Glenshee.
This is, in every way, a fair specimen of the Dean’s MS., and of the story of the death of Diarmad as it existed in Scotland in the year 1512. The story is entirely a Scottish one, Glenshee being a well-known locality in the county of Perth, and Ben Gulbin a well-known hill in Glenshee. This has been called an Ossianic poem, but, according to Dean M’Gregor, it was not composed by Ossian, but by a poet obviously of more recent times;—Allan MacRorie, who was probably a composer of the 15th century. The resemblance of Diarmad to Achilles will occur at once to the classical reader, and there is no reason to doubt that there were large classes in the Highlands in the middle ages well acquainted with classical literature.
Another specimen of the Dean’s poems may be given as one which the compiler attributes to Ossian. It is Ossian’s eulogy on his father Finn, or Fingal, as he is called by M’Pherson:—
Modern Gaelic.
Auctor hujus Oisian Mac Fhinn.
Sé la gus an dé o nach fhaca mi Fionn,
Cha-n fhaca ri’m ré se bu gheire leam;
Mac nighinn O’Théige, rìgh nam buillean tròm,
M’oide, ’us mo rath, mo chiall ’us mo chon.
Fa filidh fa flath, fa rìgh air ghéire,