378 TRADITIONS OF FINGAL. 



denotes, mark the graves of great men. Nor must we 

 neglect to mention that stone, of many tons weight, called 

 Clach-macmeas, hurled to this spot from a distance of some 

 miles by a young giant of the tender age of two months. 



It is well known to all who are aware of the Mac- 

 pherson controversy, that poetical notices of Fingal and 

 his warriors have descended by oral tradition, from an 

 unknown age to the present generation, amongst persons 

 unable to read or write, and that such traditions are 

 scattered over the whole extent of the Highlands. They 

 are recollected only in fragments, and, even in this broken 

 condition, are known but to a few of the oldest inhabitants, 

 who imbibed them in their infancy. 



Dermid, says one of these traditions, was beloved by 

 the wife of one of his friends, but he honourably repelled 

 her advances. Whilst travelling with Fingal's party 

 through the forest of Ben-Hope, she accidentally splashed 

 herself with some muddy water ; and being piqued at the 

 slight she had met with, " Behold," said she, " the foul 

 water of the bog has more spirit than Dermid." This 

 taunt rankled in his bosom, and made him reckless of 

 danger. 



The party soon afterwards roused a wild boar, who 

 was of such large dimensions, and of so fierce an aspect, 

 that none of them dared to encounter him singly. Dermid 

 rushed alone upon the furious brute, and, with the assist- 

 ance of his dogs, transfixed him with his spear. " Loud 

 roared the boar in the midst of his rocks and woods," but 

 Dermid alone had the fame of his slaughter. 



In those days it was a test of innocence, if a person 

 suspected of crime, measured with his bare legs and feet, 



