[ [79] As already observed, this name is in Irish editions of the poem “Mayre.” See Miss Brooks’ “Reliques of Irish Poetry.”
[ [80] “Geasan,” “bonds.” The word here appears to mean a simple pledge, although in most cases it implies the exercise of some magical power. In those cases of metamorphosis so common in Celtic tales, the persons who have been made to undergo the change are said to be “fo gheasaibh,” “under spells.” The mythology of the Celts has much in common with that of Eastern nations.
[ [81] The magical steed of Daire borb was capable of carrying its master over sea and land. In many ancient Celtic Tales we read of ships which could also traverse sea and land.
[ [82] The word in the original here is “criss zerk,” the “red belt.” This is, however, in all probability, a mistake of the Dean’s for “craoiseach,” a “javelin.” It is not easy to see what could be meant by the “red belt” on Oscar’s left arm. It could hardly signify the straps of the shield. If it be “craoiseach,” the bard would seem to indicate that Oscar was left-handed, like the sons of Benjamin.
[ [83] “Na tri caoil,” or the “three smalls,” were the neck, the ankles, and the wrists. Prisoners of war had this triple binding applied to them.
[ [84] These supplementary lines would appear to be either additional lines or various readings. There are two given in the Gaelic, which are not translated, as being of little consequence, and which seem intended to come in between the ninety-eighth and ninety-ninth lines. The first eight lines of this additional fragment are probably intended to fall in between the hundred and twenty-eighth and the hundred and twenty-ninth lines, the last eight to close the poem. Dr. Smith, in the Report on Ossian’s Poems given in to the Highland Society, states, that the Edition given in this supplement is inconsistent with that in the body of the Poem, and must be held to contain various readings.
[ [85] The following seems to have been Ossian’s eulogy on his father Finn. The editor has not met with any similar composition either among Scottish or Irish collections, except a few lines extracted by Miss Brooks from a composition which she calls “Buille Oisein,” and it is therefore rescued from oblivion by having been seized by the Dean while floating on the stream of oral tradition, and treasured in his miscellany. In the original, the poetry is worthy of the name of Ossian, more so, indeed, than any of the pieces in this collection. It is quite impossible to produce in English the effect of the rhythm and alliteration of the Gaelic; but the editor has endeavoured, while giving an exact rendering, to retain, in as far as possible, the peculiar measure of the original. The piece is a fine tribute of filial love and admiration, nor is there much room to doubt its genuineness.
[ [86] Muirne Finn’s mother is said to have been a daughter of Teige, a famous Druid, or, as others say, of a princely family of Bregia, in Meath.
[ [87] Some of the lines in this part of the original MS. are very much defaced from age and bad usage. The editor has been obliged in consequence to guess one line and a few additional words. The line is the forty-fifth, where he has introduced a phrase sufficiently general to prevent the charge of in any measure tampering with his author. The other words will be seen by referring to the Gaelic.
[ [88] The word “naoimh,” here translated “saints,” is not necessarily associated with Christianity. The word “naomh,” holy, is one belonging originally to the Gaelic language, and not introduced, like many ecclesiastical terms, from the Latin and Greek. The phrase may be rendered “sacred Erin,” a character belonging to the island, in popular belief, even previous to the Christian period. It is a curious fact, that the feat of destroying all the vermin in Ireland was, in a later age, attributed to St. Patrick. It would appear that this was but a transference of a portion of the glory of Finn to the Christian Saint,—a remarkable instance among many of early Christianity borrowing, not very wisely, the laurels of heathenism.