315 



mer furnished the manner of opening the poem, the latter is a trans- 

 lation from Macpherson's English, It is remarkable that the first 

 quoted line of Doctor Smith says, " Arise, O king of Tara !" the 

 other says, ^^ Arise, O Cuchullin, arise." Tara is a well known place in 

 the County of Meath, which was the residence of the Irish monarchs ; 

 and the mention of it affords a proof that the original poem used by 

 Doctor Smith was of Irish composition, and consequently that Mac- 

 pherson borrowed this part from some nameless Irish bard, probably 

 one of those numerous writers who assumed the popular name of 

 Ossian. 



The " Garbh mac Stairn " of Doctor Smith, whom Macpherson 

 has christened " Suaran," is a personage well known in the popular 

 tales and poems of the Irish. 



The next thing that attracts our attention in the first book of 

 Fingal, is the description of a combat and wrestling match between 

 Fingal and Cuchullin. This we have already shewn, p. 223 of this 

 Essay, was stolen from a popular tale of the Irish, called Cath Fionn^ 

 tragha, (Battle of Veniry,) first written in prose, and afterwards 

 versified, some time in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. Doctor 

 Spiith's Cento describes the battle thus : 



" Sin nuair dheiridh an da thriath 

 Le neart an claidhmhean is an sgiath, 

 Gud f hogra an talamh teann 

 Le traidhibh anns an duaidh sin. 

 Mar f huainn coille re gaoith nan gleann 

 Bha scleo nan curaidhean co theann. "" 



Seach oiche agus seach 16 

 Ag iomarscleo 's ag imarbhagh." 



This extract, ungrammatical and corrupt as it is, has some signs 



VOL. XVI. T T 



