THE following Song, called Urnigh Ossian, or Ossiant! Prayers, is the relation of a dispute between Ossian and St. Patrick, on the evidence and excellence of Christianity. The arguments of St. Patrick are by no means those of an able Polemic: But the objections of Ossian carry with them the internal marks of antiquity: they are evidently the object'ons of a rude Polytheist, totally ignorant of the nature of the Christian tenets; and such as no later bards in such a rude country would ever have been able to invent, without some original and traditional foundation. Ossian seems to have thought, that hell might be as agreeable as heaven, if there were as many deer and dogs in it. "Why, (says Ossian) should I be religious, if heaven be not in the "possession of Fingal and his Heroes? I prefer them to thy God, and thee, O Patrick!" So Purchas relates*, that, when the Spaniards attempted to convert the inhabitants of the Philippine Isles to Christianity; the islanders, replied, that they would rather be in hell with their forefathers, than in heaven with the Spaniards. According to M'Nab, Fingal seems to have been the Odin of the Scots: for he said, they had no religion, prior to Christianity, but the reverence of Fingal and his race. This account agrees with the entire deficiency of religious ideas, in the Ossian of Macpherson and Smith; and with the opinions and prejudices expressed in the following Poem. The Urnigh Ossian evidently appears, even through the medium of the following rude translation, to be superior in poetic merit to any of the Songs which accompany it. I am very sorry the translation is not entire. The first twenty-one verses, and the last verse, or thirty-sixth, were translated for me at Oban in Argyleshire, by a schoolmaster there; who was procured by Mr. Hugh Stephenson, innkeeper at Oban. The remainder of the translation was sent me from Edinburgh, in consequence of Dr. Willan's application. 2. Bheirinnsa mo dheurbha dhuil 3. 'Sdona'n sgeula Phadruig St. Patrick. 2. I assure thee, OOssian! father of many children * that heaven is not in the possession of thy father, nor of Oscar, nor of Gault. Ossian. 3. It is a pitiful tale, O Patrick! that thou tellest me the Clerk of: Why should ⚫ This is ever accounted a great honour among Barbarians. See also Ossian agus an Clerich, v. 47, p. 15. + I copied at Mac-Nab's, out of one of his MSS. the following lines, relative to Gaul abovementioned; which relate an incident remarkably similar to the stories told of Achilles, Hercules, the Jewish Samson, and the Teutonic giant Thor, &c. Gaul is generally esteemed one of the greatest of the giants; this extract describes one still mightier than he. Cho drugain mo sgian do riogh na do Fhlath No do dhuin air bith gun amhith no mhath Naoid guinuiran do sgun achuire anamsa Goull 'Scho na fhuigin a thri annan biodh mo sgian nam dhonr Chuir e falam hors aghuiuidi agus enig me air na truighe Se ruda dheanadh an sgian an riach sanrrachadh abhor. 'The sense of these lines, Mac-Nab gave me as follows; "Gaul and Uvavat had a violent conflict: Gaul had a knife, Uvavat had none: Gaul stabbed "Uvavat nine times with his knife: Uvavat said, if he had had his knife, he would not have suffered a third part so much; at last, lifting up his arm, "he struck Gaul on the skull, and fractured it ;; broke his bone; removed his "brow; knockt out his teeth; knockt off his knee-pan, and his five toes; all at one blow. The mark of the blow fhall remain in the ground for ever." Gaul's knife, mentioned here, seems to have been a kind of dirk; which, like fe dagger of Hudibras, served in these rude times, Either for fighting, or for drudging; And when't had stabb'd, or broke a head; It would scrape trenchers, or chip bread + This verse appears t. be erroneously translated; the translator :a'd, he knew not how to render the words Chubbait and Grein: properly: the_third verse also, in which Ossian is called the Clerk, a title, commonly given to S Patrick; and some few other parts; seem not altogether correct. I suspect the expressions translated by Macpherson, The Kings of the World, are somewhat similar to these. Fingal is here represented as a Bac, chus or Sesostris, 8. Oishain 's fada do shuain Mo chail mi mo lùth smo ràth St. Patrick. O thou Ossian! long sleep has taken hold of thee: rise to hear the Psalms! Thou hast lost thy strength and thy valour, neither shalt thou be able to withstand the fury of the day of battle. Ossian. If I have lost my strength and my valour, and none of Fingal's battles be re 9. Dod chleirs neachd sa's beag mo membered; I will never speis "S do chiol eisteachd chonfheach ship, nor to thy pitiful leom 10. Chachualas co meath mo cheòil pay respect to thy clerk 1 O thus an domhain mhoir gus anochd mine were never heard till this night. O thou who Tha ri aosta annaghleochd liath hast discharged many a Thir a dhioladh cliar air chnochd sling upon the hills! though thou art old and unwise. This seems to refer to the custom of singing songs at night, a favourite entertainment of the Highlands perhaps to this day. In v. 8. Ossian seems to be represented as falling asleep, instead of listening to St. Patrick. †The word diar, here translated a sling, may perhaps mean some other |