As a dove on the rock of Ulla,
That gathereth berries for her young;
Oft she returns, nor tastes herself the food,
When rises the hawk within her thoughts.
On which passage we would first of all remark that pigeons are not berry eaters, and even if they were, they would not carry them to their young in such wise as the poet clearly implies. A pigeon itself eats the food meant for its young, and only after undergoing a certain process of maceration and digestion in the parent’s crop, is it again regurgitated in form suitable for the young. In genuine Gaelic poetry, the natural history is in a very remarkable manner almost invariably correct. Here it was not, and we recollect tossing the volume aside, and remarking that while much of Gaul might certainly be “ancient,” quite as much was modern, and that, wittingly or unwittingly, Dr. Smith had been dealing in patch-work. Dr. Smith cites a parallel passage to the above from Thomson’s Spring—
“Away they fly,
Affectionate, and, undesiring, bear
The most delicious morsel to their young.”
But the context shows that Thomson is not referring to doves, but to Turdi and warblers that build
“Among the roots