P. 4. v. 8. Fithil.] Fithil, or rather Fili, an inferior bard.

P. 4. v. 13. Moran.] Signifies many, or the great one.

P. 4. v. 16. Fionnghal.] Fingal the son of Comhal and Morna the daughter of Thaddu. His grandfather was Trathal, and great grandfather Trenmor, both of whom are often mentioned in the poem.

P. 6. v. 37. Meallmor] Signifies a great hill.

P. 8. v. 52. Buail sgiath Sheuma,] Cabait, or rather Cathbait, grandfather to the hero, was so remarkable for his valour, that his shield was made use of to alarm his posterity to the battles of the family. We find Fingal making the same use of his own shield in the 4th book. A horn was the most common instrument to call the army together.

P. 8. v. 61. Curtha.] Signifies the madness of battle.

P. 8. v. 64. Cruth-geal,] Fair complexion.

P. 10. v. 95. Crom!eac.] Signified a place of worship among the Druids. It is here the proper name of a hill on the coast of Ullin or Ulster.

P. 12. v. 109. Conal.] The friend of Cuthullin, was the son of Caithbait prince of the Tongorma, or the island of blue waves, probably one of the Hebrides. His mother was Fioncoma the daughter of Congal. He had a son by Foba of Conacharnessar, who was afterwards petty king of Ulster. For his services in the war against Swaran he had lands conferred on him, which, from his name, were called Tir-chonnuil or Tir-connel, i. e. the land of Connal.

P. 12. v. 118. Eirin.] A name of Ireland; from ear or iar West, and in an island. This name was not always confined to Ireland, for there is the highest probability that the Ierne of the ancients was Britain to the North of the Forth. For lerne is said to be to the North of Britain, which could not be meant of Ireland.-Strabo, 1. 1, 2, and 4, Causab. 1. 1.

P. 14. v. 133. Calmar.] Calmar, or Calmear, a strong man.

P. 14. v. 141. Lochlin.] Lochlin, or Lochlan, the Gaelic name of Scandinavia in general.

P. 14. v. 145. Innis-torc.] The Orkney Islands.

P. 16. v. 178. Dubhchomar.] A black well-made man.

P. 16. v. 179. Fearguis.] Fearguis, or Fearguith, the man of the word;

or a commander of an army.

P. 18. v. 188. A Chuchullin, tha ceithir chlachan

Air Caithbaid taisgte'san uaigh.] This passage alludes

to the manner of burial among the ancient Scots. They opened a grave six or eight feet deep; the bottom was lined with fine clay: and on this they laid the body of the deceased, and, if a warrior, his sword, and the heads of twelve arrows by his side. Above they laid another stratum of clay, in which they placed the horn of a deer, the symbol of hunting. The whole was covered with a fine mould, and four stones placed on end to mark the extent of the grave. These are the four stones alluded to here.

P. 18. v. 211. Muirne.] A woman beloved by all.

P. 24. v. 269. 'S dorcha Dubhchomar na fheirg.] She alludes to his name, the dark man.

P. 24. v. 281. Moina] Signifies soft in temper and person.

P. 26. v. 297. Siubh' ladh iad mu m' charbad mòr,

Faiceam an scleo air neoil nan gleann.] It was the opinion then, as indeed it is to this day, of some of the Highlanders, that the souls of the deceased hovered round their living friends; and sometimes appeared to them when they were about to enter on any great undertaking.

P. 36. v. 439. Sithaluinn.] Sithaluinn, or rather Suidh-aluinn, siga gay handsome man.

nifies

P. 36. v. 440. Ardan] Signifies pride.

P. 36. v. 455. Dubh-srongheal.] One of Cuthullin's horses.

P. 36. v. 456. Sithfada.] i. e. a long stride, another of Cuthullin's horses.

P. 36. v. 462. Nighean uasal Innis nan long, &c.] The noble maid of of the Island of Ships, was the daughter of Gorlo king of Inistore or Orkney islands. Trenar was brother to the king of Iniscon, supposed to be one of the islands of Shetland. The Orkneys and Shetland were at that time subject to the king of Lochlin. We find that the dogs of Trenar are sensible at home of the death of their master, the very instant he is killed. It was the opinion of the times, that the souls of heroes went immediately after death to the hills of their country, and the scenes they frequented the most happy time of their life. It was thought too that dogs and horses saw the ghosts of the deceased.

P. 40. v. 504. Air a bheinn air fad an fhraoich

Charnadh le Daorghlas an tsealg, &c.] The ancient manner of preparing feasts after hunting, is handed down by tradition.

A pit lined with smooth stones was made; and near it stood a heap of smooth flat stones of the flint kind. The stones as well as the pit were properly heated with heath. Then they laid some venison in the bottom, and a stratum of the stones above it; and thus they did alternately till the pit was full. The whole was covered over with heath to confine the steam. Whether this is probable I cannot say; but some pits are shewn, which the vulgar say, were used in that manner.

P. 44. v. 576. Sruth Chòna nan toirm mall.] The Cona here mentioned is that small river that runs through Glenco in Argyleshire. One of the hills which environ that romantic valley is still called Scornafena, or the hill of Fingal's people.

P. 44. v. 577. Thuirt Carull, " san àm o shean &c.] This episode is introduced with propriety. Calmar and Connal, two of the Irish heroes, had disputed warmly before the battle about engaging the enemy. Carril endeavours to reconcile them with the story of Cairbar and Grudar; who, though enemies before, fought side by side in the war. The poet obtained his aim, for we find Calmar and Connal perfectly reconciled in the third book.

P. 46. v. 586. Gulbuinn.] Gulbuinn, or rather Gulbeinn, signifies a crooked hill.

P. 46. v. 597. Lúbar.] A river in Ulster. Labhar, loud, noisy.

P. 48. v. 614. Braigh-soluis] Signifies a woman with a white breast.

P. 52. v. 665. Tannas churaidh thuit 'sa 'bhlàr, &c.] It was long the opinion of the ancient Scots, that a ghost was heard shrieking near the place where a death was to happen soon after. The accounts given, to this day, among the vulgar, of this extraordinary matter, are very poetical. The ghost comes mounted on a meteor, and surrounds twice or thrice the place destined for the person to die; and then goes along the road through which the funeral is to pass, shrieking at intervals; at last, the meteor and ghost disappear above the burial place.

DUAN II.

P. 58. v. 1. LUIDH Conall aig sruth nam fuaim &c.] The scene here described will appear natural to those who have been in the highlands of Scotland. The poet removes him to a distance from the army, to add more horrour to the description of Crugal's ghost by the loneliness of the place.

P. 6. v. 79. No ma bha Cruthgeal r' a fhaicinn &c.] The poet teaches us the opinions that prevailed in his time concerning the state of separate souls. From Connal's expression, "That the stars dimtwinkled through the form of Crugal," and Cuthullin's reply, we may gather that they both thought the soul was material; something like the dhor of the ancient Greeks.

P. 74. v. 234. 'S do thigh grinn gun slige chùraidh.] The ancient Scots, as well as the present Highlanders, drunk in shells; hence it is that we so often meet, in the old poetry, with the chief of shells and the halls of shells.

P. 74. v. 235. 'S dubhach bean Chruthgheil fo dheoir

Na coigreach an talla a' bhroin.] Cruthgeal had married Deogreine but a little time before the battle, consequently she may with propriety be called a stranger in the hall of her grief.

P. 74. v. 239. Deo-greine] Signifies a sun-beam.

P. 86. v. 385. Muire.] A place in Ulster.

DUAN III.

P. 102. THE Second night, since the opening of the poem, conti nues; and Cuthullin, Connal, and Carril still sit in the place described in the preceding book. The story of Agandecca is introduced here with propriety, as great use is made of it in the course of the poem, and as it in some measure, brings about the catastrophe.

P. 104. v. 30. Cha d'fhuair duine buaidh sa' chomhstri

Air Starno ach Fionnghal fein.] Starno was the father of Swaran as well as Agandecca. His fierce and cruel character is well marked in other poems concerning the times.

P. 104. v. 36. Sniobhan a thogadh am fonn

Aig leac Loduinn crom san t sliabh.] This passage most certainly alludes to the religion of Lochlin, and the stone of power here mentioned is the image of one of the deities of Scandinavia.

P. 108. v. 81. Morbheinn.] All the north-west coast of Scotland probably went of old under the name of Morven, which signifies a ridge of very high hills.

P. 112. v. 143.

Ma tha taibhs' is neartmhor 'sna speuraibh

Na shuidh air ceathach gu' cùl, &c.] This is the only passage in the poem that has the appearance of religion. But Cuthullin's apostrophe to this spirit is accompanied with a doubt, so that it is not easy to determine whether the hero meant a superior being, or the ghosts of deceased warriors, who were supposed in those times to rule the storms, and to transport themselves in a gust of wind from one country to another.

P. 136. v. 463. 'N sin dh' eirich mac Mhorni gu mall, &c.] Gaul, the son of Morni, was chief of a tribe that disputed long the pre-eminence with Fingal himself. They were reduced at last to obedience, and Gaul, from an enemy, turned Fingal's best friend and greatest hero. His character is something like that of Ajax in the Iliad; a hero of more strength than conduct in battle. He was very fond of military fame, and here he demands the next battle to himself. The poet, by an artifice, removes Fingal, that his return may be the more magnificent.

P. 138. v. 497. Bi snàmh air m' anam's mi m' shuain.] The poet prepares us for the dream of Fingal in the next book.

DUAN IV.

P. 144. FINGAL being asleep, and the action suspended by night, the poet introduces the story of his courtship of Everallin the daughter of Branno. The episode is necessary to clear up several passages that follow in the poem; at the same time that it naturally brings on the action of the book, which may be supposed to begin about the middle of the third night from the opening of the poem. This book, as many of Ossian's other compositions, is addressed to the beautiful Malvina, the daughter of Toscar. She appears to have been in love with Oscar, and to have affected the company of the father after the death of the son.