The Scottish Celtic review

—Fin Mac Coal. 177The tales concerning the Fians, or band of hrcjtherhood ofwhich he was the chief, occupied the minds of the Celtic raceboth in Ireland and Scotland quite as much as politics do those ofThey formed a jirorainent part in their winterthe modern reader.evening recitations; and popular tradition, though its tales aboutthe Fians are extravagant beyond possibility, has clothed theband with so much that is attractive, that it is in no wise a wonderthat the Celtic race has greedily seized upon the subject. Dunbar,circa A.D. loOO, says, "Greit Gow Mac-morne and Fyn-mac-Cowl,shall be goddis in Ireland, as men say;" and Bishop Carswell, inthe first Gaelic book published, complains of his countrymen beingfonder of these than of Bible narratives. At the same time, no poem,ballad, tale, or recitation has been found in style or incident, titleor text, the same as those published by Macpherson.loreFin, their leader, is a particularly attractive character in popular" His house was wide and hospitable.Its door was never closed."[Tigh farsuing frti^ -fk'.OLt:'A cJiumhla cha do dhruideadh riamh.]Fin's dog Br^n was a Fairy or Elfin dog, commonly said to havehad a venomous claw, which was kept covered except when thedog was engaged in fight. One of the most aSecting incidents inthe popular tales of Fin is that of his having on one occasionstruck this favourite hound." Noble Brttn looked at him,And wondered at his striking him ;The hand with which I struck BranPity from the shoulder it was not shred."[Dliamhairc air Bran huadhach'S loghnadh air e bhith 'ga bhualadh;An Idmh leis an do hliuail mi Bran'S truagh o'n gJtualainn nach do sgar.]The magic sword, Mac-a-Luin, was made in Lochlin (Norway)by a Fairy smith; and there is a poem or ballad relating thecircumstances.The following tale was not written word for word from the dictationof the reciter ; but full notes were taken, and written outimmediately after, so that it may be said that the tale is given in