292 Griddle or Greidell Ine or Een. [Sess. 



districts in the west of Scotland appear to have assumed the 

 title of " King," and their kingdoms had names not now in 

 general use. The Eev. Dr Thomas M'Lauchlin, at p. 21 of 

 the Dean of Lismore's Book, mentions that Mull was called 

 " Eioghachd na Drealluin," the Kingdom of Drealinn, from 

 dreall, a " bar " or " sneck," applied to the Sound of Mull, 

 which shuts out all strangers from the island. Islay was 

 called " Eioghachd Modheadh " or the South- West Kingdom, 

 from its position. Morvern, or Morvaren, was called " lor- 

 ruaidh," to which frequent reference is made both in Scot- 

 tish and Irish Celtic traditions. Ardnamurchan was called 

 " Sorcha," from its mountainous character — sorcha meaning 

 high, whence sorclian, a tripod. It was the kingdom of the 

 father of Daire Borb, or, according to the Irish, Mayre 

 Borb. Tyree was called "Tir bar fo thuinn," or the land 

 beneath the waves, from the lowness of the land, appearing 

 from a distance as if the surface were on a level with the 

 sea. 



These notes are given by the editor of the Dean of Lis- 

 more's Book, p. 20, in connection with a poem believed 

 to have been composed by Ossian, the son of Finn, and 

 known by the name of the Fainesolius or the Sunbeam. As 

 the poem refers to Daire Borb, the son of the King of Sorcha 

 or Ardnamurchan, I will endeavour to tell it briefly. The 

 name of the poem seems to be derived from the comparison 

 of the beauty of the princess to that of a sunbeam. 



The place where the events happened was at Essaroy, which 

 is believed by the late Eev. Dr Thomas M'Lauchlin to have 

 been in all probability in the valley of the Eoy in Lochaber, 

 where there is a waterfall called " Eas ruaidh " or Essaroy, 

 " The fall of Eoy." Here the daughter of the King of Tyree, 

 flying for protection from Daire Borb (or, according to the 

 Irish version, Mayre Borb), the brave and well-armed son 

 of the King of Sorcha or Ardnamurchan, sought refuge with 

 Finn and claimed his protection. Finn having promised to 

 protect the princess, she then informs him that she had laid 

 herself under heavy bonds to go to Finn, but that his wife 

 she ne'er should be. 



The princess must have thought Finn was in the position 

 to offer her protection, or it is unlikely she would have fled 



