Sweet is man’s voice in the land of gold, Sweet the sounds the birds produce; Sweet is the murmur of the crane, Sweet sound the waves at Bundatreor, Sweet the soft murmuring of the wind; Sweet sounds the cuckoo at Cas-a’choin, How soft and pleasing shines the sun, Sweet the blackbird sings his song, etc. There is one genuinely ancient poem ascribed to Fergus, the bard’s brother. It was copied from the lost “Dinnsenchus” into the Book of Lecain and Book of Ballymote. It tells of a remarkable adventure Ossian once had. While out hunting with a few followers he was decoyed into a mountain cavern by some of its fairy inhabitants, and detained there with his companions for a whole year. During all that time the bard was in the habit of cutting a small chip from the handle of his spear, and casting it upon the stream that issued from his rocky prison. Fionn, who had searched in vain for his missing men, happened one day to come to this river, and observing a floating chip, picked it up, and knew at once that it was from Ossian’s spear, and intended for a sign. He thereupon followed the stream to its source, entered the cavern, and rescued the captive hunters. A poem by Caoilte Mac Ronan, found in the same two MSS. as the last, and copied from the same source, is not a legend of the Feinn, but a love story, in which Cliodhna, a fair-haired, foreign lady, figures as heroine. 2. The second class of Ossianic literature consists of tracts made up of articles in prose and poetry, attributed to one or other of the bards already mentioned, but related by some other person. The most important in this category, and perhaps the only genuine one now existing, is that known as “Agallamh na Seanórach,” or “Dialogue of the Ancients,” the latter being Ossian and Caoilte. Full of curious and really valuable historical information, it is the largest Fenian or Ossianic tale, and has recently been edited by Dr. Whitley Stokes. The text preserved in the Book of Lismore, and more or less fully in other collections, asserts that after the battle of Gabhra, the Feinn were so shattered and diminished in numbers that they dispersed themselves over the country. Ossian and Caoilte survived their brethren in arms, and after wandering for a time among the new and strange generation that had grown up, they agreed to separate. The former went to his mother in the enchanted mansion of Cleitech, as some MSS. say, to “Tir nan Og.” The latter passed over Magh Breagh southwards, and ultimately joined St. Patrick, who was delighted to add so remarkable a convert to his following.