But ere we marked his dire intent,

Sheer through the maiden's heart he sent

A javelin swift and keen.*

མ.

Then fell beneath his sworded hand

A hundred of the Fenian band.

Fillan, the son of Finn, he bound;

And of his valiant train

Thrice nine, that fought their chief around,
He girt with fettering chain.†

VI.

In ponderous mail though strongly dight,
Illan was active in the fight,

And of resistless force.

Osgar, my son, beheld with wrath
The carnage scattered in his path,
And sprang to stay his course.
On the fair champion loud he cried,
And sternly to the fight defied.

"He rushed on in his fury

He neither hailed Fingal nor his people
The unerring arrow flew from his hand
And the maiden fell.

The strife of mighty feats

Bore down the king of Sora's son. O tale of woe!

On the green mount was dug his tomb of stone,
And over against it is the tomb of the maid."

See the Gaelic of this passage in the Highland Report, p. 230, and Macpherson's version in Fingal, Book III. "The maid stood trembling by my side. He drew the bow. She fell. Unerring is thy hand," I said, "but feeble was the foe!" We fought, nor weak the strife of death! He sunk beneath my sword. We laid them in two tombs of stone; the hapless lovers of youth."

The lines in italics are not in Dr. Young's copy of the poem.

↑ "Two sons of Priam once Achilles found,
And captive led, with pliant osiers bound."

In a contest between Cuchullin and Curigh, who carried off the celebrated beauty Blanaid, "Cuchullin was overcome by Curigh, who tied him neck and heels-literally inflicted on hirn the five smalls; this is a Gaelic idiom, signifying that he bound his neck, wrists, and ankles."-KEATING's History of Ireland, pp. 400, 401, note,

VII.

They met and furious was the strife
For fame, for victory, and life.

As streams that to the valley rush,
Swift gathering to a flood;

So from their wounds, out-bursting, gush
Warm cataracts of blood.

Their clashing swords, in conflict dire,
Send forth such sparkling streams of fire
As from the glowing furnace pour,
When boils and foams the molten ore.
At length, by one resistless blow,
Osgar laid white-teethed Illan low,

And stretched-cut shorter by the head-
The prince of Spain on his gory bed.

VIII.

O son of Calphruin, on this heath
Stands the grey stone he lies beneath;
In sooth, the tale is true;

And, deeply slumbering by his side,
The maid he sought to be his bride,
And in his fury slew.

IX.

Right-noble were our chiefs of old,
Dauntless, heroic, generous, bold-
Still prompt and liberal to reward,
With precious gifts, the tuneful bard.
None such, in these degenerate days,
To win and merit honest praise!
May all our Fenian chiefs be blest

With wide-spread deathless fame!

The veteran Bard, laudator temporis acti, rejoices to extol the contemporaries of his youth as far excelling those with whom he was conversant in his old age. Thus Nestor asks-" Who is he?

"What prince or chief, of the degenerate race

Now seen on earth, who might with these compare

?"

:

Thus Homer says of the "rocky fragment" thrown by Ajax :

"In modern ages not the strongest swain
Could heave th' unwieldy burthen from the plain."

And of the " ponderous stone" flung by Hector:

Iliad, xii., 455.

"Not two strong men th' enormous weight could raise,
Such men as live in these degenerate days."

Id., 589.

Had the Bard, who, in the assumed character of Ossian, wrote the lay of Illan, lived in times more like our own, he might be supposed, with a little stretch of imagination, to have concluded in such lines as the following:

With Finn, my sire, what chief could vie

In mild and gentle courtesy ?

With Osgar, rich in manly charms,

What warrior match his feats in arms?

Let Erin's sons of song rehearse,
And tell to future time,

Their great and glorious deeds, in verse
Heroic and sublime.

That those whom love of glory fires,
May learn to emulate their sires;
May bravely, in their country's cause,
For human rights, for equal laws,
Unite, and with avenging stroke,
Asunder rend Oppression's yoke.
Yes, let them, boldly-free, demand
Their right to live in father-land;
To call their isle their own;
Midst gifts that nature joys to give,
To live as freemen ought to live;

To stand before the throne,
As freemen ought, erect and strong,
To ask redress of every wrong;

To plead their right to share the soil
Made fertile by their hands of toil;
To plant, to build, all seas explore,
To earth's foundations mine;
Or high, on tireless pinions soar,

In quest of truth divine;

Their right through earth and skies to roam,
And all the world of Mind;

To bring such stores of knowledge home,
Such lore and arts refined,

As virtue, peace, and wisdom prize,
To make a nation great and wise;
And which would render Erin blest,
O'er all the islands of the west.
Just theme of many a poet's song,
As fair the western isles among,

And all surpassing far;

As midst the radiant orbs of light,
That stud the wide-spread vault of night,

Shines evening's brilliant star.

THE LAY

OF

THE CHAMPION OF ITALY.

THE scene of the following Lay is in a district remarkable for its bold scenery and romantic beauty, in the north-west shores of the county of Donegal. Cintealan (Cean Teileann), now Tiellen Head, is one of its magnificent promontories, in the neighbourhood of which lies Gleann Choluim Cille, i. e. Columbkille's glen or valley, once a favourite place of resort to the saint, from whom it derives its name. The locality is "described as follows in O'Donnell's Life of St. Columbkille, as translated by Colgan, Trias Thaum, p. 391."

"Locus is est Tirconallensis patriæ, Occidenti proximus, in Oceanum procul occurrens, in arduos incultosque montes assurgens, in horrida demum promontoria desinens, Columbæ, a cujus asceterio celebris habetur jamdudum sacer.”—Lib. i., c. 15.-Annals of the Four Masters, by John O'Donovan, Esq., M.R.L.A., &c., p. 1890, note.

ARGUMENT.-The Fenians, fatigued with the chase, had assembled, as usual, on a promontory of the coast, and were enjoying the prospect, when they beheld a distant sail approaching. Presently a fleet came in sight, and, as soon as it reached the strand, a host of armed warriors sprang ashore, led by a chief of formidable appearance, who immediately began to ravage the country. A messenger is in haste despatched to inform the Fenians of the daring threats and cruel proceedings of the invaders. Struck with terror, they suddenly determine that it will be better for them to flee from the country in ships, than remain to be cut down by the enemy. They instantly commence their preparations to flee, when Gaul appears amongst them, flushed with rage and indignation at their cowardice. Finn informs him of what had occurred, and attributes the conduct of the Fenians to the invincible power of the invader. Gaul asks if none of all the chiefs, whom he names, had the courage to meet him; and, after some farther remonstrance, declares that, as for himself, he will never submit to a foreign foe, and that, single-handed, he is ready to risk his life for the honour of the Fenians. Finn encourages him in his heroic daring, and promises liberal rewards, wishing, however, to defer the conflict for two days. But Gaul, anxious to bring the matter to a speedy decision, refuses; and the consequence is an immediate duel with the champion of Italy, who is vanquished and beheaded by the victorious Gaul. The Lay concludes with an expression of pity for the great losses sustained by the enemy.