50 



fhO)f\, in which the son of Comhal and the king of LochUn are de- 

 picted as striking fire from their mail, or encountering swords, hke 

 the sparkles from two hammers. 



"Jo mat) beftl/ift yie M o^Cb 



Thus paraphrastically rendered by Miss Brooke : 



" As when two sinewy sons of flame 



At the dark anvil meet; 

 With thundering sound, and ceaseless aim. 



Their mighty hammers beat : 

 Such are the fierce contending kings ! 



Such strokes their fury sends ; 

 Such thunder from their weapons rings. 



And sparkling flame ascends." 



The two hammers of the Irish poem are multiplied by Macpherson 

 into a hundred. The improver on Macpherson sets these hundred 

 hammers wildly a beating; and another improver, for the knowledge 

 of whom we are indebted to the Report of the Highland Society, 

 p. 212, is so obliging as to inform us of the precise time when they 

 are animated to their licentious frenzy. It is 



Is caoir theinntigh teachd a teallach. 

 " When the bar comes fiery red hot from the furnace !" 



Macpherson, 599. 



Her white bosom is seen from her robe. 

 As the moon from the clouds of night. 

 When its edge heaves white on the view. 

 From the darkness which covers its orb ; 

 Her voice was softer than the harp. 

 To raise the song of grief: 

 Her soul was fixed on Grudar, 

 The secret look of her eye was his. 



Ross. 



From her light robe appeared. 



Her heaving breast like the full moon of night. 



When its disk begins to emerge 



From the darkness of its shade to light. 



Her voice was soft as the harp. 



While she raised the song of grief. 



(Her eye was like a star.) 



