ARGUMENT. FINGAL, when very young, making a voyage to the Orkney islands, was driven, by stress of weather, into a bay of Scandinavia, near the residence of Starno, king of Lochlin. Starno invites Fingal to a feast. Fingal, doubting the faith of the king, and, mindful of a former breach of hospitality, refuses to go. Starno gathers together his tribes: Fingal resolves to defend himself. Night coming on, Duth-maruno proposes to Fingal to observe the motions of the enemy. The king himself undertakes the watch. Advancing towards the enemy, he accidentally comes to the cave of Turthor, where Starno had confined Conban-carglas, the captive daughter of a neighbouring chief. Her story is imperfect, a part of the original being lost. Fingal comes to a place of worship, where Starno and his son, Swaran, consulted the spirit of Loda, concerning the issue of the war. The rencounter of Fingal and Swaran. Duän first concludes with a description of the airy hall of Cruth-loda, supposed to be the Odin of Scandinavia. MACPHERSON. CATH-LO D A. DUAN' FIRST. A TALE of the times of old! Why, thou wanderer unseen! thou bender of the thistle of Lora; why, thou breeze of the valley, hast thou left mine ear? I hear no distant roar of streams! No sound of the harp, from the rock! Come, thou huntress of Lutha, Malvina, call back his soul to the bard. I look for The bards distinguished those compositions, in which the narration is often interrupted by episodes and apostrophes, by the name of Duän. Since the extinction of the order of the bards, it has been a general name for all ancient compositions in MACPHERSON. verse. Duän, a rhyme or song, seems to be a mere corruption of the English word tune. See Appendix to Mr MACKENZIE'S Report concerning Ossian's Poems, p. 54. |