nquestionably the best. "A
translation," he says, "may either follow the very words, or reproduce
the life and spirit, of the original; but no translation can do both.
If you render word for word, you lose the spirit; if you wish to give
the spirit and manner, you must depart from the exact words and frame
your own phrases. I have chosen this latter course. My translation
follows the original closely enough in narrative and incident; but so
far as mere phraseology is concerned, I have used the English language
freely, not allowing myself to be trammeled by too close an adherence
to the very words of the text. The originals are in general simple in
style; and I have done my best to render them into simple, homely,
plain English. In short, I have tried to tell the stories as I
conceive the old Shenachies themselves would have told them if they
had used English instead of Gaelic."

Another characteristic and admirably edited translation of one of
these miscellaneous stories that lie outside the three cycles of Irish
romance is 'The Vision of Mac Cougleime,' which we owe to Dr. Kuno
Meyer (London: Nutt).

Among the legendary Celtic romances is the short but beautiful and
characteristic account of Ossian's expedition to the Isle of the Blest
or the Land of Youth, and his subsequent return as an old and decrepit
man--in a word, the Celtic Rip Van Winkle. This legend not only
underlies all the spiritual romances of Celtic Ireland and Scotland,
but has profoundly appealed to the imagination of the whole complex
English race of to-day, whether under the badge of the rose, the
thistle, the shamrock, or the leek, whether under the banner of the
United Kingdom or that of the Stars and Stripes.

OISIN IN TIRNANOGE;

or

THE LAST OF THE FENI

[According to an ancient legend, Finn's son Oisin, the hero
poet, survived to the time of St. Patrick, two hundred years
(the legend makes it three hundred) after the other Feni. On a
certain occasion, when the saint asked him how he had lived to
such a great age, the old hero related his story, of which the
following is the close.]

I lived in the Land of Youth more than three hundred years; but it
appeared to me that only three years had passed since the day I parted
from my friends. At the end of that time I began to have a longing
desire to see my father Finn and all my old companions, and I asked
leave of Niam and of the king to visit Erin. The king gave