454 



ON THE LANGUAGE 



from joining them in time ; but he put forth in his bark alone on the ensuing 



day. On his voyage he passed his friends, who were returning victorious, 

 without his perceiving them, and landed singly on the hostile shore. Con- 

 sistently with the chivalrous honour of the times, he would not fly; but struck 

 his shield as a token of defiance to the islanders, against whom he main- 

 tained, singly, a desperate conflict, and kept the enemy at a distance ; till at 

 length a stone, rolled from above, disabled him from moving or fighting any 

 longer ; in which situation he was left by the dastardly enemy to pine and 

 die without succour. His wife Evirchoma, anxious for his fate, embarked, 

 with her infant son Ogall at her breast, in quest of her lord, whom she found 

 in this pitiable condition ; when, rousing all her might to assist him, she just 

 succeeded in dragging him to the boat, and then fainted away over his body ; 

 in which state, speechless and in the act of dying, they were both discovered 

 the next morning by Ossian, who had sailed in quest of them, and who was 

 only able to save the child. From the poem thus introduced, and which is 

 not generally known in this part of the island, I must beg leave to offer an ex- 

 tract or two. The following is Ossian's description of Evirchoma, as she 

 witnessed the mournful departure of her husband : — 



In the light ship of rough waves 



The hero followed us on the second morning. 



But who is she, on the rock, like mist, 



Looking, thiougli tears, on Gaul ? 



Her dark hair wanders on the wind, 



And her soft hand, white as foam, surrounds her forelock.— 



Young is the boy on her bosom, 



Sweet is the lullaby in his ear. 



But a sigh has wafted away the song : — 



On Gaul are thy thoughts fixed, Evirchoma. 



The following is an exquisite picture of mingled and overwhelming pas- 

 sions — courage, heroism, and tenderness. Having chivalrously planted his 

 standard, and singly defied all the enemy, a rushing thought of his wife and 

 his child, of Evirchoma and Ogall, damps his resolution for a moment ; but 

 he is instantly recalled to himself by the idea of the spirit of his heroic father 

 hovering over him : — 



Morni ! behold me from the mountain. 

 Thy own soul was an impetuous current, 

 Foaming white within a rocky strait: 

 Such is the soul of thy son. — 

 Evirchoma ! — Ogall I 



But mild beams belong not to the storm : - . 



The soul of Gaul is in the roar of battle. 



The conflict of passions in the breast of Evirchoma, on reaching the hostile 

 shore, is described with equal force — her desire to proceed in quest of her 

 husband, and her fear of leaving her babe behind her in the boat. It was now 

 late in the evening : — 



She glanced by the scanty beam 



On the beautiful face of her son, 



When about to leave him in her narrow skiff: 



"Babe of my love! be here unobserved!" 



As a dove on the rock of Ulicha, 



W^hen gathering berries for her tender brood, 



Returns often without tasting them, 



W^hile the hawk rises in her thoughts ; — 



So returned three times Evirchoma : 



Her soul, as a wave that is passed 



From breaker to breaker, when the tempest blows, 



Till she heard a mournful voice from the tree of the shore. 



I have said that the generous Ossian pursued them in another boat, and 

 found them both in the act of dying. The following is his own inimitable 

 description : it is strikingly impressive, and especially the manner in which 

 the faint and dying mother commends her son to his care ; and calls forth a 

 sigh from his heart that his own wife Evirallin is no more. 



