10 
OSS 
of Macpherfon is clear, from the identic name of the 
father Cowal, the fon Oifin, and the grandfon Olkir; and 
from the old Scotch poets, who fometimes call him Fin- 
gal, and fometimes Fin Mac Coul. Among the warriors 
of this ancient militia, the Irifh traditions and hiftories 
hand down the names of Goll Mac Morn, (Gaul the foil 
of Morni,) of Ofgur the fon of Oifin, evidently the Of- 
fian of Macpherfon, of Fergus O’Fillan, and other war¬ 
riors. Offian himfelf, alfo, is celebrated among theFions. 
Befides thefe heroes, Irifh traditions and ancient manu- 
fcripts mention a military order in Ulfler of earlier date, 
the chief ornament and fupport of whom was Cuchulliii. 
This evidence undoubtedly afcribes Ofiian and his heroes 
to Ireland ; but it is farther corroborated, even by the 
traditions and old fongs and poems of the Highlands ; 
though the paffages in the latter which defcribe Ireland 
as the native country of Offian, Fingal, &c. have been 
altered forcontroverfial purpofes : it is needlefs to cite all 
thefe paffages. The following, from Erfe poems, collec¬ 
ted in the Highlands by Dr. Young bifliop ofClonmore, 
and publiflied in the firff volume of the Irifh Tranfa&ions, 
may fuffice. In the combat of Con the fon of Dargo, 
and Gaul fon of Morns, the Fions are called “ the noble 
Fions of Ireland this, in the Perth edition of this 
poem, is changed into “ the nobles and great chieftains.” 
In the combat of Ofgar, and Ilian fon of the king of 
Spain, for “theFions of Ireland,” the Perth edition 
fubftitutes the “noble Fions.” In a poem called the 
Death of Ofcar, of which Macpherfon made ufe in the 
firff: book of Ternora, Ireland is exprefsiy mentioned as 
the country of that prince : “ The death of Ofcar grieved 
my heart; our lofs is great in the prince of the chiefs of 
Ireland :” and, in another poem on this fubjedt, ftill cur¬ 
rent in the Highlands, Ofcar is called the “ prince of Ire¬ 
land : the prince of the heroes of fertile Ireland.” Even 
fo late as the time of Gawin Douglas, Ireland feems to 
have been regarded as the country of Fingal and the 
other heroes of Offian : 
Great Gow Mac Morn, and Fin Mac Coul, and how 
They ffiould be gods in Ireland, as men fay. 
There is another circumftance, which confiderably 
ftrengthens the opinion that the Fions were natives of 
Ireland. No Highlander ever heard of Selma, except 
through the poems publilhed by Macpherfon; whereas 
Almhuin is pointed out by every old Iriffnnan as the 
abode of Fingal: the name of this place occurs frequently 
in the poems which were collected in the Highlands by 
Dr. Young; it is always mentioned as the palace of Fin¬ 
gal ; neither Selma, nor any other place of relidence, is 
given in thefe poems to this hero; and it is worthy of re¬ 
mark, that Macpherfon, in the ufe he has made of thefe 
poems, has either omitted altogether the name of Almhuin, 
in order that no trace of Fingal’s real country might exiff, 
or changed it into Albin, in order to countenance the 
idea that lie was a native of Scotland ; as will appear from 
the following paffages: “ Greater love feized all the he¬ 
roes of Fin of Almhuin.” On this paflage Dr, Young- 
remarks: “The palace of Fin Mac Cumhal in Leinffer, 
was feated on the fummit of the hill of Allen, or rather, 
as the natives of that country pronounce it, Allowin : the 
.village and bog of Allen have rhenCe derived their name. 
There are ftill the remains of fome trenches on the top of 
the hill, where Fin Mac Cumhal and his Fions were wont 
to celebrate their feafts.. The country hereabouts abounds 
in wonderful tales of the exploits of thefe ancient heroes. 
Thefe two lines are omitted in the Perth edition.”- Irifli 
Tranfactions, i. 76. 
In the Dublin copy of the poem on the invafion of Ire¬ 
land by Erragon, which Macpherfon appears to have 
made ufe of in his battle of Lora, thefe words occur: 
“ To Almhuin in Leinffer, the relidence of the Fions, they 
took their voyage acrofs the fea:” in this plape Macpher¬ 
fon has fubftituted the word Albin, though, as Dr. Young- 
remarks, there can be no excufe for this alteration, “ as 
the king of Lochlin is represent: :1 lice ring his fleet boldly 
I A N. 
to the coafts of Ireland, and challenging the heroes of 
Innisfail. The infidelity therefore of the queen of 
Lochlin could not be faid to have been the caufe of ffpilling 
Scottilh blood, fince the fcene of the whole t ran faction is 
laid in Ireland, and they are the heroes of Innisfail who 
fell in battle.” 
As therefore the Irifli traditions refpecfting the Fions 
are uniform and confident; as, even in the poems which 
celebrate their exploits, and which are current and popu¬ 
lar in the Highlands, many paffages occur, in which Ire¬ 
land is exprefsiy mentioned as their native country; and 
as, befides, the palace of Fingal is a place not known in 
the Highlands, but is ftill pointed out, at leaft by fimila- 
rity of name, in Ireland, we are juffified in concluding 
that Offian and his heroes were natives of Ireland. This 
conclufion will be ftill farther ftrengthened, if we examine 
the vague and inconfiftent notices which Scotch tradition 
and hiftory records of Offian and his heroes. Indeed, in 
Scottifti hiftory they were never heard of till Bruce claimed 
them as of Scotch extradiion ; for, in the paffages quoted 
by the Highland Society (in their Report on the Poems of 
Offian), Fingal, and the other heroes of that bard, are 
mentioned, without any reference to the country of 
which they were natives. The Highland Society lay great 
ftrefs on the proverbs which are current in the Highlands 
refpedling Ofiian, and the names of places correfponding 
with the names of his heroes. Offian dale, blind Ofiian, is 
a perfon as well known there as ftrong Sampfon, or wife 
Solomon: the very boys, in their fports, cry out for fair 
play, “ the equal combat of the Fingalians:” and “ Ofi- 
fian, the laft of his race,” is proverbial, to fignify a man 
who has had the misfortune to furvive his kindred. Old 
people (fays Mrs. Grant) can very well remember, before 
Mr. Macpherfon ever thought of tranflating thefe remains, 
when many comparifons and allufions to be found in 
them were as current ks Scripture-quotations in the laft 
age among the peafants of the weft. “ She is as beautiful 
as Agandecca, the daughter of the fnow; (he is mufical as 
Malvina; he is as forlorn as Offian" after the departure of 
the Fingalians ; fuch a one is alert and nimble as Cu- 
chullin :” were phrafes in common ufe. Whatever em- 
belliihments or whatever anachronifms the injudicious 
vanity of a tranflator may have grafted on thefe poems, 
no perfon who lived in the country of their reputed au¬ 
thor ever doubted their exiftence or antiquity : there 
every ftream and mountain, every tale, long, or adage, re¬ 
tained fome traces of the generous hero, or the mounful 
bard. And, in anfwer to the queries which were tranf- 
mitted by the Highland Society, feveral of their corref- 
pondents mentioned the names of various places in their 
neighbourhood, tending to fliow the univerfal ancient 
traditionary belief of the exiftence of Fingal and his he¬ 
roes. “ Among many others, were enumerated the well- 
known cave of Staffa, firft made known by the defcrip- 
ticn of fir Jofeph Banks; the whirlpool, or gulf, fet down 
in Blair’s Atlas Scoriae, publilhed A. D. 1662, called 
Caire Fin Mae Coul, or the Whirlpool of Fion fon of 
Comhal; and the hill in the ifie of Sky, known by the 
name of Ait Suidh F/tinu, or Fingal’s Sear. Indeed, there 
are few diftriifis in the north-weft of Scotland, where fuch 
inftances may not be found.” Report on the Poems of 
Offian. Poems by Mrs. Grant of Laggan. 
But all thefe circumftances, even when collefted and 
taken together, do not amount to a proof that Offian and 
his heroes were natives of the Highlands of Scotland : they 
merely prove the antiquity of the tradition and belief re- 
fpedting them. In Ireland, on the other hand, there are 
not-only fimilar proverbial and local notices (if the ex- 
preffion may be allowed) of Offian and his heroes, bu£ 
there is historical evidence that the Fions were Irifh, and 
the palace of their chief is ftill recognifed and pointed out. 
None of the traditions, or genuine poems, preserved in 
the Highlands, which have reference to them, name or 
claim them as natives of that country; whereas, in feveral 
paffages of the latter, they are clearly and exprefsiy de¬ 
clared to have been natives of Ireland, and to have re- 
fided 
