translator, hardly ever faithful to his original, departs entirely from 

 the sense of the Gaelic poem, and disgusts his reader with the undi- 

 gested and absurd extravagancies of his own confused imagination. 

 He tells us that Morna, who stabbed Duchomar, came afterwards, at 

 his request, and drew the sword from his breast ; upon which, though 

 the sword was in the hands of Morna, he adds, that Duchomar 

 pierced her white side without a weapon, and then took the trouble 

 to spread her fair locks on the ground. What a contrast to the sim- 

 ple tale of the poet of nature ! It tells us that Morna approached 

 Duchomar, to draw the sword from his side, but that as soon as she 

 came within reach of his arm, he seized her by the breast, and by 

 a last desperate effort of expiring nature, drew the sword from his 

 own side, and plunged it into her heart. He adds, in all the simpli- 

 city of nature, *' She fell, her locks were spread on the ground." 



Notwithstanding this high-seasoned morsel of criticism, our fasti- 

 dious taste is not satisfied. We think Macpherson's account of the 

 fact is fully as intelligible and consistent as that of Ross. We under- 

 stand from the former, that Morna did approach and draw the sword 

 from the bosom of Duchomar. We are at liberty to suppose that 

 she did not retain the sword, but rather cast it by his side, within his 

 reach, or that he snatched it from her, and re-grasped it in his dying 

 hand, or that he had his Highland dirk prepared to wreak his revenge. 

 Any supposition is preferable to Ross's crude invention, that the ex- 

 piring ruffian extricated the sword by his own efforts, and seized the 

 maid by the breast, and pierced her white side. By the way, this 

 improver and corrector of Macpherson is guilty of the gross inconsis- 

 tency of giving Duchomar his death-wound in the side, then saying, 

 " cold is the sword, it is cold in my breast, O Morna !" The critic 

 is manifestly ignorant of the language of poetry, or he never could 

 have made so silly an observation, as that " he took the trouble to 



