88 



Christian sentiments ; but, as Shaw long since observed, has not 

 always succeeded, for in Temora we find the Christian expressions, 

 '^ peace to thy soul," — ^^ blest be thy soul." He could not, however, 

 well dispense with all machinery, and accordingly availed himself of 

 the "popular superstition of the Highlands respecting ghosts, second 

 sight, and the eternal agencies of the devil, whom he transforms into 

 the spirit of Loda," invests with omnipotence, and describes as hav- 

 ing the blasts " in the hollow of his hand !" 



Enchantment and magic act a distinguished part in the early 

 History of Ireland. They are employed in the Fenian Tales, and had 

 probably great influence among all the Celtic tribes. Why has Mac- 

 pherson rejected their aid .'' He might have used them in Temora at 

 least, the scene of which lies in Erin, with propriety and success. He 

 had antiquity on his side, in the History of the Tuatha De Danans, 

 and a sanction for their poetical agency in the examples of Theocri- 

 tus, Virgil, and Lucan. But he wished to avoid collision with the 

 Fenian Tales, and was contented with ghosts, which he deemed more 

 exclusively his own. These he could manage as he pleased. They 

 came and departed at his beck, shrieking, roaring, and " riding ojn 

 the wings of the wind !" 



When he speaks so frequently of the halls of Selma, of the four 

 grey stones of renown, and of the narrow house, it seems strange that 

 he has omitted all mention of vitrified towers. These would have 

 furnished almost as fine a theme to the poet as the Druidical fires of 

 Beltein and Samhuin. " The remains of several of these towers, says 

 Smith, in his Dissertation, p. 114, still to be seen in the Highlands, 

 seem to prpve that the inhabitants of those countries enjoyed even the 

 comforts of life iij a period more remote than the age of Fingal, or 

 the invasion of the Romans, as no such mode of architecture has been 

 since practised." 



