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F I N G A L,
Book I.
bar[1], a hero whom he slew in war; the scout[2] of the ocean came Moran[3]. the son of Fithil.
Rise, said the youth, Cuchullin, rise; I see the ships of Swaran. Cuchullin, many are the foe: many the heroes of the dark-rolling sea.
Moran! replied the blue-eyed chief, thou ever tremblest, son of Fithil: Thy fears have much increased the foe. Perhaps it is the king[4] of the lonely hills coming to aid me on green Ullin's plains.
I saw their chief, says Moran, tall as a rock of ice. His spear Is like that blasted fir. His shield like the rising moon[5]. He sat on a rock on the shore : like a cloud of mist on the silent hill. ——— Many, chief of men! I said, many are our hands of war. ——— Well
- ↑ Cairbar or Cairbre signifies a sirong man.
- ↑ Cuchullin having previous intelligence of the invasion intended by Swaran, sent scouts all over the coast of Ullin or Ulster, to give early notice of the first appearance of the enemy, at the same time that he sent Munan the son of Stirmal to implore the assistance of Fingal. He himself collected the flower of the Irish youth to Tura, a castle on the coast, to stop the progress of the enemy till Fingal should arrive from Scotland. We may conclude from Cuchullin's applying so early for foreign aid, that the Irish were not then so numerous as they have since been; which is a great presumption against the high antiquities of that people. We have the testimony of Tacitus that one legion only was thought sufficient, in the time of Agricola, to reduce the whole island under the Roman yoke; which would not probably have been the case had the island been inhabited for any number of centuries before.
- ↑ Moran signifies many ; and Fithil, or rather Fili, an inferior bard.
- ↑ Fingal the son of Comhal and Morna the daughter of Thaddu. His grandfather was Trathal, and great grandfather Trenmor, both of whom are often mentioned in the poem.
- ↑ ————His ponderous shield
Behind him cast; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the Moon.
Milton.
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