 the Psalms, published by the Kirk of Scotland, which is a new kind 

 of versification, unknown to Gaelic prosody. In support of this as- 

 sertion, we refer with confidence to those Scotch Gaelic poems, pub- 

 lished in the beginning of " Lhuid's Archaelogia," or to any other 

 publication of that or of an earlier date, in which Scotch Gaelic poetry 

 can be found. Here then are wanted the two first things necessary 

 for, and always found in, the versification of correct copies of those 

 poems attributed to Ossian ; and we defy the best Gaelic Prosodian 

 among the modern Scotch, if any such they have, to produce from 

 any line of the seventeen above written, any of the other five requi- 

 sites belonging to ancient Gaelic verse, 



The total neglect of all the rules of Gaelic prosody in the exam- 



