And stay rough Oscar's blade. XIII. Of Cumhail's son then Caoilte sought Till we see restored our chieftain good, Then close around our chief we throng, XIV. Eight days and nights the caverned seat Pour through its windings close, the light, A chalice she bore of angled mould,* Through every joint and pore; * Quadrangular-the ancient cup of the Irish, called meadar. Specimens of it may be seen in the Antiquarian Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. His shape, his strength, his bloom returns, XV. We gave three shouts that rent the air The badgers fled the vale: And now, O sage of frugal care, Hast thou not heard the tale? *The cup of our enchantress produces effects quite the reverse of those wrought by the cup of her sister Circe "Who knows not Circe, The daughter of the Sun, whose charmed cup And downward fell into a grovelling swine?" Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, Into some brutish form of wolf or bear, Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat. Comus. Slieve Guillin, the scene of the preceding lay, is said to be the highest mountain in Ulster. with the exception of Slieve Donard, the highest of the mountains of Mourne. In Sir Charles Coote's statistical survey, it is stated that, "Perhaps a bolder prospect is not presented in our island than from its summit, comprising a great extent of country; the lakes and streams, the several towns and well cultivated demesnes, together with the bay of Dundalk, where the declivity is terminated. Nigh the summit is a small amphitheatre containing a lake, and at the highest point, a cairn of stones forming the roof of a cavern, manifestly the work of art, affording a safe retreat to robbers." The cairn is said in Louthiana to be "300 feet in circumference; and the cave to be like those dedicated to the Danish gods, and probably to Thor." General Vallancey says that "all our mountains were dedicated to some heathen Deity, and still retain the names; as Sliabh Eachtai (or Hecate), Sliabh Goiline (one of the deities of the Pagan Irishchief of the Fawns of the Woods, Satyrs, Sylvan deities), Goiline, a word now used to express the Devil."-Anc. Hist. of Ireland, pp. 514, 517. The learned antiquary thinks the Irish word Sliabh (or Slieve) a mountain, is derived from the Chaldee Slahb arsit, combussit, "because on such high places altars were erected, and the holy fire kept burning, till reformed by the fire-tower."-p. 463. The following legend, on which the Lay of the Chase seems to be founded, has been kindly presented to the author by Mr. Nicholas Kearney. "Miluchradh and Aine, or Aigne, two sisters, daughters of Cualan of Cuailgne, of the Tuatha De Danan race, fell in love with Fionn Mac Cubhaill. Aine declared in the banquetting hall of Allen, before all the guests, in order to secure the affection of the hero, that her husband should never become hoary or old. It would appear from the sequel that she succeeded by her announcement, in out-rivalling her sister; for Miluchradh. inflamed with jealousy, returned home, and, having summoned the chief Druids of her people to Slieve Guillin, caused them to form a druidic (draoidheacht) lake on the summit of the mountain, to wreak her vengeance on Fionn, and frustrate her sister's prediction. The waters of this lake, which was called 60 THE LAY OF THE CHASE OF SLIEVE GUILLIN. Loch Dogradh, possessed the buadha (extraordinary or magical powers) of changing the hair grey, and rendering the frame old and weak, of all who bathed in them. The wicked Miluchradh having thus made her arrangements, waited an opportunity of enticing Fionn into her meshes; and having found him alone one day on the plain of Allen, she metamorphosed herself into a fawn, the better to beguile him and draw him to her druidic lake on Slieve Guillin. The remainder of the story is told in the poem. It is rather singular that a faint notion of the powers said to be possessed by the waters of this lake, is still preserved in the traditions of the people. Old folks used to tell how some men were found daring enough to make an attempt to drain the lake, despite the warnings and admonitions of their more cautious neighbours to deter them-how a sudden wave splashed the most determined man among the labourers, just on the eve of accomplishing their object, while engaged on the brink of the lake, and how his auburn locks suddenly assumed a silvery hue! Another man was splashed on another occasion, but the hair of only one side of his head was changed, while the other still remained raven-dark as before. This is analagous to the case of Fionn; for, when he drank of the druidic corna or cup, half his hair only assumed its original colour; the Fenians then cried out that both colours became him well, and they advised him to forego the demand of having the colour wholly restored, and that it remained so until the day of his death. It seems that the notion still holds its place in popular belief, for a native of Forkhill, now residing in Dublin, told me about a man who met a similar fate about 20 years ago, while endeavouring to remove a stone on the margin of the lake. All these strange doings are said to be performed by the supernatural agency of Miluchradh, better known as the Cailleach Biorar, who is considered to be the guardian of the lake, and to reside to this day in a cave in the mountain. She is still much dreaded by the people in the vicinity. This must be the fount alluded to by Giraldus Barry. though he states that it is in Munster, which is another of his mistakes. "Est fons in Momonia cujus aquis, si quis abluitur, statim canus efficitur."-Vid. Camb. Evers. p. 128, Ed. Celt. Soc.-[N. K.]" THE LAY OF THE CHASE OF GLENNASMOL. GLEN OF THE THRUSH-SO called from the number, or, as has been said, from the remarkable size, of that sweet bird of song, probably the misselthrush, the largest of the genus, by which it is frequented. This romantic glen is six or seven miles distant from Dublin, by the base of the dark and lofty mountain of Kippure, and the sources of the river Dodder. It is celebrated as the scene of some of the Fenian heroes' adventures, and particularly for the chase of a remarkable deer, the subject of one of the Ossianic minstrel's lays, which is here presented to the reader. For a literally verbal translation of this lay from the original Irish, the present versifier is indebted, as for many similar obligations, to Mr. Eugene Curry, Irish amanuensis to the Royal Irish Academy. He is also indebted to Mr. Nicholas Kearney, for a manuscript translation into English heroic verse by Matthew Graham, of the same poem, under the title of the GIANTESS. In a prefatory advertisement, that translator says that this poem "is in the mouth of almost every person who can speak the Irish language either complete, or in part;" and laments the inadequacy of any translation to match the expressive beauty of the original. Most translators say this of the works which they translate; and it is no doubt true that in every language there are certain beauties of expression which cannot be transferred and which can be seen and appreciated in their native dress only. As to these Fenian tales they would not move gracefully in English heroics. Such a dress would be too cumbersome-like the armour of Saul on the limbs of the stripling David. Chevy Chase would be sadly metamorphosed if fused into the heroics of genuine Epic song. DUAN FIRST. ARGUMENT.-Patrick expresses the delight he feels in hearing the tales of old. Ossian, to gratify his wish, immediately proceeds to inform him how the Fenians had assembled, one rosy morn, to pursue the chase in Glennasmol-when they started a deer of singular appearance, having one side white as snow, the other black as coal. The hounds were immediately slipped, but had not long enjoyed the sport, till, with the deer, they all vanished from the view. Wondering at their sudden disappearance, Finn consults his oracular thumb-and, in reply to some observations of Conan, declares that they shall never behold any of the hounds returning except Brann; who, soon after, comes back in a miserable plight, portending, by piteous moans, that a sad disaster had befallen the Fenians. Presently they behold a lovely female, who, approaching them, says she comes from the Princess of Greece, who had arrived at a neighbouring isle with her fleet richly laden with precious stores, and had provided a sumptuous banquet, to which she invited the Fenian chief and his heroes. They readily accept the invitation. When the banquet was concluded, and Finn was retiring, a woman of gigantic stature stood before him, crowned and robed like a queen, but of coarse and disgusting features-one side fair and the other dark as night. The princess courteously addressing Finn, declares that her ships, her treasures, her maidens, all are his, and herself his spouse for life. Finn makes a brief reply, declining to accept her proffered love. He says he cannot take for his wife a woman whom he had that morning beheld in the shape of a doe; and ends his reply by asking if his hounds were yet living. She answers that, with the exception of Brann, they were all bereft of life-that she had slain a multitude of his men, and would not depart till she had glutted her vengeance in the slaughter of the Fenians. To accomplish her design, she began to practise her incantations, charmed the Fenians to sleep, and then cut off the heads of a hundred men. I. PATRICK.-Ossian, 'tis music to my ear In many a hard-fought field, By Oscar, thy heroic son, Ne'er known to flee or yield. OSSIAN. The Fenians, on a festive day, |